Property Record
647 COLLEGE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Rev. H. N. Brinsmade; Joshua Blaisdell House |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 58031 |
| Location (Address): | 647 COLLEGE ST |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Beloit |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1853 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1977 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Gabled Ell |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Near East Side Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 1/7/1983 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: | Multiple Resources of Beloit |
| Additional Information: | A two story frame house built in the between c. 1853 and 1858, this vernacular cottage is constructed on an L-shaped plan with gabled roof, bay window, plain and labeled window heads, and unornamented clapboarding. The building was formerly a single family residence; it now serves as both a residence and apartments, and it is in excellent condition. It is owned by the Board of Trustees at Beloit College, 700 College Street, Beloit, Wisconsin. This building is architecturally significant in that it represents a type, period or method of construction. Historical Statement: Although built in the mid-1850s by H. N. Brinsmade (see Bib. Ref. A), minister of the First Congregational Church (see Bib. Ref. E), the house at 647 College Street is most closely associated with the life of its second owner and long-term resident, James J. Blaisdell. Blaisdell came to Beloit in 1859 to accept a teaching position at young Beloit College, becoming the school's second professor of Rhetoric and English Literature. (See Bib. Ref. C). Shortly after his arrival, he purchased the home which was to become his residence for most of the next 37 years. (See Bib. Ref. A). Combining the qualities of an idealistic scholar with those of a civic leader, Blaisdell was a member of Beloit College's "Old Guard" - the group of five men who gave the college its "distinguishing characteristics" and, in the process, helped shape the larger community. (See Bib. Ref. B). Blaisdell's most significant contribution was as a teacher: he was a "mystic," wrote college president Edward Eaton in 1928, "loving the subtle, spiritual qualities of thought and absolved from the limitations of any age or condition." Blaisdell carried that Platonic philosophy to his students, and in 1864, he was awarded the Squier Chair of Mental and Moral Philosphy. (See Bib. Ref. C). But Blaisdell tempered his love of the abstract with a concete commitment to community affairs. Between 1860 and his death in 1896, Blaisdell served variously as chaplain to the 40th Wisconsin Volunteers during the Civil War, superintendent of Beloit's public schools, director of the Beloit YMCA, vice-president of the Wisconsin Academy of Science, Arts, and Letters, and was an active conservationist who helped create Beloit's Big Hill Park. (See Bib. Ref. D). This building is historically significant because it is associated with the lives of significant persons and because it was associated with the development of Beloit College. According to R. H. Irrmann, Irrmann was told by Dr. R. K. Richardson that the Blaisdells had said that this house was three separate houses put together. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Beloit Tax Records, RCHS Archives. (B) Eaton, Edward, Historical Sketches of Beloit College, Barnes: New York, 1928, pp. 61-62. (C) Book of Beloit, 1936, pp. 42-43. (D) Irrman, Robert H., "James Joshua Blaisdell," unpublished manuscripts, RCHS Archives, 1981. (E) Rock County Directories, 1858-1906. (F) Historical Sites and Points of Interest in Rock County, Wisconsin by the Rock County Tourism Council, May 1994. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |