| Bibliographic References: | A historic photo of the building, circa-dated to 1920, includes signage that indicates it was built in 1808 as the office of John J. Astor of the Northwest Fur Company and was also the location of the U.S. Post office prior to the Civil War, “Astor Fur Trading Building,” Photograph (Image ID 42508), circa 1920, Available online at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM42508, Accessed October 2024. Unfortunately there are no early records to either confirm or deny the previous information. Note that local historian Mary Elise Antoine circa dates the building to the 1820s, Antoine, E-mail correspondence with Traci E. Schnell, May 2024. At some point prior to the circa-1920 photo, the street-facing elevation of the stone-constructed building was remodeled to present as concrete block, while an additional door was added and the north window was downsized shortly thereafter. As a result of those alterations, which are believed to have been done by the Herpel Taxi Company (which opened there in January 1931 with one half of the building serving as a waiting room and an office in the other half), the building has been ascribed a date of circa 1930, “New Cab Line Opening in City,” The Courier, 6 January 1931, 1. Note that as of the 1924 Sanborn map, the building is labeled “Auto Painting,” which was among the services performed by Gokey & St. Jacque (the name painted in the window of the circa-1920 photo), who were in the paint and wallpaper business together by no later than 1921, Newsbrief (re: auto painting), The Courier, 15 March 1921, 7. |
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