Property Record
1375 2ND AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | State Bank of Cumberland |
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| Other Name: | Cumberland Advocate |
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| Reference Number: | 242108 |
| Location (Address): | 1375 2ND AVE |
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| County: | Barron |
| City: | Cumberland |
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| Year Built: | 1916 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2020 |
| Historic Use: | bank/financial institution |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Surveyed in July 2020 by UWM-CRM as part of the WisDOT USH 63 reconstruction project. The Neoclassical-style State Bank of Cumberland building was constructed in 1916. The bank is clad in brick with painted limestone ornament. The front façade is three bays wide and symmetrical in composition and contains two Ionic columns on low pedestals with grouped pilasters at either edge. The composition is capped with a classical entablature containing a rectangular plaque, formerly containing the name of the bank, and a dentil cornice. A low parapet with stone coping caps the building. The bays between the columns and the pilasters contain single fixed-light windows capped with wood panels, and the center bay contains an aluminum and glass entry door with transom. A wood panel above the door reads “Cumberland / Advocate,” which has occupied the building for over fifty years. Historic photos indicate that the front elevation originally contained large windows with six-light transoms, and the main entrance door had an elaborate surround with a pediment supported on brackets. The current appearance of the building (including the painted limestone) dates to 1965, when the Cumberland Advocate newspaper purchased the building. The Bank of Cumberland was established in 1883 by J. F. Miller and Jeff Heath, and after Miller’s death in 1892, his son F.W. Miller became sole owner. The business was incorporated as State Bank of Cumberland in 1903. In 1916, the bank constructed the existing building on Second St. at a cost of $17,000, and described at the time as “constructed of fine tapestry brick and Bedford stone, and […] regarded as one of the finest building of its kind in the state.” The State Bank of Cumberland failed during the Great Depression, and the nearby Northwestern State Bank absorbed its holdings in 1934 and moved into the building. In 1965, the Northwestern State Bank constructed a new building one block north, at 1485 2nd Ave. and sold the former State Bank of Cumberland building to the Cumberland Advocate, which has occupied the building up to the present. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Gordon, Newton S., ed. History of Barron County, Wisconsin. Minneapolis: H.C. Cooper, Jr., & Co., 1922, 1095; Cumberland Centennial Committee. Cumberland “Wisconsin’s Island City” Centennial 1874-1974. Cumberland: Cumberland Advocate, 1974, 88. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |