Property Record
12323 WATERTOWN PLANK RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Luther and Harriet Clapp House |
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| Reference Number: | 9011 |
| Location (Address): | 12323 WATERTOWN PLANK RD |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Wauwatosa |
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| Year Built: | 1856 |
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| Additions: | 1976 1985 |
| Survey Date: | 19952020 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
| Structural System: | Timber Frame |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
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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 Greek Revival house, with a clapboard exterior and bracketed eaves, was built by a First Congregational Church minister, Rev. Clapp. He, and his wife Harriet, were active promoters of the Underground Railroad. He died in 1894 and she died the following year. The building was moved from its original site. Luther Clapp was born in West Hampton, Massachusetts, in 1819 and graduated from Williams’ College. He attended the Andover Theological Seminary and moved to Wauwatosa for the American Home Missionary Society upon graduating in 1945. The same year, he married Harriet Stedman and the couple had six children. Clapp was the popular and influential pastor of the First Congregational Church of Wauwatosa from 1845 to 1873. The Clapp House, built in 1856, originally stood at 1828 Wauwatosa Avenue near the nineteenth-century village of Wauwatosa. The house was renovated, and an addition was completed in 1926. However, slated for demolition in 1976 to make room for an addition to the adjacent high school, the building was moved to its present site at 12323 Watertown Plank Road. A leader in early Wauwatosa, Clapp was an active supporter of the Underground Railway and his house reportedly served as a safe station for runaway slaves, fleeing the American south for Canada until the advent of the Civil War. Additionally, he was an active promoter of the temperance movement and was instrumental in Wauwatosa remaining dry until the late nineteenth century with no taverns in the community. After retiring from the church, Clapp conducted missionary work across Midwest for the Milwaukee Congregational Convention until the end of his life. Reverend Luther Clapp died in 1894 in Wauwatosa. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Wauwatosa Cemetery Walking Tour brochure published by the Wauwatosa Historic Preservation Commission in 2001. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |