Property Record
378 ELM ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Sharpless Property |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 61141 |
| Location (Address): | 378 ELM ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1921 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| Wall Material: | Wood Shingle |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | 2009--Since last surveyed in 1984, there has been no visible changes to the exterior of the house. The following information is from the 2009 Intensive survey of Menasha: Similar to the Elm & Keyes Street Residential Historic District, this Elm Street grouping is a collection of homes that exhibit the size, form and massing, as well as the minimal stylistic detailing that suggests they are the direct product of, or derived from, a plan book or catalogue. This district, which includes ten, two-story, single-family homes, is linear in arrangement and is located along the east side of Elm Street (from 366 to 402), just north of Nicolet Boulevard. The ten homes all appear to have been constructed between 1920 and 1921. The floor plans for six of the ten homes (366, 370, 394, 398 and 402 Elm) appear to remain unchanged from their date of construction; five of the six maintain 575 square feet on each floor, while a larger plan (390 Elm) includes 825 square feet on each floor. The remaining four houses appear to have had modest additions. As originally built, all but 390 Elm (which had four bedrooms) would have had three bedrooms and one bathroom. Of the ten, three (382, 386 and 390) feature a gambrel roof line, five are topped with a double gable, and the remaining two (374 and 402) feature a clipped gable (although it is possible that the clipped gable examples were originally double gables that have been altered). All ten include shed-roofed dormers along one or both roof planes. Like the examples in the similar district to the north, the "front" of the houses are rotated so that it appears the floor plans are different from each other. Originally the homes were sheathed with either clapboard or wooden shingles. Today, some retain their original shingling; however, the rest have been resheathed with vinyl or aluminum, while one example is covered with stucco. The majority of the homes also retain, at least to some degree, their multiple-light windows. The ten homes are located in the Schubert Land Company Re-Plat. The 1921 tax roll cite a number of different owners for the ten lots and they include the following: Banta Publishing Company; Home Building (Association); Menasha Building Association; Menasha Wooden Ware; and a B. Sharpless. The 1920-21 city directory indicates that all of the homes were rentals for at least one year and, aside from one house that was rented by the president of his own manufacturing firm, the remainder were occupied by employees of either Banta Publishing Company, Menasha Wooden Ware Company or the Menasha Printing and Carton Company (which was a division of Menasha Wooden Ware). While the construction of the ten homes appears to have been a response to the nationwide housing shortage of the period, it does not seem to be an initiative of any single company (i.e., company-built housing). However, further research may identify that it was an initiative of the City of Menasha or, perhaps, a group of the city's industrialists. By no later than 1928, all appear to have been individually purchased and owner-occupied. The 1921 tax roll cites B. Sharpless as the property owner. The only Sharpless listed in the Menasha City Directory was Earl Sharpless, who was the sperintendent of the paper mill of the Menasha Packaging & Carton Company. The tenant of the home in 1921 was William H. Nelson, the comptroller at the Menasha Wooden Ware Company and his wife Evelyn. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date of construction and owner from the 1921 tax roll. See 2009 Intensive Survey for footnotes and bib for info below. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |