| Additional Information: | Two-story brick house has authentic early Queen Anne features such as the projecting balconies, spindle decoration and complex massing.
2020: Identified alterations include the following: (1) the removal of the original wooden gable trim at the peak of the southern-facing gabled wing and the more recent (post-2002) addition of decorative wooden bracket-like trim along the entire eave; (2), the replacement of the original square wooden shinglework with fish-scale shingles along the porches; (3) the loss of a short length of a spindlework on the second-floor, southern porch; and (4) a good number of the original sash windows have been replaced with single-pane examples.
2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
Sheathed largely with cream-colored brick, this two-story, Queen Anne-style house is topped with a gabled roof covered with asphalt shingles. Rusticated stone outlines the windows of the gabled wing that faces Niagara Avenue, as well as the first-floor windows of the gabled projection to the east. Turned posts and spindled railings and friezes adorn both the first- and second-floor porches, while decorative wooden brackets line the south-facing gabled eaves. Wooden fish-scale shingles cover those areas not finished in brick or stone. Windows throughout the house are replacements, with many being single pane examples.
Built in 1893, the original owners of this house were August F. W. & Augusta Kamptz. August was born in Prussia in 1855 and immigrated to the United States in 1881, where he first resided in Ohio and worked as a stone mason. The following year, he and German-born Augusta Jonas married; they had five children. They moved to Sheboygan in 1887, where August became a well-known mason contractor and Augusta was a mid-wife/nurse. After first living on 7th Street and then the 400 block of Huron Avenue, they moved in 1893 to the subject house, which was presumably built by August himself. Just two years later, the Kamptzes moved to rural Kiel, where August operated a brickyard and lime kiln. He died in 1904. Augusta died in 1940. From circa 1897 to circa 1907, the home was occupied by the family of Henry Muehlenberg Sr., captain of a fish tug. During their last year there, the upper level, or a portion thereof, was a rental. City directories would indicate that by no later than circa 1915, it may have been operating as a rooming house. Among the roomers was local fisherman Charles Raatz, who would remain in the home until his death in 1941; his wife Minnie remained there until 1980. The house was named a Sheboygan County landmark in 1977 and renovated for use as offices in 1983.
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Sheboygan Press 5/14/1989.
LJM Architects, Inc. City of Sheboygan, Wisconsin: Architectural and Historical Intensive Survey Report. City of Sheboygan Historic Preservation Commission & Department of City Development; 2002, 2004 & 2006.
Citations for the 2020-2024 Targeted Resurvey of Sheboygan recommendation write-up:
Dayton (Ohio) City Directory, 1886; August Kamptz in Ohio, U.S., County Marriage Records, 1774-1993, Both available online at www.Ancestry.com, Accessed September 2023; Sheboygan City Directory, 1887-88, 1891; 1893, 1895-96, 1897-98, 1902, 1904-05, 1906-07, 1908-09, 1910-11, 1912-13, 1915-16; U.S. Federal Census, Population, 1900; Wisconsin State Census, 1905, Population, Available online at www.Ancestry.com; Kiel, Wisconsin (N.p., N.p., undated), 14, Booklet available online at https://search.library.wisc.edu/digital/A43YWIZV46LZST9C/pages/ ARPFN3EXXLPRDE9A, Accessed May 2023; “25 Years Ago,” (re: August Kamptz) in The Sheboygan Press, 6 July 1929, 8; “Mrs. Kamptz of Howards Grove Called to Rest,” The Sheboygan Press, 10 July 1940, 2. Although her obituary cites they were married in Germany, the Ohio marriage records clearly indicate otherwise. Likewise, August’s notice of death indicated that they had divorced and the 1900 census also cites twice divorced; however, Augusta’s obituary suggests otherwise. Notably, their only surviving son, who was likely responsible for the obituary information, was only about seven years old at the time of August’s death. “Charles F. Raatz is Called to Rest Here This Morning,” The Sheboygan Press, 24 June 1941, 2; “Landmarking Ceremonies Saturday…The Presence of the Past,” The Sheboygan Press, 29 September 1977, 10; “Minnie (Schmidt Raatz) Manthey,” Obituary, The Sheboygan Press, 17 May 1980, 4. Neither tax rolls nor deeds were reviewed to determine whether the Kamptzes retained ownership of the home after they moved. According to the Raatz family, the house was condemned in 1912 and it was rebuilt by Raatz. It is unclear as to what, exactly, “rebuilt” entailed. It is known that as of 1915, at least four people lived at the house, one of them being Raatz, “Now Housing Business Firms…Landmarked Home Renovated,” The Sheboygan Press, 24 September 1983, 3. |
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