| Additional Information: | House characterized by a one-third enclosed front porch. The roofline of the porch spans the entire front of the house. Open two-thirds section of the porch is supported with two full-turned posts and noe half-turned engaged post. In Eastlake style, the posts are bracketed and support an upper-turned spindle rail that reaches the full width of the open two-thirds of the porch. Front gable on main block. House has had one addition to its T-extension. The enclosed porch area has a stained glass window on east facade. House is two rooms wide and three and 1/2 rooms deep. Storage shed off T extension. Has wide cornice board. Interior has front bedroom partially located in the enclosed porch area and a bath behind. Living room on opposite side. Dining room and kitchen form T extension. Second floor, attic story, has two bedrooms. Porch enclosed as of 1908. Probably part of original design.
Mrs. S.D. Ensign owned two other Brasstown Cottages at 524 Highland Ave. (219/9) and 513 Vernon Ave. (219/5). This one at 360 Highland Ave. was built in 1872 and valued at $500 at that time.
This house is isgnificant under criterion A, event, because it retains integrity in location, design, setting, workmanship, materials, feeling and association in order to convey the broad pattern of industrialization in Beloit. One aspect of this industrialization was the growing population and the need to provide affordable housing for industry workers near the factories located on the westside of the Rock River. Brasstown Cottages fulfilled this basic need, furnishing workers with single-dwelling vernacular frame houses on relatively spacious city lots. Moreover the Cottages' modest but distinctive profiles found in their variety of size and ornamentation conveyed a sense of individuality while at the same time being identified with the large industrial complex. Beloit's rapid growth from the 1880s to the 1920s was a direct result of this industrialization and created the cityscape of Beloit today. It was in this period of heavy industrialization and growth that most of the extant Brasstown Cottages were built. Many of the owners of Brasstown cottages were skilled workers applying their specialized knowledge to the machine-making and paper-making industries of Beloit. |
|---|
| Bibliographic References: | (A) Beloit City Tax Rolls, 1870-1885, Rock County Historical Society Archives, Janesville, WI.
(B) Beloit City Directories, 1872, 1889 Rock County Historical Society Archives, Janesville, WI and the Beloit Historical Society, Beloit, WI.
(C) Beloit Intensive Survey, Beloit, WI, 1981.
(D) Massey, James C. and Shirley Maxwell, "The illustrated Old House Glossary," (n.p.: The Historic House Association of America), 1983.
(E) Sanborn Map, City of Beloit, 1908, The State Historical Society of Wisconsin, Archives, Madison, WI. |
|---|
