Property Record
524 HIGHLAND AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | ENSIGN HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 71214 |
| Location (Address): | 524 HIGHLAND AVE |
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| County: | Rock |
| City: | Beloit |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1876 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19912015 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| 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: | HOUSE IS OF DIMUNITIVE SIZE. ONE STORY HIGH WITH A THREE BAY FACADE. T-PLAN, TWO ROOMS WIDE AND THREE ROOMS DEEP WITH A FULL CENTRAL-FRONT GABLE DORMER THAT ENCLOSES AN APPLIED ORNAMENT MADE OF THIN WOOD LATHES, FRAMED IN A WOODEN ARCH AND TOPPED WITH A POINTED ARROW. THE DECORATION IMITATES AN ATTIC VENT BUT IS APPLIED AND NON-FUNCTIONAL. THE WINDOW MOLDINGS ARE CAVETTO, NEARLY QUARTER-ROUND, THUS EMPHASIZING THE FENESTRATION. A HIPPED-ROOF PORCH ENTRY DISPLAYS DECORATIVE BRACKETS UNDER THE EAVES AND IS SUPPORTED BY HALF-TURNED-ENGAGED POSTS THAT ARE ALSO BRACKETED. FRONT POSTS AND PORCH FLOORING ARE RECENT REPLACEMENTS. MRS. S.D. ENSIGN OWNED TWO OTHER BRASSTOWN COTTAGES, ONE AT 360 HIGHLAND AVE. AND THE OTHER AT 513 VERNON AVE. THIS ONE AT 524 HIGHLAND AVE. WAS VALUED AT $300 AT THE TIME OF CONSTRUCTION. THIS HOUSE IS SIGNIFICANT UNDER CRITERION A FOR ITS ASSOCIATION WITH THE BROAD PATTERN OF INDUSTRIALIZATION IN BELOIT. IT ALSO HAS INTEGRITY OF LOCATION, DESIGN, SETTING, WORKMANSHIP, MATERIALS, FEELING AND ASSOCIATION. ONE ASPECT OF INDUSTRIALIZATION WAS THE GROWING POPULATION AND THE NEED TO PROVIDE AFFORDABLE HOUSING FOR INDUSTRY WORKERS NEAR THE FACTORIES LOCATED ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE ROCK RIVER. BRASSTOWN COTTAGES FULFILLED THIS BASIC NEED, FURNISHING WORKERS WITH SINGLE-DWELLING VERNACULAR FRAME HOUSES ON RELATIVELY SPACIOUS CITY LOTS. MOREOVER THE COTTAGES' MODEST BUT DISTINCTIVE PROFILES FOUND IN THEIR VARIETY OF SIZE AND ORNAMENTATION CONVEYED A SENSE OF INDIVIDUALITY WHILE AT THE SAME TIME BEING IDENTIFIED WITH THE LARGE INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX. BELOIT'S RAPID GROWTH FROM THE 1880S TO THE 1920S WAS A DIRECT RESULT OF THIS INDUSTRIALIZATION AND CREATED THE CITYSCAPE OF BELOIT TODAY. IT WAS IN THIS PERIOD OF HEAVY INDUSTRIALIZATION AND GROWTH THAT MOST OF THE EXTANT BRASSTOWN COTTAGES WERE BUILT. MANY OF THE OWNERS OF BRASSTOWN COTTAGES WERE SKILLED WORKERS APPLYING THEIR SPECIALIZED KNOWLEDGE TO THE MACHINE-MAKING AND PAPER-MAKING INDUSTRIES OF BELOIT. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) BELOIT TAX ROLLS, 1870-1885. (B) BELOIT CITY DIRECTORIES, 1872, 1889. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |