Property Record
748 N MADISON ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | R. A. WATKINS HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | |
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| Reference Number: | 44888 |
| Location (Address): | 748 N MADISON ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1892 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Queen Anne |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Aluminum/Vinyl Siding |
| 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 LATE QUEEN ANNE DESIGN DOMINATED BY A THREE STORY OCTAGONAL TOWER. ORNATE WINDOW MOLDINGS AND PALLADIAN WINDOWS ARE ALSO FEATURED. THIS RESIDENCE IS TWO AND A HALF STORIES IN HEIGHT, AND IT HAS AN IRREGULAR PLAN CONFIGURATION WITH A GABLE ROOF. THE STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION. THERE IS A LARGE, TWO CAR GARAGE ADDITION TO THE SIDE AND THE HOUSE HAS BEEN RESIDED IN VINYL SINCE IT WAS FIRST SURVEYED IN 1983. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: A GRANT COUNTY NATIVE, R. A. WATKINS FIRST MADE HIS HOME IN LANCASTER IN 1866. HE LATER ENTERED THE OFFICES OF BUSHNELL & CLARK, ONE OF LANCASTER'S MOST PRESTIGIOUS LAW FIRMS, WHERE HE STUDIED UNTIL HE WAS ADMITTED TO THE BAR IN 1876. FOR THREE YEARS FOLLOWING HIS ADMITTANCE, WATKINS WORKED AS A CLERK FOR THE SAME PARTNERSHIP AND WAS THEN ASKED TO JOIN THE FIRM. IN 1882, COL. CLARK WITHDREW FROM THE PRACTICE WHICH IN TURN BECAME BUSHNELL & WATKINS. HERBERT MOSES WAS ADDED TO THE OFFICE IN 1895. THE BUSHNELL, WATKINS & MOSES LAW OFICES WERE LOCATED ABOVE THE STATE BANK OF GRANT COUNTY, 108 SOUTH MADISON STREET, 42/18, IN 1900. IN ADDITION TO HIS PRIVATE PRACTICE, WATKINS ALSO SERVED AS LANCASTER'S CITY ATTORNEY FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. THIS HOUSE WAS COMPLETED IN 1892. |
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| Bibliographic References: | WATTON'S SOUVENIR OF LANCASTER, 1900, P. 38. ELLIS BAKER USHER, WISCONSIN: ITS STORY AND BIOGRAHPY, 1848-1913, 5 VOLS. (CHICAGO: LEWIS PUBLISHING CO., 1914), 5:1262-1265. ATLAS OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN. MINNEAPOLIS: C. M. FOOTE, 1895. GRANT COUNTY HERALD: OCTOBER 6, 1892, P. 5. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |