Property Record
36245 MAIN ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Trempealeau County Courthouse |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 64822 |
| Location (Address): | 36245 MAIN ST |
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| County: | Trempealeau |
| City: | Whitehall |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1956 |
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| Additions: | 1967 1976 1981 |
| Survey Date: | 19812013 |
| Historic Use: | courthouse |
| Architectural Style: | Contemporary |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | Late Modernistic (reinforced concrete) brick courthouse with Deco-like sculptural reliefs; fragment of Italianate courthouse attached to rear (scheduled for demo., fall '81). This site has served as the seat of Trempealeau County government since 1884. Prior to, the first county courthouse was built in the City of Galesville, in 1856. In 1876 county citizens voted to remove the county seat to Arcadia, and in 1877, to Whitehall. The courthouse at Whitehall was started in 1883 and completed in 1884. An addition housing a jail was erected in 1886. Both of the buildings were rebuilt and modernized in 1911. In the summer of 1956, this two-story building was finished in front of, and attached to, the old courthouse, more than doubling the office space of the early structure. A second two-story addition was made in 1967 and another in 1976. The old courthouse (AHI #51924) was demolished in 1981 and a new jail and courthouse addition constructed in its place. After the completion of the new jail, the old jail was demolished for parking. 2013: The Trempealeau County Courthouse is a large, two-story cream brick Modern building constructed in 1956. The main, east facade consists of an ordered array of multi-part windows and two-story recessed entrances at the north and south ends. The entryways are framed in a rough, gray stone and have walls of a dark, polished stone. Northwest and southwest wing additions with similar exterior design were constructed in the 1960s and 1970s. At the far southwest corner of the property is a c.1920 cream brick, three-car garage (AHI No. 64819) with a front gable roof. Centered on the east elevation is a double door flanked by a six-over-six, double hung sash wood window on each side. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “History of Trempealeau County,” typed Manuscript dated January 1992 contained in Local History Room, Whitehall Public Library, Whitehall, WI. “Architecture and History Survey: USH 53” WHS project number 13-0879/TR. November 2013. Prepared by Mead & Hunt Inc. “Architecture and History Survey: STH 121” WHS project number 13-1097/TR. April 2013. Prepared by Rachel E. Bankowitz. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |