| Additional Information: | Built for an inn by William A. Blencoe in the hopes that a village would grow around it, this large structure contained a ballroom, a store, a tavern, and an ice house. The first ball was held on Christmas Eve, 1875; the owner died 4 days later.
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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation.
2024 - The Blencoe Block, located at 12201 State Highway 95 on the western outskirts of Alma Center, was constructed by William Blencoe, a successful businessman from Alma Center in the mid-nineteenth century. He was born in England in 1822. A tradesman, he married his wife Mary in 1855 and had eight children with her. In 1860, the family immigrated to the U.S., settling in Alma Center, Wisconsin. With his wealth and local prestige, he constructed a large brick inn at the western edge of the village in 1875, near where the railroad passed through his farm, hoping that Alma Center would grow around it. The inn contained several boarding rooms, a store, tavern, ballroom, and an icehouse. On Christmas Eve 1875, Blencoe threw an inaugural ball at the building, but sadly, he died only a few days later. Known locally as the “Brick Block,” Mary and her children continued to live in the building to operate the surrounding Blencoe Farm but were forced to abandon all plans for the inn, store and ballroom due to financial constraints. She eventually sold the property before her death in 1921, which continued to be used as a residence and farm throughout the twentieth century.
The Blencoe Block is a rectangular, two-story commercial building with a raised basement along the north elevation. Constructed in 1875 as a roadside inn on a mixed stone and brick foundation, the large building has a brick parapet roof capped with metal flashing. The brick exterior is laid in American bond that appears to have been painted several times. A cornice line with a dentils and a water table course is located below the metal flashing. Windows throughout are primarily four-over-four double-hung wood with stone sills and brick, segmental arch openings and molds. Some of the fenestration has been significantly altered: there is evidence of a series of masonry openings being added, enclosed and/or removed. The façade, which faces north to the highway, has a fenestration pattern comprised of X-D-D-X-D-X, with two wood doors set in brick, segmental arch openings at the ground level. There is an overhead garage door centered along the façade in an opening that has been partially enclosed. The first-floor level of the façade has six windows, covered with aluminum storm windows; this level also has a central, enclosed door or window opening that is set lower than the other windows along the first floor. The second floor of the façade has seven matching windows, spaced unevenly apart. The west elevation has two windows on the first floor and a single, smaller sliding metal window at the south end in a formerly larger opening. There are four windows on the second floor of the west elevation. The south elevation has five windows on the first floor; this southern façade also has a partially enclosed wood porch with a shed roof towards its western end. The second floor has seven windows, spaced equally apart. The east elevation has two windows on the first floor; it additionally has a contemporary sunroom addition at the south end, complete with vinyl siding, vinyl windows, and a shed roof that opens onto a wood deck. The second floor of the east elevation has four windows.
The property around the building to the south is relatively flat. There are ruins of a frame machine shed, clad with corrugated metal to the south of the Blencoe Block building. To the west of the Blencoe Block is a metal windmill, a clay tile silo, and stone foundation ruins, implying that the property was used as a farm for some time. Given the changes to the building over time, it is likely that the Blencoe Block was used for different purposes at different times, including as an inn, as an industrial building, as storage, and as a farmhouse.
The Blencoe Block as an intact example of a late-nineteenth-century rural commercial building in Jackson County. The building was constructed as an ambitious and large masonry inn on the outskirts of Alma Center in 1875. The Blencoe Block property has likely served several uses since its construction, including an agricultural one, given the collection of farm-related outbuildings around it. While there have been a few changes over time, the building as a whole retains its integrity of location, setting, association, feeling, materials, and workmanship. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Historic Jackson County Map, 1976.
Architecture and History Survey. October 2005. Prepared by Timothy F. Heggland.
2024 - Historic Architectural Survey for the Grid Forward -- Central Wisconsin Transmission Line Project, prepared by Stantec, Inc., for PSCW, on behalf of ATC
- Snyder, Van Vechen, and Co., Illustrated Historical Atlas of Wisconsin - Map of Jackson County, State of Wisconsin (1878); “William Blencoe,” Ancestry, accessed May 2024
- Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office, “Jackson County Site Files.”
- Jean Anderson, “Wrong Hunch in 19th Century Leaves ‘Brick Block’ Standing,” Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, December 27, 1975. Accessed online May 2024 at https://www.newspapers.com.
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