Property Record
820 Water Ave.
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Shear & Mitscher Mercantile |
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| Other Name: | Hillsboro Floral |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 72241 |
| Location (Address): | 820 Water Ave. |
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| County: | Vernon |
| City: | Hillsboro |
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| Year Built: | 1885 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19762022 |
| Historic Use: | small retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Two storied commercial red brick building with flat roof, has a metal cornice, and pediment window hoods on the second floor. 2022: This 2-story Italianate commercial building was constructed in 1885 as the mercantile business of Thomas Shear and Oscar Mitscher. It is rectangular in plan with red brick walls and a flat roof. The front elevation faces northwest and is symmetrical in composition with a recessed center entrance flanked by large shop windows at the first story. The space above the shop windows is clad in vertical boards (or possibly T1-11 siding). The metal-framed glass door and shop windows appear to be mid-twentieth-century replacements. The second story contains four singly-placed, tall, narrow window openings with bracketed pediment window hoods of stone construction. The upper half of the window openings has been boarded over; the lower half of each window contains a single-pane window or a 1-over-1 window. Each window bay is separated by a narrow brick pilaster. The wall above each bay contains raised bands of zig-zag brickwork with corbelling below. Above this, a wide, ornate metal cornice features decorative brackets with diamond detailing between each bracket. A segmentally-arched metal plaque bearing the date “1885” is embedded in the brickwork of the south wall, just below the roofline. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Plaque. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |