Property Record
112-116 W BAYFIELD ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | F. J. MEEHAN BLOCK |
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| Other Name: | WASHBURN HARDWARE |
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| Reference Number: | 15540 |
| Location (Address): | 112-116 W BAYFIELD ST |
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| County: | Bayfield |
| City: | Washburn |
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| Year Built: | 1895 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20082022 |
| Historic Use: | large retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brownstone |
| Architect: | R. ORFF |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | ROUGH CUT BROWNSTONE FRONT W/ BRICK SIDE ELEVATIONS, BROWNSTONE PILASTERS. TWO CAST IRON STOREFRONTS WITH NORTH ONE TWICE AS WIDE AS THE SOUTH ONE. BUILT BETWEEN 1893 AND 1898 ACCORDING TO SANBORN-PERRIS MAPS AND BUILT IN 1895 ACCORDING TO TAX ROLLS. The original hardware business was Schulz and Ungrodt. Founded by Ben Ungrodt, who came to Washburn in 1886, the store was moved to the current location in 1937, after the site had been vacant for several years. Ungrodts have a long, integral history in Washburn. 2022 - Resurveyed. The F.J. Meehan Block is a one-story Commercial Vernacular block building built in 1895. The double-front brick building has a rectilinear footprint and is clad in locally quarried brownstone on the façade. The storefronts have recessed cant entrances flanked by shop windows with signboards that are supported by cast iron posts. The fenestration has been replaced with plate glass and metal frame windows and doors. A standing seam metal awning shelters the windows on the west and center bays of the façade. A cast iron lintel separates the storefronts from the parapet. The stepped parapet has stone pilasters and finials and is topped by metal coping. |
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| Bibliographic References: | SANBORN-PERRIS FIRE INSURANCE MAPS OF WASHBURN, 1893, 1898. WASHBURN TIMES: MAY 8, 1895, P. 1; JULY 24, 1895, P. 1. Washburn Heritage Preservation Association. Wood, Stone, and Water: Washburn Walking Tour. Bayfield: Roslyn Nelson, 2005, P. 16. HISTORIC WASHBURN REAL ESTATE TAX ASSEMENT ROLLS. Digital Identifier CHEQ2008000: “Chequamegon Bay and its Communities II; Washburn The City to Be; A Historical Memoir 1883-1947” (2008) – Written by Lars Erik Larson, PhD, UW Whitewater Emeriti Faculty “In March 1886 Bernard Jr. (Ungrodt) came to Washburn and opened a hardware store with Paul Schulz, his brother-in-law, at 15 Bayfield Street, advertising themselves as “Dealers In Shelf And Heavy Hardware.” Digital Identifier BAYF1905000: Bayfield County, Wisconsin: Its Past, Present and Future (1905) “He (Ungrodt) came to Washburn nineteen years ago and engaged in the hardware business.” “Washburn Pioneers” (1986) Washburn Area Historical Society" “One hundred years ago this spring, Ben Ungrodt came up from Medford, Wisconsin to start a hardware business in a booming town that had just been established in 1883.” The Washburn Times – July 29, 1937: "Large New Merchandizing Plant" (P95-325) “Back in 1886, B. Ungrodt established himself as one of Washburn’s pioneer merchants. For 51 years his name has stood for ethical and progressive merchandising.” |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |