Property Record
145 N ADAMS ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | JANE SHUMWAY HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 47826 |
| Location (Address): | 145 N ADAMS ST |
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| County: | Green Lake |
| City: | Berlin |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1851 |
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| Additions: | 1886 |
| Survey Date: | 1991 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Second Empire |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Nathan Strong Park Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/10/2005 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/21/2005 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | This structure contributes to the significance of the Nathan Strong Park Historic District under criterion C as an unusual example of a small Second Empire style villa with a miniature corner tower. This scaled-down little house with its dwarf mansard tower and narrow front porch has only a sprinkling of wood trim to accent its otherwise austere design. This attractive, almost doll house sized residence, is practically a parody of Berlin's grander Second Empire style houses and illustrates the Victorian builder's ability to manipulate scale for great visual effect. This house was built around 1850 and was first occupied by D.H. Shumway, a physician, and his wife Jane. They sold the house in 1865 and it had several different owners until 1878, when Lewis Smith and his wife purchased it. Mr. Smith was a tinsmith who had his own shop in Berlin and later a foreman for Yates and Foote. In 1886, he opened a general hardware store which he sold in 1896 to Thomas and Cunningham. The same year he sold his house and move to another which he had constructed nearby. The new owner, Charles D. Hawley, initially worked for his uncle at the Mather Brothers Banking Institution. Later he started a mail order business in patent medicines. He was known as a manufacturing chemist and is thought to be the originator of the credit mail order business in patent medicines, a system in which prizes were awarded to the sellers. Mr. Hawley died in 1927 and his wife died ten years later, in 1937. At this time the house was purchased by John and Lu Gillett. |
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| Bibliographic References: | GILLETT, EARLY HOUSES OF BERLIN, WISCONSIN, PP. 46-48. BERLIN JOURNAL 8/15/1991. FOX LAKE REPRESENTATIVE 6/15/1995. Victorian Walking Tours, Berlin, Wisconsin's Walking Tour of Beautiful Victorian Homes, undated. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |