| Additional Information: | THIS TWO-STORY RETAIL STRUCTURE IS DESIGNED WITH A RECTANGULAR PLAN CONFIGURATION, A BRICK AND METAL EXTERIOR AND A GABLE ROOF. SIMPLIFIED AND MODIFED IN THE GREEK REVIVAL STYLE, THE BUILDING FEATURES DENTILS ALONG THE NORTH AND SOUTH EAVE-LINES AND PROMINENT STONE SILLS. A METAL ADDITION IS LOCATED TO THE NORTH. OVERALL, THE BUILDING, WHICH WAS CONSTRUCTED IN C. 1842, IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION.
THIS BUILDING, KNOWN HISTORICALLY AS THE WILLIAM TODD STORE, HAD MANY USES IN ITS LIFETIME. IT HOUSED A GENERAL STORE FROM 1842 TO C. 1870, A NEWSPAPER OFFICE FROM C. 1870 TO AN UNKNOWN DATE, A TAILOR SHOP FROM C. 1894 TO C. 1899 AND A CIGAR FACTORY FROM 1902 TO 1922. (SEE BIB. REF. A, C, E).
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND:
AMONG THE OLDEST STRUCTURES IN THE CITY OF DODGEVILLE, THE WILLIAM TODD STORE ORIGINALLY HOUSED TODD'S GENERAL MERCHANDISE ESTABLISHMENT ON THE GROUND FLOOR AND ON THE SECOND FLOOR A PUBLIC HALL "WHERE MANY EARLY DAY ENTERTAINMENTS WERE GIVEN." (SEE BIB. REF. A, E). (IN THE 1860'S (1860-64) THIS SECOND FLOOR AREA SERVED AS A MEETING ROOM FOR BOTH THE GOOD TEMPLARS, A TEMPERANCE GROUP, AND THE MASONS. (SEE BIB. REF. G)). LATER OCCUPANTS INCLUDED THE DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE IN THE 1870'S (106 W. MERRIMAC STREET, 49/29), A TAILOR SHOP IN THE LATE NINETEENTH CENTURY (1894, 1899), A CIGAR FACTORY (1902 TO 1922), AND A WHOLESALE TOBACCO OUTLET (1922 TO C. 1939). (SEE BIB. REF. C, D, E, F).
THE CIGAR FACTORY WAS OWNED BY JOHN I. HAHN, BORN IN DODGEVILLE IN 1874, WHOSE FATHER HAD PREVIOUSLY OPERATED A SIMILAR ENTERPRISE IN THE COMMUNITY. AT THE AGE OF SEVENTEEN HAHN MOVED TO MILWAUKEE TO LEARN THE CIGAR MAKERS TRADES. AFTER TWO YEARS HE RETURNED TO DODGEVILLE, WORKED IN HIS FATHER'S CIGAR FACTORY FOR A SHORT TIME, AND THEN WENT INTO BUSINESS FOR HIMSELF. INITIALLY, THE BUSINESS WAS A SMALL CONCERN, BUT WITHIN A FEW YEARS, IT "ATTAINED TO A LEADING POSITION AMONG THE FOREMOST CONCERNS OF ITS NATURE IN THIS PROTION OF THE STATE." HAHN'S FACTORY, WHICH EMPLOYED FROM TEN TO TWENTY-THREE PERSONS, PRODUCED APPORXIMATELY TWENTY BRANDS OF CIGARS INCLUDING THE "DODGER FROM DODGEVILLE" AND THE "HAVANA STORY." (SEE BIB. REF. B).
IN LATER YEARS (1922) HAHN DISCONTINUED THE MANUFACTURE OF CIGARS AND TOOK UP, INSTEAD, THE WHOLESALE TRADE OF TOBACO, CANDY, GUM, ETC. IN 1939 THE JOHN I. HAHN WHOLESALE COMPANY WAS SOLD TO PARTNERS HARLEY HICKS AND HEROLD RIEFF. (SEE BIB. REF. F). |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE, 2 JULY 1927.
B. GEORGE AND ROBERT M. CRAWFORD, EDS. MEMORIS OF IOWA COUNTY, WISCONSIN, 2 VOLS. (CHICAGO: NORTHWESTERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIAITON, 1913), 2:68-69.
C. 1894, 1899, 1905, 1915, 1927 SANBORN PERRIS MAPS.
D. WISCONSIN STATE JOURNAL, 19 JANUARY 1936.
E. SCRAPBOOK, "ALONG MAIN STREET," DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE ARTICLES, 1933, IOWA COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
F. DODGEVILLE CHRONICLE, 14 DECMEBER 1939.
G. ONE HUNDRED YEARS OF FREEMASONRY (DODGEVILLE: PRIVATELY PUBLISHED, 1959). AVAILABLE AT MEMBORIAL PUBLIC LIBRARY, DODGEVILLE.
H. WALKING TOUR OF HISTORIC DODGEVILLE, WISCONSIN, DODGEVILLE HISTORIC PRESERVATION COMMISSION, 1995. |
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