Property Record
NE CNR OF STATE HIGHWAY 44 AND STATE HIGHWAY 33
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | CLIFFORD HILL GAS STATION |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | HILL'S GAS STATION |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 23438 |
| Location (Address): | NE CNR OF STATE HIGHWAY 44 AND STATE HIGHWAY 33 |
|---|---|
| County: | Columbia |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Marcellon |
| Unincorporated Community: | MARCELLON |
| Town: | 13 |
| Range: | 10 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 36 |
| Quarter Section: | NW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | NW |
| Year Built: | 1931 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1988 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Rustic Style |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Log |
| Architect: | |
| 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 State Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation. LOG HOUSE MOSTLY OBSCURED. CLIFFORD HILL AND AMOS PRESTON WERE THE BUILDERS. This complex is a rare remnant of the Rustic architecture that dominated the Wisconsin tourist landscape in the decades before World War II. The style spread across the state in the 1920s, as roads improved, cars became more affordable, and vacation travel for the middle class boomed. The roots of the Rustic style lay in the Arts and Crafts movement, which stressed the use of natural materials and handcrafted building techniques. After resorts in New York's Adirondack Mountains embraced the idiom, it was disseminated through architectural journals and the press and soon won favor for all sorts of tourist facilities. Many tourist facilities clustered in Portage, which sat astride major east-west and north-south highways and thus was a convenient stopping point for vacationers headed toward Wisconsin Dells, Devil's Lake, and the resorts in the Northwoods. In 1931, Hill hired Preston, a builder and relative, to help him construct this gas station at a crossroads that leads to Portage. Though the gas pumps are now gone, the building remains surprisingly intact. It consists of peeled logs, interlocked at the corners by saddle notches and chinked with a cement-like mortar. The diameter of the logs diminishes somewhat as the walls rise from the concrete foundation to the hipped roof. The windows feature three narrow lights over two, in the Craftsman manner. Upright logs with exposed ends flank either side of the off-center entrance, enhancing the rustic feeling. The Hills lived in a log cabin twelve feet away. Constructed much like the station, it is a one-story polygon with a mansard roof. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |