Property Record
3846 W WISCONSIN AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Hilty-Forster Lumber Co. Offices |
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| Other Name: | Act Graphics & Alternative Energy Designs |
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| Reference Number: | 113804 |
| Location (Address): | 3846 W WISCONSIN AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | Milwaukee |
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| Year Built: | 1947 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 198320142016 |
| Historic Use: | small office building |
| Architectural Style: | Twentieth Century Commercial |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | R. A. Messmer & Son |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 2014 The Hilty-Forster Lumber Company Office a large, three-story office building constructed in 1947, and designed by the firm Robert Messmer & Son. It has a T-shape plan, a hip roof, and masonry cladding. The building is constructed into a bluff of the Menomonee Valley, and from West Wisconsin Avenue the building appears to be one story, with the lower two stories exposed on the west (side) elevation. The northeast corner railing of the West Wisconsin Viaduct abuts the west side of the building. The main (south) facade has a central entrance with a modern replacement door and sidelights. It is flanked by rectangular, fixed-paned windows. Other windows on the facade are large, square, fixed-paned, with the lower half boarded up. A second entrance with a replacement glass door is located on the east (side) elevation. Windows on the lower stories are one-over-one, double-hung wood sash and downsized replacements. Decorative details are simple and limited to a string of carved pentagons along the parapet and windows on the main facade. The Hilty-Forster Lumber Company was formed after the merger of two established companies. The M. Hilty Lumber Company was founded in the 1870s by Swiss immigrant Michael Hilty and the Forster Lumber Company was founded in 1885 by Charles G. Forster. After Hilty’s death in 1896, Forster merged the two lumber yards (1). By 1927 the company moved from St. Paul Avenue to the area north of the Grand Avenue Viaduct, along the Menomonee Valley (2). In July 1946 a large fire causing $500,000 of damage destroyed the lumber yards and all buildings. The company rebuilt the following year, and constructed the subject office building. However, they sold the property to Miller Brewing Company in 1953 and relocated to North 91st Street. As of 1959 the firm was no longer in business (3). 2016 - resurveyed, appearance unchanged. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 2014 (1) "Hilty-Forster Co. Quits; Site Sold," The Milwaukee Sentinel, 27 November 1959, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1368&dat=19591127&id=78wwAAAAIBAJ&sjid=hA8EAAAAIBAJ&pg=3789,3439333 (accessed 3 February 2015). (2) ProQuest LLC, Digital Sanborn Maps, "Milwaukee 1910, Vol. 4" and "Milwaukee 1927, Vol. 9," 1: 900 feet, available online with subscription at http://sanborn.umi.com.ezproxy.spl.org:2048/wi/9622/dateid-000006.htm?CCSI=2565n (accessed 2 February 2015). (3) Hilty-Forster Moves to Quit Lumber Field," The Milwaukee Journal, 26 November 1959, http://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1499&dat=19591126&id=Yx9RAAAAIBAJ&sjid=0CUEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4665,2952868 (accessed 3 February 2015). |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |