Property Record
100 RIVER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | George Whiting Paper Company Mill |
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| Other Name: | George Whiting Paper Company Mill |
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| Reference Number: | 61049 |
| Location (Address): | 100 RIVER ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
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| Year Built: | 1888 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | mill |
| Architectural Style: | Astylistic Utilitarian Building |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | Yes |
| Demolished Date: | 2021 |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Surveyed in 1986, 1993. F in the photo codes is short for FCS. #590. FCS 6/32 - GEORGE WHITING PAPER CO. MILL (B) - this gabled, channelside block of a T-shaped papermill is two-and-a-half stories tall. Built of brick and roofed with corrugated metal, it has two cement block additions abutting its downstream endwall: a shed-roofed square at the left, and a taller flat-roofed rectangle at right. The Italianate character of the early construction has been diminished by the brick infilling of most of the stone-silled, segmental-arched windows. A few windows have been reduced to hold glass block inserts. Below corbeled cornices, the gables have paired round-arched windows flanked by smaller, lower segmental-arched windows. Difficult to reconcile all survey photos with extant buildings due to lack of full access to the property. See also AHI#61052, 61046, 61051. The following material is from the 2009 Intensive Survey of Menasha: While full access was not obtained for survey of this industrial property, the views from River Street and Water Street, as well as an aerial view indicate that this property is comprised of a number of attached brick buildings that range between one and two stories (and, in some cases, plus raised basement) in height. Many, if not most, window openings of the overall complex have been either bricked in or filled in with glass block and most roofs have been covered with metal. A large brick stack remains intact along the south side of the block. Standing separately from the factory complex is the small, one-story, hipped-roof, brick-faced office building that rises from a rusticated foundation. Windows of the office are round-arched and suggest modest Georgian Revival styling. A smaller, one-story addition has been more recently added to the north elevation of the office. The buildings date to as early as circa 1888 (post-fire); however, the complex, as it stands today, was largely in place by no later than 1926. Since last surveyed in 1986 (or 1993?), the only building that appears to be no longer extant is a frame, two-car garage. The George Whiting Paper Company was established in 1881, by New York native George Whiting, who was born in 1849. At the age of five, he and his parents headed west and settled in Ripon, Wisconsin, where he attended the local schools. At the age of sixteen, Whiting left Ripon for Neenah, where he began work as a store clerk at Pettibone & Jones, after which he was promoted to traveling salesman. He became aware early of the paper industry and invested first in Kimberly-Clark but withdrew shortly thereafter and became associated with the Winnebago Paper Mills (later Bergstrom Paper). In 1881, he formed a partnership with William Gilbert and built a paper mill in Menasha, which was named the George Whiting Paper Company. Five years later, Whiting purchased Gilbert's interest and, in 1888, the original plant exploded. Fourteen people were killed, but all were bystanders, not actual Whiting company employees. The company was quick to rebuild. Producing high-end custom paper, the firm remains in business today and continues to operate independently, making them one of the few independently owned paper companies in the United States. Additional photo code: FCS 6/31. #590. FCS 6/31 - GEORGE WHITING PAPER CO. MILL (A) - this three-story gabled, utilitarian building is the perpendicular, landward wing of a T-shaped papermill. The simple Italianate character of the original construction has been compromised by the brick infilling of each story's range of stone-silled segmental-arched windows. The only remaining, reduced window opening is a square aperture in the third story. A tall metal vent hood rises from the center of the wing's corrugated metal roof. An open shed at the left of the ground story shields a loading dock and an entry ramp. A square tower abutting the downstream, left edge of the building's landward gable has an openwork company sign mounted on its flat roof. |
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| Bibliographic References: | City of Menasha. Please see bib listing for the George Whiting Paper Company Office, AHI#61051. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |