Property Record
1610 COLLEGE AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Margaret and James Langlois House |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 10827 |
| Location (Address): | 1610 COLLEGE AVE |
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| County: | Racine |
| City: | Racine |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
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| Year Built: | 1858 |
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| Additions: | 1867C. 1939 |
| Survey Date: | 1976 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Cream Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Southside Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 10/18/1977 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. SEGMENTAL ARCHED WINDOWS. PORCH W/FLUTED CORINTHIAN COLUMNS, MOULDED CORNICE AND CRESTED ROOF. SEGMENTAL ARCH DOOR W/FANLIGHT TRANSOM. The symmetrical sidewings were added at a later date. Map code originally CT #/#; the CT presumably meant city and was stripped off. Photo code #1 is: D 106/15. Portico was added c. 1939. Langlois was a ship chandler and merchant. South Side Historic District Walking Tour Guide: "James and Margaret Langlois' house may have been only the central section of the present one. Mr. Langlois was a ship chandler whose shop was the forerunner of the Langlois Company, a paint store that was located downtown. Randall and Mary Smith bought the house in 1866 and improved it considerably, probably adding the wings. Mr.Smith had interests in Racine's first railroad, a local brickyard, and a downtown drugstore before his death in 1890. The Smith family lived here until 1920. A. DeVere and Florence Harnett bought what was then a run-down rooming house at an auction sale in 1939. They renovated it and remodeled it from its original Italianate Style to its present almost Georgian appearance and lived here into the 1980s." "In 1939 a boardinghouse at 1610 College Avenue was publicly auctioned. DeVere Harnett became the astonished owner when he learned that a bid he had placed to raise the building's value had been accepted. The Harnetts had hoped the home would become something besides a boardinghouse, and they spent nearly two years seeing to that. The structure's almost perfect restoration began with the removal of clotheslines from the parlor, plus 37 bushels of accumulated ashes. Once refurbished, each room was filled with period pieces and memorabilia collected by the Harnetts. The house was possibly built by Randall Smith, a railroad owner, in the early 1860's. It combines basic symmetry of Federal style architecture with Italianate details such as heavy cornices set with ornate brackets. The elliptical fanlight over the door borrows again from the Federal style as does the doorway's flat entablature, pilasters, and columns." Renewing Our Roots: A Guide To Racine, Wisconsin, Central City, Southside, Preservation-Racine, 1977. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Racine Journal Times 5/10/1997. Racine Journal Times 9/15/1999. Racine Journal Times 9/23/1999. 1879 History of Racine and Kenosha Counties. Deeds. 1908 Sanborn-Perris Insurance map. Assessment records. 1858, 1866, 1868 city directories. Racine Landmarks brochure, 2003. "Southside Historic District Walking Tour Guide", 1990. Racine Landmarks Preservation Commission, South Side Historic District Walking Tour Guide, 1993. Renewing Our Roots: A Guide To Racine, Wisconsin, Central City, Southside, Preservation-Racine, 1977. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |