Property Record
430 AHNAIP ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Gilbert Paper Co. Office |
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| Other Name: | Law office |
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| Reference Number: | 59514 |
| Location (Address): | 430 AHNAIP ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
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| Year Built: | 1919 |
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| Additions: | |
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| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Colonial Revival/Georgian Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Childs & Smith |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 1984/86--This office building for a papermill is a story-and-a-half Georgian Revival ell. Built of red brick and trimmed with light colored stone and white-painted wood, it has a shallow hipped roof and round-arched dormers. A dentilled cornice surrounds the building and projects above the entablature of an ornate entry way with engaged Tuscan columns. Flanked on each side by three flat-arched windows with light colored keystones and white-painted sash, the recessed entry has a pair of panelled doors surmounted by a traceried fanlight. The visible right sidewall is detailed and arrayed like the landward facade, but where the middle dormer of the facade is aligned with the doorway, the sidewall's middle dormer surmounts a blank portion of the wall. A stone-trimmed chimney with three terra cotta chimney pots rises above the left slope of the main roof. The Gilbert paper Company was founded in 1886 with a capital stock of $100,000. Originally associated with George A. Whiting, William Gilbert Sr. formed a seperate paper company with his sons William, Albert, Theodore, and George. Built on the Lawson Canal in the year of its completion, the Gilbert Paper Mill was the third paper manufacturing operation in the city. A second paper machine was added in 1891, a third in 1919. The third expansion marked the end of the company's dependance on water power, filling in the canal which had been the original site selection rationale. This major expansion also included offices designed by Childs & Smith of Chicago. A gatehouse was added to the complex by 1926, while the offices were expanded sometime after that date. Throughout its history the company has produced higher quality cotton fibre content papers including bond, ledger, index, and onion skin papers. While the mills themselves have undergone extensive alteration and expansion, the offices and gatehouse remain relatively untouched by time. The Gilbert Paper Company Offices and Gatehouse reflect the prosperity of the paper industry in the early 20th century, as well as the corporate image sought by the Gilbert family. The Gilbert Paper Company Offices are located in the milling district that follows the river along Ahnaip Street. The one-story offices are built on an "H" plan and the roof is hipped. The roofing material is asphalt, the walls red brick with a stretcher bond, and the foundations poured concrete. The fenstration is formally balanced with multipaned sash and three hoop dormers. Decorative features included a dentilled cornice, keystones, and a front entrance incorporating Doric columns and a fan light around the paneled door. The Gatehouse is a one-story cube with a hipped roof. The roofing materials are asphalt, the walls are brick, and the foundations are poured concrete. The Gilbert Paper Company Office and Gatehouse are distinguished as one of two extant paper company offices in Menasha. The offices are further distinguished as a fine example of the Colonial Revival period of construction as adapted to industrial use. Other prominent examples of this style in Menasha include the Memorial Building (74-30, 640 Keyes Street), Menasha High School (90-23, 420 Seventh St.), Riverlea (74-34, 836 Keyes St.), and the U.S. Post Office (83-23, 84 Racine St.). 2009--Since last surveyed in 1984, no apparent exterior changes have been made. The following material is from the 2009 Intensive Survey report of Menasha: Once part of the greater Gilbert Paper Company property along the Menasha Canal, the office and gatehouse, as well as the former powerhouse, still remain extant to date. Both the office and gatehouse are Georgian Revival in styling and are sheathed with red brick. The office is two stories in height; the lower level of which is constructed of concrete and used for parking. The original office block is that which is adjacent to Ahnaip Street and was completed in 1919. This section is topped with a hipped roof that carries three, round-arched dormers with original multiple-light sashes. The primary facade (facing southeast) has a central doorway set within a classical surround with columns to either side and a fanlight transom with tracery above. A series of three, regularly placed windows are located to either side of the door and each are topped with a brickwork lintel with a keystone; wooden dentils line the roof's eave. The windows themselves are eight-over-twelve sash examples. Behind the original block is an addition that was added by no later than 1926 and, with the front block, forms the letter "H". Dormers along this section are also round-arched, multiple-light examples, while the sash windows along the first floor are one-over-one-light replacements. Wooden panel-and-glass, overhead garage doors remain intact along the visible east side of the building. Three, wide brick chimneys are located along the west side of the structure. The gatehouse is located to the east of the office, on the east side of the property#25;s main driveway. Largely shielded by trees and bushes, the one-story, hipped-roof structure features dentil trim at the roof#25;s eave and rises from a concrete foundation. A three-sided bay is visible along its west side and windows throughout the building are one-over-one-light sash examples. The Gilbert Paper Company was established in 1887 by William Gilbert Sr. and his sons William Jr., Albert, Theodore and George. Gilbert Jr. had previously been in business with George A. Whiting, who operated the George Whiting Co. paper mill on River Street in Menasha. The Gilbert concern was built on the Lawson Canal the year of the canal#25;s completion and was the third paper-manufacturing operation in the city. Designed by the Chicago firm of Childs & Smith, the front portion of the office was completed in 1919 and the rear by no later than 1926. The gatehouse to the northeast was also completed by 1926. In 1960, the firm was purchased by the Mead Corporation and, in 2001, by the Fox River Paper Company. Information from the 1986 survey indicates that throughout its history, the company produced "higher quality, cotton-fibre content papers including bond, ledger, index and onion skin papers." The complex, which once included a significant number of buildings and associated additions, is currently under demolition as the site is being prepared for redevelopment. At this time, the office, gatehouse and the former powerhouse are planned to remain. The former paper company office currently serves as the law offices for a number of attorneys. Fox River Valley Industrial Survey The Gilbert Paper Company, founded by William Gilbert, Sr. and his four sons following a partnership with George Whiting in 1887, was the third largest paper mill established in Menasha. The company grew quickly, adding a second paper machine in 1891, and a third in 1919, when a large office was constructed for the company along Ahnaip Street. The one and one-half story brick office building, designed in the Georgian Revival style, was constructed in 1919 and designed by the Chicago-based architecture firm of Childs and Smith. This expansion also included the filling-in of the canal north of the mill site and the construction of a powerplant. The office was expanded to the rear, and a seperate gatehouse was constructed in 1926. By the 1950s, the Gilbert Paper Company was one of the largest in Wisconsin, focused on producing high-quality cotton fibre paper for bond and ledger uses. The company was purchased by the Mead Corporation in 1960 and a renovation of the office, which include a series of lower-level service garages, was completed in 1962. After being purchased by the Fox River Paper Company, the paper mill closed in 2001 and was demolished a few years later. All that remain of the mill and its history are a small gatehouse and the company office building, which presently serves as office space. The Gilbert Paper Company Office is significant under Criterion C: Architecture as an excellent example of an early twentieth century Revival style office building. The building is also significant under Criterion A: History in the area of Industry for its role in the Menasha paper industry. The period of significance for the property would extend from 1919 to 1960. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Shattuck, S.F., A History of Neenah. George Banta Publishing Co., 1958. Neenah, WI, p. 307. (B) Menasha Record, August 9, 1918. (C) Sanborn-Perris Map; Menasha, WI. 1913, 1926. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |