Property Record
1515 BANGOR ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Union House |
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| Other Name: | Union Hotel |
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| Reference Number: | 72440 |
| Location (Address): | 1515 BANGOR ST |
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| County: | La Crosse |
| City: | Bangor |
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| Year Built: | 1889 |
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| Additions: | 1898 |
| Survey Date: | 19772020 |
| Historic Use: | lodging-hotel |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | This two-story Commercial Vernacular building was constructed in 1889 as the Union House Hotel with a one-story rear addition completed in 1898. The building is freestanding and rectangular in plan with stuccoed walls (added over the original brick after 1977) and a flat roof with a heavy cornice that wraps around the north and west elevations. The cornice features diminutive brackets at regular intervals and heavy brackets at each corner. The front elevation of the building faces north and is asymmetrical in plan with the historic storefront located at the far western end of the façade. This storefront retains its three-part composition (with stuccoed posts dividing each bay), but has been infilled with stone veneer. Downsized pairs of 1-over-1 windows are located in the outer two bays with a single doorway located in the center bay. This is accessed via a concrete stoop. East of the historic storefront location are a single doorway with single-pane transom and five regularly-spaced 1-over-1 windows. The second story of the north elevation contains eight 1-over-1 windows (the center six windows are regularly spaced while the outer windows at each end are spaced at wider intervals). A triangular parapet caps the center of the north elevation above the cornice and displays the building’s year of construction (1889) at its center. The west elevation (facing 16th Avenue South) contains two 1-over-1 windows and a small single-pane window at the first story and three 1-over-1 windows at the second story. The Union House Hotel (known alternately as the Union Hotel) was constructed in 1889 and was operated by Brigadetta Richter. In addition to hotel rooms, the building contained a billiard hall and saloon at the western end of the first floor. A one-story kitchen addition was constructed along the rear elevation in 1892 and a one-story porch along the eastern elevation was extended to wrap around the south elevation between 1898 and 1904. Ideally situated at a prominent corner location across the railroad tracks from the depot, the Union House catered to a variety of business travelers, local visitors, and overnighting train passengers as well as regular boarders for much of its history. Following the advent of Prohibition in 1920, the hotel’s saloon was noted in public documents as serving soft drinks, although local memory suggests that it became a well-known speakeasy during this period. The building continued to serve as a hotel through at least 1945 when it was noted as containing 19 rooms, including a bar room, dining room, and lobby. By 1977, the building had been converted to its current use as an apartment building and the porches were removed from the east and south elevations. In more recent years, the building’s brick walls were clad in stucco and the original 2-over-2 windows were replaced with the current 1-over-1 windows. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Building inscription. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |