Property Record
214 W WISCONSIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Portage Underwear Co.; Portage Hotel Garage; Helmann' |
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| Other Name: | Cheers Night Club |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 56405 |
| Location (Address): | 214 W WISCONSIN ST |
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| County: | Columbia |
| City: | Portage |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1869 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | Brick |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Portage Retail Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/27/1995 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 10/24/1994 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Wood cornice with double brackets; decorative brick work; dog-teeth molding; round arch windows and lintels with corbel stops; first floor store front covered. Davie Eulberg (1993): The building was occupied by Johnny Helman's bar back in the 1930s and 1940s. Sanborn-Perris Map Co.: 1929: garage. 1918: private garage. 1910: garage. 1901: Portage Underwear Co., finishing first, knitting second. 1894, 1889, 1885: hides and wool house, Gar hall second. Columbia Co. Treasurer 1863: 1930: John W. Helmann 1920, 1925: E.T.S. Wright. 1895-1915: Schulze & Co. 1875-1894: Ferdinand Schulze. 1870: George Port. 1866, 1868: not listed. Assessment values indicate construction in 1869 or 1870. Directories: 1955: (214) Helmann's Tavern and other half vacant (Johnson Printing Co.) 1948: (214) William Helmann, tavern (Commonwealth Telephone Co.). 1937: William Helmann, tavern, W. Wisconsin only listed (same). 1929: (214) Helmann Garage (Smith-Baumann Directory Co.). 1927-28: Wright Motor Co. (Edward T. Wright) (R.L. Polk & Co.) 1924-25, 1921: Wright and Robbins (Edward T. Wright and Jacob E. Robbins), garage (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1919-20: Wright, E.T., garage (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1917: (214) Portage Hotel Garage. 1917-18, 1915-16: Wright and Robbins, garage, not there in 1913-14. 1913-14, 1911-12: Portage Underwear Co. (R.L. Polk & Co.) 1909-10: Portage Underwear Co., Frederick C. Schumann, sec. - in 1910 they were on W. Conant (Voshardt). 1908-09: (212?) Portage Underwear Co., underwear manufacturers (S.H. Moore). 190-02:, 1897-98: Portage Underwear Co. with L.L. Breese, pres. and Frederick Schumann sec. (R.L. Polk & CO.) not listed in 1895-96. 1894-95: Schulze & Co., Ferdinand Schulze, general store (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1890: Schulze & Co. listed with Ferdinand Schulze as owner but directory notes only the location of his store on Cook and not this building (Wright). 1886: Ferdinand Schulze of Schumacher (Gerhandt) & Schulze listed, they are wholesale and retail dealers in general merchandise (Rockwood and Goodell). 1885: Schumacher & Schulze listed as above (Mahen and Eckstein). 1884-85: same (R.L. Polk & Co.). 1873: George Port has agricultural implements; Schumacher Schulze & Bro, Dry Goods. George Port may have conducted his implement business at 214 W. Wisconsin immediately after its construction in 1869-1870 until about 1875. By 1875, Ferdinand Schulze of Schumacher and Schulze owned the building. However, there is no clear indication how this general merchant used the building between 1875 and 1895 when Schulze & Co. is listed as its owner. The main was located at 108 W. Cook (57/34) by 1880. The Portage Underwear Company was established in 1891. The company manufactured Vivette brand underwear. L. L. Breese served as the company's initial president. The factory occupied several existing retail buildings in the city. Between 1891 and about 1897, it was located in part of the building later replaced by the Beehive at 108 W. Cook (57/34). About 1897, the company moved by to 214 W. Wisconsin (24/24) and remained there until about 1910. It also utilized the second floor of 216 W. Wisconsin, the city police station, about 1901. By 1910, the company located somewhere on W. Conant and by 1918, the factory had moved to 312 W. Conant where it remained until about 1941 when the factory closed. This small factory building is now gone. The company supplied national wholesalers (Portage Public Library n.d. [trade catalogue dated 1929]; Portage, City of 1930-41 [1934-35; 78; Sanborn-Perris Map Co. 1929; Register-Democrat 6/6/1924; 5/5/1941; Columbia County Historical Society 1982; Wisconsin Power and Light ca. 1925: 6; Sanborn-Perris Map Co. 1894). The first floor of 214 W. Wisconsin (24/24) served a number of automobile-related functions. It functioned as the Portage Hotel Garage by 1917 and perhaps as early as 1910. The Portage Hotel once stood at 200 W. Edgewater. By 1919 and probably as early as 1915, Wright and Robbins operated a garage at this location until after 1925. Between 1926 and 1929, John Helmann purchased the building and operated Helmann's Garage for a short period before it became a tavern shortly after 1929 (Sanborn-Perris Map Co. 1901; 1910; 1918; 1929; Columbia Co. Treasurer 1863- [1920-30]; Smith-Baumann Directory Co. 1929; R.L. Polk & Co. 1913-14; 1917-18; 1919-20; 1927-28; Farrell 1917-18; Voshardt 1910). The Knights of Pythias Lodge No. 35 formed as a secret fraternal organization at the state level in 1864. The Portage McQueeney Lodge No. 104 formed in 1893. In 1928, it became known as Portage Lodge No. 104. The Pythian Sisters Lodge, E.C. Gottry Lodge No. 52, was initiated with seventy members in 1922 at the Methodist Church. The lodge held its meetings in the Grand Army of the Republic hall above the Helmann Building (214 W. Wisconsin, 24/24) from 1893 to 1920 when it moved to the Eulberg Building (Scott 1972: 112, 144; Register-Democrat 4/20/1922; Portage Daily Register 7/2/1952). Organized originally for the Union soldiers and sailors of the Civil War, the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) patterned itself after secret fraternal organizations. It provided mutual assistance and aid for its members and participated in extensive ritual. But its early political role on behalf of Civil War Veterans and its patriotic demeanor separated it from other fraternal lodges. The GAR formed in Springfield, Illinois in 1866, and its auxiliary, the Women's National Relief Corps, was organized in 1883 at Denver (Stevens 1972: 369). Later, the GAR expanded its role to honor those who patriotically served in any war and made contributions to veterans hospitals and scholarships. Portage's Rousseau Post No. 14 established its lodge hall in the Helmann Building (214 W. Wisconsin, 24/24) by 1885 and probably continued to meet there until at least 1910 and probably 1920. By 1929, the GAR gathered at the courthouse. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Sanborn-Perris Maps. (B) Columbia County Treasurer 1863. (C) City Directories. (D) David Eulberg. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |