Property Record
338 N MILWAUKEE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Otto L. Kuehn Tobacco Warehouse |
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| Other Name: | Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 98162 |
| Location (Address): | 338 N MILWAUKEE ST |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1907 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2000 |
| Historic Use: | warehouse |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Historic Third Ward District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 3/8/1984 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | Five story corbelled cornice red brick curtain walls over poured concrete frame, double hung windows, relatively intact exterior. In the 1880s Milwaukee manufactured more tobacco than any other city in the NW except Chicago. Whether handling native leaves or the more desireable imported tobacco, the number of wholesalers and manufacturers in Milwaukee grew steadily between 1880 and 1910 as cigar smoking became more fashionable and skilled immigrant labor more plentiful. Most of the city's 15 or so wholesale leaf tobacco firms were located in the Third Ward. This building was occupied in part by Otto L. Kuehn, a German who had been active in Milwaukee's brokerage business for 24 years and was the leaf tobacco warehouse of Schuster Bros., a wholesale firm established in 1878 as Schuster & Fitts. The basement was used for drying tobacco, the first floor was occupied by Kuehn's business, the fourth floor was used for sorting and the fifth floor held the "sweat" rooms. In 1913, Schuster Bros. moved one block west and the building has subsequently been used by a variety of companies for offices, manufacturing, and storage. It has recently been purchased, occupied and rennovated by the Erv. Julian Shade Co., shade and blind manufacturers and sellers since 1900, which leases some storage space to Marine Bank Co. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Permit. Historic Third Ward Historic Walking Tour, Historic Third Ward Association, 2009. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |