Property Record
N7945 BELL SCHOOL RD
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Bell School No. 7 |
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| Other Name: | Bell School; Zeisler Residence |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 160781 |
| Location (Address): | N7945 BELL SCHOOL RD |
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| County: | Walworth |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | East Troy |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 4 |
| Range: | 18 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 25 |
| Quarter Section: | NW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1853 |
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| Additions: | 1934 2004 1960 1887 |
| Survey Date: | 2010 |
| Historic Use: | one to six room school |
| Architectural Style: | Front Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Clapboard |
| Architect: | Tasitus Bond; WPA |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| 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, State Historic Preservation Office. In 1887, eight feet was added to the building. In 1934, the WPA raised the building and added a basement, as well as an entryway. The addition with restrooms was added in 1960. The cupola was reconstructed in 1991 based on historic photos and architect's drawings of the school. The back addition was constructed in 2004. Converted into a private residence between 1961 and 1978. A barn was moved on to the property from a nearby farm. The garage was built in 1977. This building was used as a school, a church, and housed the Bell School Literary Society (established in 1898). The school closed in 1961. 2010: "This previously surveyed, one-story-tall, rectilinear plan, Front Gable Vernacular Form building has stuccoed foundation walls and the exterior walls that rest on them are clad in clapboards. These walls are sheltered by a gable roof that has slightly overhanging open eaves, and a reconstructed, square-plan, hipped-roof cupola that once house the school bell is positioned on the ridgeline of this roof. The building sits on the southwest corner of the intersection that is formed by the east-west-running STH 20 and the north-south running Bell School Rd. and its principal elevation faces east on Bell School Rd. This elevation features a hipped roof entrance vestibule that is placed to the right of center and two small two-over-two-light windows are positioned to the left of this vestibule. Four slightly larger two-over-two-light double hung windows are located on both the north and south-facing side elevations of the building and additional windows are located on the side elevations of two smaller gable-roofed clapboard-clad additions that are attached to the rear of the building." |
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| Bibliographic References: | Good Ol' Fashioned School Days. East Troy Area Historical Society, 2008. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |