Property Record
141 N WATER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | BRADLEY AND METCALF SHOE CO. |
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| Other Name: | RELIABLE OF MILWAUKEE |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 71331 |
| Location (Address): | 141 N WATER ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1894 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | industrial bldg/manufacturing facility |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | Brick |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Walter A. Holbrook |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Historic Third Ward District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/8/1984 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
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| Additional Information: | This six-story painted red brick manufacturing building is detailed with ornate foliate panels on the first floor cornice, lotus leaf capitals, decorative wrought iron brackets on old fire platforms, and a large polished granite column at the corner entrance. Mill-constructed wooden floors and posts are also featured. This intact building is significant as a large manufacturing building with well crafted architectural details. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE: In 1843, as Milwaukee was gaining momentum in the leather industry, an enterprising pair of shoe clerks from New York set up a boot and shoe manufacturing wholesale and retail business. Chas. Bradley and William Metcalf began production shortly after setting up shop and employed 70 people and were one of the three largest shoe firms in the city within 15 years. By the mid-1880s they employed 400 workers and increased their output from 300 to 2,000 pairs of shoes daily, and carried on extensive wholesale trade in the west and midwest. In 1894, four years after their incorporation, this factory was built south of the firm's original location. The first and second floors served as a warehouse, the third to sixth floors were occupied by manufacturing. They moved to another location in 1914, and dissolved in 1924. This building was bought by Yahr & Lange Drug Co., a well-established firm of wholesale druggists and chemists, who occupied it for 55 more years. Reliable Knitting Co., based one block away, used the building for its coning, packing and shipping operations. In 1997, this building and the one at 201 N Water St were purchased and developed into condominiums. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Building Permit. B. Building Cornice. C. Milwaukee Journal Sentinel 5/6/1997. D. Historic Third Ward Walking Tour, Historic Third Ward Association, 1998. Historic Third Ward Historic Walking Tour, Historic Third Ward Association, 2009. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |