Property Record
504 E DECKER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Bekkedal Leaf Tobacco Warehouse |
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| Other Name: | Northern Wisconsin Co-op Tobacco Pool |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 72621 |
| Location (Address): | 504 E DECKER ST |
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| County: | Vernon |
| City: | Viroqua |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
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| Year Built: | 1906 |
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| Additions: | 1922 |
| Survey Date: | 2000 |
| Historic Use: | warehouse |
| Architectural Style: | German Renaissance Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | E.M. Bekkedal; Parkinson and Dockendorff |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Bekkedal Leaf Tobacco Warehouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 11/14/2003 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 7/18/2003 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. Decorative step gable end with attic round window. This brick warehouse was constructed for Martin Bekkedal in 1906 to house the tobacco he purchased from the area farmers. In 1893, Martin Bekkedal, a Norwegian immigrant who arrived in America in 1884, went to Vernon county tobacco growers after the buyers had left and purchased unwanted scraps. From this beginning Bekkedal built a tobacco business in Westby and Viroqua based largely on the trust of Norwegian growers. By 1897, he established a tobacco warehouse and accumulated a net worth estimated at two million dollars by the 1920s. Bekkedal went bankrupt in the 1920s and the Tobacco Coop moved into his buildings. In the mid-1880s, there were 616 acres of tobacco grown in Vernon County; and by 1945, there were 7,121 acres. The Bekkedal warehouse no longer functions as a tobacco warehouse. The Bekkedal warehouse is one of three, brick, well-preserved tobacco warehouses (map codes 41/19 and 41/21) adjacent to one another that contributed to the tobacco industry. Approximately 7 additional tobacco warehouses, of which most are metal covered and now used for other purposes, remain along the old railroad track north of the three brick warehouses. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Eau Claire Country Today 10/29/1997. Virocqua Vernon County Broadcaster 11/18/1999. Plaque. Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |