301 West Whitewater Street
Historic Name: | Whitewater Passsenger Depot |
---|---|
Reference Number: | 13000376 |
Location (Address): | 301 West Whitewater Street |
---|---|
County: | Walworth |
City/Village: | Whitewater |
Township: |
Whitewater Passenger Depot 301 West Whitewater Street, Whitewater, Walworth County Date of construction: 1891 Architect: J.T.W. Jennings The Whitewater Passenger Depot is located at the east end of the historic downtown commercial district in Whitewater, a small city in southeastern Wisconsin. Whitewater was one of the first stops on the first railroad built in Wisconsin and the railroad link helped make the community an important industrial town in the nineteenth century. The original depot was a nondescript frame building that became the freight depot in 1891 upon the completion of this building. The freight house, as the old depot became known, was demolished in the 1990s. Architect J. T. W. Jennings designed the new brick and stone depot. Jennings had an important architectural career in Wisconsin, beginning with his work for the Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad (Milwaukee Road). In the late 1950s and early 1960s, the Whitewater Passenger Depot was mostly being used as a feed store, although telegraph service continued from the old ticket office. In 1973, the city of Whitewater acquired the Whitewater depot and leased it to the Whitewater Historical Society for a museum that opened in July of 1974. In 2012-2013, a rehabilitation project was completed, restoring the building’s interior and creating climate controlled storage in the basement. The building is open during museum hours. |
Period of Significance: | 1891-1951 |
---|---|
Area of Significance: | Architecture |
Area of Significance: | Transportation |
Applicable Criteria: | Architecture/Engineering |
Applicable Criteria: | Event |
Historic Use: | Transportation: Rail-Related |
Architectural Style: | Late Victorian |
Resource Type: | Building |
Architect: | Jennings, J.T.W. |
Historic Status: | Listed in the State Register |
---|---|
Historic Status: | Listed in the National Register |
National Register Listing Date: | 06/12/2013 |
State Register Listing Date: | 08/24/2012 |
Number of Contributing Buildings: | 1 |
---|---|
Number of Contributing Sites: | 0 |
Number of Contributing Structures: | 0 |
Number of Contributing Objects: | 0 |
Number of Non-Contributing Sites: | 0 |
Number of Non-Contributing Structures: | 0 |
Number of Non-Contributing Objects: | 1 |
National Register and State Register of Historic Places, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |