Property Record
280 EAST ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | NEW BRICK SCHOOL |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 46680 |
| Location (Address): | 280 EAST ST |
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| County: | Grant |
| City: | Potosi |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1867 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1982 |
| Historic Use: | one to six room school |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| 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: | THIS LARGE BRICK STRUCTURE HAS BEEN ALTERED. STUCCO PARTIALLY COVERS THE EXTERIOR WALLS. RETURN EAVES AND BRACKETS AT THE EAVE-LINE OF THE GABLED ROOF ARE DISTINGUISHING FEATURES. THE WINDOW OPENINGS, NOW REDUCED IN SIZE, ARE RECTANGULAR. AN ENCLOSED, GABLED ENTRY PORTICO PROJECTS OUT FROM THE FRONT FACADE. SIDE GABLED IN FORM AND RECTANGULAR IN PLAN, THIS TWO STORY BUILDING ORIGINALLY HOUSED AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL AND A HIGH SCHOOL. THIS 1867 STRUCTURE IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN GOOD CONDITION. APPARTMENTS NOW OCCUPY THE BUILDING. HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: PUBLIC EDUCATION IN POTOSI HAD AN EARLY START, FOR AS EARLY AS 1838, CLASSES WERE BEING HELD IN A LOG CABIN AT LAFAYETTE (THAT PART OF THE CURRENT VILLLAGE LOCATED AT THE FOOT OF THE HOLLOW). MOVING FROM YEAR TO YEAR BETWEEN LAFAYETTE AND VAN BUREN (THAT PART OF THE CURRENT VILLAGE LOCATED NEAR THE POTOSI BREWERY), THE SCHOOL WAS FINALLY LOCATED AT THE "HEAD OF THE HOLLOW." (THAT PART OF THE CURRENT VILLAGE COALESCING AROUND THE BUSINESS DISTRICT). IN 1846, THE COMMUNITY ERECTED A PERMANENT SCHOOL BUILDING AT A COST OF $1500. THIS BUILDING SERVED POSOSI'S EDUCATIONAL NEEDS UNTIL 1867 WHEN IT WAS DEMOLISHED AND REPLACED WITH THIS LARGER BRICK (LOCALLY MANUFACUTRED BRICKS WERE USED IN ITS CONSTRUCTION) STRUCTURE SITUATED ON THE SAME SITE. (SEE BIB. REF. A, B). CALLED THE "NEW BRICK SCHOOL," THE BUILDING WAS ERECTED AT A COST OF $7500. (SEE BIB. REF. B, C). IN 1882, A HIGH SCHOOL COURSE WAS ADDED TO POTOSI'S EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM. ITS AIM WAS "TO GIVE THE STUDENT A GOOD ACADEMIC EDUCATION AND PREPARE HIM OR HER TO ENTER THE STATE UNIVERSITY OF THE JUNIOR CLASS OF THE NORMAL SCHOOL." (SEE BIB. REF. D). TODAY, POTOSI'S SCHOOLS ARE LOCATED IN THE NORTHEASTERN PART OF THE VILLAGE, JUST EAST OF HIGHWAYS 61 AND 35. IT IS NOT KNOWN WHEN THIS STRUCTURE WAS CONVERTED TO RESIDENTIAL USE. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. HISTORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), PP. 765-766. B. CASTELLO HOLFORD, HISORY OF GRANT COUNTY, WISCONSIN (LANCASTER: THE TELLER PRINT, 1900), PP. 534-535. C. CELESTINE AND GWENDOLYN KALTENBACH, OLD POTOSI, (POTOSI: PRIVATELY PUBLISHED, 1976). D. GRANT COUNTY HERALD, 6 DECEMBER 1923. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |