Property Record
390 ELM ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Banta Publishing Company Property |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 61147 |
| Location (Address): | 390 ELM ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1921 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2009 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Dutch Colonial Revival |
| Structural System: | Unknown |
| 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: | 2009--Since last surveyed in 1984, the only apparent change to the house is that the brick chimney stack has been sheathed with vinyl/aluminum. The following material is from the 2009 Menasha Intensive Survey: Similar to the Elm & Keyes Street Residential Historic District, this Elm Street grouping is a collection of homes that exhibit the size, form and massing, as well as the minimal stylistic detailing that suggests they are the direct product of, or derived from, a plan book or catalogue. This district, which includes ten, two-story, single-family homes, is linear in arrangement and is located along the east side of Elm Street (from 366 to 402), just north of Nicolet Boulevard. The ten homes all appear to have been constructed between 1920 and 1921. The floor plans for six of the ten homes (366, 370, 394, 398 and 402 Elm) appear to remain unchanged from their date of construction; five of the six maintain 575 square feet on each floor, while a larger plan (390 Elm) includes 825 square feet on each floor. The remaining four houses appear to have had modest additions. As originally built, all but 390 Elm (which had four bedrooms) would have had three bedrooms and one bathroom. Of the ten, three (382, 386 and 390) feature a gambrel roof line, five are topped with a double gable, and the remaining two (374 and 402) feature a clipped gable (although it is possible that the clipped gable examples were originally double gables that have been altered). All ten include shed-roofed dormers along one or both roof planes. Like the examples in the similar district to the north, the "front" of the houses are rotated so that it appears the floor plans are different from each other. Originally the homes were sheathed with either clapboard or wooden shingles. Today, some retain their original shingling; however, the rest have been resheathed with vinyl or aluminum, while one example is covered with stucco. The majority of the homes also retain, at least to some degree, their multiple-light windows. The ten homes are located in the Schubert Land Company Re-Plat. The 1921 tax roll cite a number of different owners for the ten lots and they include the following: Banta Publishing Company; Home Building (Association); Menasha Building Association; Menasha Wooden Ware; and a B. Sharpless. The 1920-21 city directory indicates that all of the homes were rentals for at least one year and, aside from one house that was rented by the president of his own manufacturing firm, the remainder were occupied by employees of either Banta Publishing Company, Menasha Wooden Ware Company or the Menasha Printing and Carton Company (which was a division of Menasha Wooden Ware). While the construction of the ten homes appears to have been a response to the nationwide housing shortage of the period, it does not seem to be an initiative of any single company (i.e., company-built housing). However, further research may identify that it was an initiative of the City of Menasha or, perhaps, a group of the city's industrialists. By no later than 1928, all appear to have been individually purchased and owner-occupied. According the 1921 tax roll, the house was built by the Banta Publishing Company and the first tenant was Paul J. Farrell, a proofreader at the Banta company, and his wife Wanda H. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Date of construction and original property owner from the 1921 tax roll. Original occupant from 1920-21 city directory. Please see the 2009 Intensive Survey for Menasha for footnotes and bib for material below. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |