Property Record
833 S 3RD AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Irving School |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 50396 |
| Location (Address): | 833 S 3RD AVE |
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| County: | Marathon |
| City: | Wausau |
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| Year Built: | 1883 |
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| Additions: | 1894 1962 |
| Survey Date: | 19832018 |
| Historic Use: | elementary, middle, jr.high, or high |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Henry J. Van Ryn |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Irving School is an important example of Queen Anne School design popular in the later part of the 19th century. The building has a complicated silhouette with gabled and hip roof sections as well as dormers and a cupola with tent roof and flared slopes. The main gable is decorated with shingles, a Palladian motif, and modillions. Fenestration is both rectangular and round. Henry J. Van Ryn, the building's architect, is a noteworthy regional master responsible for much school design in Milwaukee. Wausau's first kindergarten opened in Irving School in 1897. 2018: windows replaced. Building now serves as offices. 2018 survey report write-up: This former schoolhouse consists of an 1894 , two(+)-story, Queen Anne-style, brick-clad block on the south and a one-story wing (1962) to the rear. The 1894 block, which is oriented to Sherman Street, consists of two projecting rectangular wings between which is a recessed entrance that carries a replacement plate-glass door and sidelights. Above the doorway is a Palladian-like window arrangement with plate-glass windows, the roofline above includes a frame-constructed, square belltower. The front-gabled west portion rises two-and-one-half stories and the gabled peak is sheathed with decorative shinglework and bracket trim. Windows throughout this wing are either rectangular or round-arched examples, all of which carry replacement glass. The entrance elevation of the two-story, hipped-roof block to the east features a series of four, small, round-arched windows on the first floor and four small square windows along the second level. A hipped-roof dormer rises from the roofline along this wing; another such dormer is evident along S. 3rd Avenue. Historic images of the school from 1897 and 1900 indicate that the building looks much like it did when it was remodeled to its current appearance in 1894. As recorded in various sources, the first public school classes were held in the early 1850s. The first schoolhouse building erected in Wausau was built in 1862 and was located at 408 N. 5th Street; it was demolished in 1889. The first brick-constructed school building was the Humboldt School, which was completed in 1874 at the northwest corner of N. 6th and Jefferson streets; that building was destroyed by fire in 1924. Following erection of the 1881 Grant School (no longer extant), came the 1883 construction of Irving School which, at that time, was reportedly known as the Tannery School, based on its proximity to an existing tannery. Consisting of just two classrooms, that structure was expanded in 1894 to reflect the building that now stands at 833 S. 3rd Avenue. The architect responsible for its Queen Anne design was Henry Van Ryn of Milwaukee. Although construction of a new school was contemplated in 1930 (sources indicate that the playground was thought to be inadequate), the original block of the subject structure remained in use and largely unchanged until a one-story addition was completed in 1962. That addition included a principal’s office, kitchen and storage, as well as a new entrance to the building. The school continued serving students through 1970, at which time the structure was utilized as the school district offices. In 1987, the school district sold the building to Streich Equipment Company, which continues to own the structure. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Central Wisconsin, November 24, 1894. In Aucutt, Hettinga & Jansen, "Wausau Beautiful" (2nd ed., 2010), 170. "Irving School 'Open House' for New All-Purpose Room," Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 13 November 1962, 15/4-5, cites the one story wing was completed in spring. It included a multi-purpose room, principal's office, kitchen, storage and a new main entrance. Citations for survey information below: Jim Lee, “Irving School Served Wausau for 86 Years,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 21 May 1969, 3/1-3; “After 87 Years, Irving School to Close Doors,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 29 May 1970, 2/1-2; “Use Irving School for Offices, Shops,” Wausau Daily Record-Herald, 15 October 1970, 3/5-6; Malaguti & Norton, “Final Report: Intensive Historic Survey,” 121; Aucutt, Hettinga & Jansen, Wausau Beautiful, 170. City in the Pinery, A Guide to Wausau's Historic Architecture, The City of Wausau, 1984. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |