Property Record
57 MANITOWOC ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Menasha Water Works |
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| Other Name: | City of Menasha Water Filtration Plant |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 60259 |
| Location (Address): | 57 MANITOWOC ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1905 |
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| Additions: | 1948 2008 1928 1913 |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | public utility/power plant/sewage/water |
| Architectural Style: | Boomtown |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| 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: | The following information is from the 2009 Intensive Survey of Menasha: Located at the south end of Manitowoc Street, this water utility complex is essentially comprised of three sections: the earliest dates to 1905 (the front-gabled, brick building which includes wings to either side that were added by 1913 and 1926); the two-story, brick-faced, flat-roofed, filtration plant was added in 1927-28 (the Manitowoc Street-facing elevation of which was remodeled in 1967); and the easternmost filtration section which was added in 1947-48, with capacity upgrades being made in 1967 and most recently in 2007-08. Municipal water service was seriously discussed in Menasha in 1904, when inhabitants of Doty Island wanted a connection with Neenah#25;s water supply. Mainland Menashans did not like that idea, as they assumed a connection with Neenah's water, via a water main down Nicolet Boulevard, would only postpone the mainlander's chances for a water connection. Construction of a water plant in Menasha was put to a referendum in April of that year and it was voted down. After a few months of negotiations, Neenah agreed to provide water to Menasha (including the mainland); however, the City of Menasha called for a special election to reconsider the construction of their own water works. The system was proposed to be funded through $55,000 in taxes and $75,000 in bonds. The election forecast did not appear to be in favor of the works; however, just days before the vote, the Levandoski home in the 4th Ward burned to the ground because no water could reach it. This unfortunate happenstance for the Levandoski family resulted in a positive vote for the water works. In July 1904, the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, reported that George Cadogan Morgan of Morgan Engineering in Chicago had been hired to draw the plans and writing the specifications for the new plant, which was to be powered by a diesel-fueled electric generator as opposed to a steam boiler. Morgan had already built plants in New London, De Pere and Watertown and another was, at that time, under construction in Sheboygan. Contracts were let in February 1905 and 11 miles of water mains were laid and nearly 90 fire hydrants were installed; the water was turned on in November. Aside from the plant itself, the system included an engine house, a home for the engineer and a 135-foot-tall stand pipe to store water and generate pressure. The building was added on to by no later than 1913 and also functioned as the electric lighting plant for the city (electric lighting would later be provided by the River Street facility, See discussion for 199 River Street). Construction of a two-story, water purification plant began in 1927 and was completed the following year and an additional wing was constructed between 1947 and 1948. Finally, the eastern end of the facility appears to have undergone more recent alterations. Indeed, in 1978, a collector system, piping and a decanter tank were added; a chlorine room was also constructed. Ten years later, a new reservoir and pump station were built and a $12.8 million upgrade to the filtration system was completed in 2008. No information was found to substantiate eligibility under Criterion B. Regarding Criterion C: Architecture, this water (and former electric light) utility has been added on to at least three times and does not exhibit any stylistic influences that might otherwise suggest eligibility. However, the city water utility does offer some potential in regards to Criterion A: History. Although clearly physically changed since it was initially built in 1905, the Menasha Waterworks has served the community for over 100 years (whereas the building#25;s electric power function was discontinued in 1949). As a result of the need for continued capacity expansion, additions continue to be made on a semi-regular basis. Therefore, it is recommended that a physical inspection of the interior of the plant be made in order to fully ascertain how much the alterations and/or additions have affected the integrity of the resource so that a final eligibility determination can be made. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date of construction from incised date on building. "History of the Water Utility," Menasha Utilities website available online at www.menashautilities.com, Accessed on 22 June 2009. Fire Insurance Map of Menasha, Wis., 1906, 1913, 1926 and 1926 (updated to 1948). Jerry Sturm, Menasha Water Plant Supervisor, Conversation with Traci E. Schnell, 24 August 2009, Notes on file at Heritage Research, Ltd., Menomonee Falls, WI. "To Draft Plans," The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern, 1 July 1904, 3/1-2. "History of the Menasha Waterworks," Material compiled and written by the City of Menasha Water Utility, no date, unpaginated, Copy on file at the Menasha Historical Society Research Center. A brief history and a reprint of a 1906 newspaper article on the waterworks was in Publius V. Lawson, ed., History of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, 2 vols. (Chicago: C.F. Cooper and Company, 1908), 2/733-736. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |