N6223 County Rd N

N6223 County Rd N

Pepin

Waterville

Arkansaw

25

14

W

24

1931

C. 1960

1982,2026

small retail building

Commercial Vernacular

Brick

No

2026: This former retail store, which currently operates as the Arkansaw Community Center, was constructed in 1931. It is a one-story, Commercial Vernacular building with a front-gabled roof and two shed roof additions. The entire building has a metal roof. The building has a rectilinear footprint and concrete foundation. The north and south (side) elevations are clad in terra cotta tiles laid in a running bond and the façade (east elevation) is clad in smaller terra cotta bricks, also laid in a running bond. The façade is also clad with vertical board beneath the gable. Below the gable is a stone signboard etched with “19 - H. HARTUNG - 31.” The first story storefront is clad with horizontal board beneath the flat roof awning. The storefront contains a recessed central entrance that is flanked by canted window bays featuring 6/6 vinyl windows. There are also pairs of matching windows in the outer bays. The storefront is sheltered by a flat-roof awning supported by three turned wood posts and one replacement wood post. Above the awning, the transom has been enclosed with vertical board. The transom is topped by a lintel of bricks laid in a soldier course. There is an additional secondary entrance on the south elevation of the original building, as well as a 1/1 vinyl window, and a 1-by-1 metal window. The rear shed roof addition appears to have been constructed circa 1960 based on aerial images. It has a rectilinear footprint, concrete foundation and concrete walls. The upper portion of the south elevation wall below the eave is clad with stamped tin. The addition consists of a wood panel pedestrian door and a set of wood carriage doors. There is another shed roof addition on the north elevation that appears to have been constructed circa 2020. This addition is open on the east elevation and shelters a secondary entrance. The walls consist of a continuous concrete pier topped by wood framing that is clad in metal siding. Also on the property is a Free Little Library. It is adjacent to the north elevation of the building and consists of a front-gabled box with a wood single roof and board and batten siding. Henry Hartung was born in 1878 to Pepin County pioneers Adam and Caroline Hartung. After attending the dairy school at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, Henry managed a store and operated a milk separator at a skimming station in the community of Exile. Henry married Matilda Behnke in 1905 and two years later, the couple moved to Arkansaw, where Henry became manager of the Pepin County Cooperative Company store, locally known as “The Peoples Store.” In 1913, Henry purchased the frame store after the cooperative dissolved and continued operating a general goods store out of the building. The masonry building was constructed after a fire destroyed the former cooperative store and much of Arkansaw’s commercial district in 1931. Henry continued to operate the store until the late 1940s, when it was sold to his son, Harland, who managed it until the early 1980s.

2026: - Francena Brooks, Glimpses of Arkansaw (Arkansaw, Wis.: Arkansaw Creek Park Committee, 1979), 29, 30. - “Village of Arkansaw,” in Pepin County History (Dallas: Taylor Publishing, 1985), 48.

Not Listed