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207 N MILWAUKEE ST (AKA 318 E CHICAGO ST) | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

Property Record

207 N MILWAUKEE ST (AKA 318 E CHICAGO ST)

Architecture and History Inventory
207 N MILWAUKEE ST (AKA 318 E CHICAGO ST) | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:Phoenix Knitting Co., Building #3
Other Name:The Atelier
Contributing: Yes
Reference Number:110936
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):207 N MILWAUKEE ST (AKA 318 E CHICAGO ST)
County:Milwaukee
City:Milwaukee
Township/Village:
Unincorporated Community:
Town:
Range:
Direction:
Section:
Quarter Section:
Quarter/Quarter Section:
PROPERTY FEATURES
Year Built:1915
Additions: 1916
Survey Date:1984
Historic Use:industrial building
Architectural Style:Commercial Vernacular
Structural System:
Wall Material:Brick
Architect: Kirchhoff & Rose
Other Buildings On Site:
Demolished?:No
Demolished Date:
NATIONAL AND STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
National/State Register Listing Name: Historic Third Ward District
National Register Listing Date:3/8/1984
State Register Listing Date:1/1/1989
National Register Multiple Property Name:
NOTES
Additional Information:The M in the photo codes is short for MVIS negatives. Other map codes are MVIS 3/1A and 17/9 USGS-MIlwaukee.

This six-story commercial styled building has a reinforced concrete frame with a brown brick exterior and a stone trim.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND AND SIGNIFICANCE:

By 1916, when this factory was completed for the Phoenix Knitting Co., the 36-year old glove and mitten firm was operating from two other facilities in the Third Ward. The basement was designed for stock, the first floor was used for stock and finishing, and the upper floors accommodated the knitting operations. In the 1920s, Phoenix switched to the manufacture of silk hosiery, operating from buildings that stretched one and one half blocks up Milwaukee Street. It was sold in 1952 to Metropolitan Property Corp. who rented it as factory, warehouse and office space to several companies. From 1965 to 1975 it was the place of business for the Sac Bros., a wholesale and retail art and school supplies firm, and it has been occupied by the Milwaukee School of the Arts and the Potter's Wheel, a pottery studio and sales room (see also 219 North Milwaukee Street and 311 E. Chicago Street), residential condominiums, and Zahn-Klicka-Hill, a typesetting firm.
Bibliographic References:A. Building permit. Historic Third Ward Historic Walking Tour, Historic Third Ward Association, 2009.
RECORD LOCATION
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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