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Property Location
Property Features
endwall. All original window openings along the building's entrance (west) elevation have been downsized and
new windows installed. Side elevations are similar (both window downsizing and replacements) and also
include a few overhead garage doors.
This facility was built in 1925 to serve as an indoor riding ring for the Appleton Riding Club-notably the first
indoor riding ring in the state of Wisconsin. The club was formally incorporated in 1925 by Appleton residents
Edward Pfeil and K.S. Dickenson, as well as Ernst Mahler of Neenah with a capital stock of $15,000. The
purpose of the club was to "breed, buy and sell, hire and board and train horses" and it also operated a riding
academy. By no later than October of that same year, the subject building was completed; classes were held
both day and night. Pfeil, who was born in Sturgeon Bay and moved to Appleton in 1920, was noted as the
primary person to establish the club. The 1959 obituary of Pfeil cited that the club and the riding academy
operated through 1948 and sale ad in 1958 noted that the prope1iy, which consisted of 28 acres, was available.
The 1951 update to the city Sanborn map identifies the building as being used for sign printing. The structure,
today, operates as the Freedom Center Food Pantry.
Although Edward Pfeil is identified as the founder of the Appleton Riding Club and responsible for the
establishment of the Appleton Riding Academy, no information was found to suggest potential eligibility under
Criterion B: Significant Persons. Regarding Criterion A: History, the subject facility-reportedly the first in the
State of Wisconsin--reflects a period of history during which time the leisure riding of horses in urban areas was
popular. While the structure is indeed notable for that period of bygone history, the significant alterations to the
structure outweigh its historical significance.
National And State Register Of Historic Places Listings
Architecture & History Inventory
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306 W Washington St
100004524
Located in Appleton, Outagamie County
