Property Record
129 3RD AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Clavadatscher Block |
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| Other Name: | Ploetz Furniture |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 94659 |
| Location (Address): | 129 3RD AVE |
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| County: | Sauk |
| City: | Baraboo |
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| Year Built: | 1888 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19892014 |
| Historic Use: | large retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | George Capener |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Downtown Baraboo Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/8/2015 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/15/2014 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Tobias Clavadatscher constructed a new building to house ‘The Fair’ dry goods business at 125-129 3rd Avenue in 1888. The 52 by 134 foot building has a metal cornice, terminated with small finials, which stretch across the roofline, interrupted at the center by two brackets flanking a triangular recession. Two piers flank the central, rounded window which separates it from two large, tripartite commercial window openings on either side. The first floor has been substantially altered. Photographs and sanborn maps indicated that the building likely had an ironwork arcade and columns across the front. In 1902, the Livingstone Brothers purchased the Fair store from Clavadatscher and continued to use the name. In 1906, the Livingstone’s went out of business and the storefront was rented out in parcels. Initially, ‘The Fair’ occupied both sides of the two front block, but in 1906 the store was divided. The Baraboo Business College opened on the second floor of the building in 1908 and taught bookkeeping, arithmetic, penmanship, stenography, typewriting, banking, and commercial law. A number of groceries, theaters, and general merchandise stores occupied the building for a decade. Then Clavadatscher returned and occupied the eastern half and Erswell and Plummer’s furniture renting the other half. They were replaced by Schultz and Dyrud, then Scheible Furniture, who in turn were replaced by Ploetz Furniture in 1949. In 1961, Ploetz reunited both sides of the building as one store. A large sign with fluorescent lights and moderne script, dating from the early 1960s, now features prominently outside of the building. |
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| Bibliographic References: | City of Baraboo Directory records on file with the Sauk County Historical Society. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1885, 1892, 1898, 1904, 1913, and 1927. On file at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wolter, Paul. Notes collected for tours of Downtown Baraboo. Multiple dates. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |