1421 N WATER ST

1421 N WATER ST

Milwaukee

Milwaukee

1895

2000,2016

industrial bldg/manufacturing facility

Astylistic Utilitarian Building

Brick

No

ARCHITECTURAL SIGNIFICANCE: Two story rectangular industrial building of brick. Windows across the second floor. Mason was Charles H. Stehling. This two-story brick building is comprised of an original, 1895 block and a 1951 addition to the north. The first level of the main block carries only a single, segmental-arch opening infilled with clear plate glass. The second level of the structure features a series of eight single-pane, plate glass windows with segmental arches. The 1951 addition carries only a single, overhead garage door. A historic photograph (ca. 1895-1900) indicates that the first level had originally featured a pair of recessed doorways which alternated with narrower, segmental-arch windows. The openings of the second level are original in placement; however, the windows were eight-over-eight-light sash examples. Finally, the original, corbeled brick cornice has been removed, with only the central parapet corbeling remaining intact. This structure was erected in 1895 by carriage and wagon-maker Joseph Heinl. Heinl came to the United States in 1852 and moved to Milwaukee by 1855. By 1866, Heinl began his own business of making carriages, buggies and sleighs as well as machinery for mills, tanneries and ship work. In 1881, his firm, which was located on Water Street, reportedly employed nineteen men. A permit to build a $4,000, two-story, brick structure was taken out in 1895; Charles H. Stehling is noted as the mason. Heinl passed away just two years after this structure was erected, but his sons John and George continued to run the family business. The Heinl brothers made the transition to auto body making, but by 1925 they had both retired. The Milwaukee Electric Railway & Light Company (TMER&L) purchased the structure the following year and occupied the building until 1941 . TMER&L was responsible for widening the main block's overhead doors in 1934; they have since been infilled with brick. For the next twenty years the building was owned by Krasonya Heating and Welding. Although the Heinl family was a long-standing contributor to the economics of the city, no evidence was found to support eligibility under either Criterion A or B. Regarding Criterion C, the subject structure has been significantly altered by the bricking-in of the overhead garage doors and the replacement of the upper level windows with a single pane of plate glass.

Building permit.

Not Listed