Property Record
131 W MAPLE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | T. M. BARBER BUILDING |
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| Other Name: | WALKER'S CLOTHING AND SHOES |
| Contributing: | No |
| Reference Number: | 45327 |
| Location (Address): | 131 W MAPLE ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Lancaster |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1848 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2005 |
| Historic Use: | general store |
| Architectural Style: | Commercial Vernacular |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Courthouse Square Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/7/2006 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/20/2006 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | A RECTANGULAR PLAN CONFIGURATION, A FLAT ROOF, AND A BRICK AND STUCCO EXTERIOR CHARACTERIZE THIS TWO-STORY RETAIL BUILDING. IN 1888, THE STRUCTURE HAD BOTH ADDITIONS AND ALTERATIONS MADE TO IT. (D,E). THE HISTORIC COMMERCIAL USE OF THIS BUILDING WAS AS A GENERAL STORE FROM 1848 TO AT LEAST 1927. (A,F). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: CONSTRUCTED IN 1848, THIS COMMERCIAL BLOCK ORIGINALLY HOUSED T.M. BARBER'S "READY-PAY STORE." (A). IN 1879, THE PARTNERSHIP OF IVEY & WEBB (LOCALLY, THE BUILDING IS CONNECTED WITH THESE INDIVIDUALS) ESTABLISHED A GENERAL MERCHANDISE FIRM AT THIS LOCATION. (B) THE IVEY AND WEBB ENTERPRISE HAD ITS BEGINNIGNS IN BRITISH HOLLOW (AN UNINCORPORATED SETTLEMENT NEAR POTOSI) IN 1866 UNDER THE NAME WILSON AND IVEY. IN 1868, ALEXANDER IVEY PURCHASED WILSON'S SHARE AND CONTINUED THE BUSINESS ALONE FOR TWO YEARS, AFTER WHICH TIME WILLIAM WEBB BECAME A PARTNER. IVEY AND WEBB MOVED THEIR STORE TO LANCASTER IN 1879 AND OPENED IN THIS STORE WHICH THEY ENLARGED AND ALTERED IN THE FALL OF 1888 FOLLOWING LANCASTER'S MOST DEVASTATING FIRE. (B,D,E) THE BUILDING, AS ORIGINALLY CONSTRUCTED, WAS AN EXAMPLE OF FEDERAL ARCHITECTURE. AFTER THE FIRE, THE UPPER PORTION OF THE STRUCTURE WAS REMOVED, A REAR WAREHOUSE CONSTRUCTED, AND A METAL CORNICE ADDED. AN EARLY PHOTOGRAPH IS INCLUDED IN THE CENTENNIAL PAMPHLET (D); A TURN-OF-THE-CENTURY PHOTOGRAPH IS PROVIDED IN THE SOUVENIR. (C). UNFORTUNATELY, THE COMMERCIAL STRUCTURE WAS TOTALLY ALTERED SOMETIME AFTER 1976. A GLIMPSE OF THE BUILDING IS VISIBLE ON THE 1976 INVENTORY CARD OF THE IOOF BUILDING, 133 WEST MAPLE STREET, 8/4. "The 2 1/2 story brick building... was originally Theodore Barber's "Ready-Pay Store." Constructed in 1848, it still stands and is the oldest surviving structure on the square." Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), P. 645. B. IBID., PP. 891-892. C. WATTON'S SOUVENIR OF LANCASTER, 1900, P. 35. D. THE 1859-1959 CENTENNIAL OF ST. CLEMENT PARISH, (LANCASTER: BY THE CHURCH, 1959), P. 82. E. TELLER, 9 SEPTEMBER 1888. F. 1927 SANBORN PERRIS MAP. 2005, Timothy F. Heggland. National Register of Historic Places Registration Form, Courthouse Square Historic District, Lancaster, WI. Lancaster's Historic Courthouse Square, Lancaster Historic Preservation Commission, 2006 |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |