Property Record
139 DIVISION ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | PABST BEER WAREHOUSE & STATION |
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| Other Name: | PABST SQUARE |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 66809 |
| Location (Address): | 139 DIVISION ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Oshkosh |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
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| Section: | |
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| Year Built: | 1890 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1980201620192023 |
| Historic Use: | warehouse |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
| Structural System: | Wood Beam |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | William Waters |
| Other Buildings On Site: | N |
| 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: | 2016- "Two stories high and built with brick, this former beer warehouse displays elements of the Victorian Gothic style. The building consists of a main rectangular block, a taller central tower and a one-story wing. Small, square blocks at each corner connected by a parapet underscored with corbeled brick are suggestive of corner towers and battlements. A line of jagged soldier brick separates the two levels. Fenestration is regularly placed and generally consists of replacement, multi-light sash windows situated in segmentally arched openings. City directories, a local newspaper and Sanborn maps suggest that this building was constructed no earlier than 1893 and no later than 1903. The WHPD cites that the building was designed by Oshkosh architect William Waters. Originally known as the Pabst Brewing Company Beer Depot, the building allowed the Pabst Brewing Company of Milwaukee to transport beer via rail to Oshkosh for distribution. The building contained a cold storage room and was located on a rail spur. The rapid and cost-efficient distribution of Pabst beer in Oshkosh forced a consolidation of several local breweries into the Oshkosh Brewing Company. Between 1921 and 1924, Pabst transferred the building to the Oshkosh Distribution Company, a soda fountain supply business." -"Jackson/Oregon St Bridge Replacement," WisDOT #4994-07-00, Prepared by Heritage Research, Ltd (Vogel, Faltinson). (2015). ARCHITECTURAL STATEMENT: THIS TWO-STORY BRICK STRUCTURE WAS ORIGINALLY A PABST STATION, AND DESIGNED IN THE VICTORIAN GOTHIC STYLE FAVORED BY THE PABST CO. A MEDIEVAL CHARACTER IS IMPARTED BY THE CORNER TOWER AND CORBEL WORK AND BARTIZANS AT THE CORNICE. MUCH OF THE ORIGINAL BRICK WORK (CRENELLATION AND BARTIZANS) HAS BEEN STRIPPED FROM THE TOWER. THIS BUILDING IS AN EXCELLENT COMPANION PIECE FOR THE PABST BAR (600 OHIO ST. OS 4/5). THE GOTHIC STYLE WAS A PABST TRADEMARK TAKEN FROM THE ARCHITECTURE OF ITS MILWAUKEE BREWERY. THE SAME STYLE CAN BE FOUND ON PABST-OWNED BUILDINGS OF THE ERA THROUGHOUT THE MILWAUKEE AREA. THIS SMALL INDUSTRIAL BUILDING OF CA. 1880 HAS INTERESTING BRICK-WORK ALONG TH CORNICE AND ON THE CORNER TURRET-LIKE SHAPES. HISTORICAL STATEMENT: BEER WAS SHIPPED FROM MILWAUKEE, STORED IN THIS BUILDING AND DISTRIBUTED THROUGHOUT THE CITY. (A) THE ARRIVAL OF THE LARGE PABST OPERATION WAS A REAL THREAT TO THE LOCAL BREWING INDUSTRY. IT WAS LARGELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE MERGER OF THREE LOCAL BREWERIES INTO THE OSHKOSH BREWING COMPANY IN 1894. IT IS SIGNIFICANT IN THAT IT IS AN EXAMPLE OF THE EXPANDABLE REGIONAL MARKETS SUDDENLY AVAILABLE THROUGH CHEAP RAIL TRANSPORTATION AND NEW REFRIGERATION TECHNIQUES. BLUE EAGLE FOODS APPEARS ON TWO PAINTED SIGNS ON THE CORNER OF THE BUILDING. "PABST," MILWAUKEE IS ALSO ON THE BUILDING. THE CATALOG CARD INDICATED THE BUILDING WAS BUILT CA. 1880; THE INTENSIVE SURVEY INDICATED CA. 1890. THE NATIONAL AND STATE REGISTER OF HISTORICAL PLACES IN WISCONSIN BOOK STATES IT WAS BUILT CA. 1880. City directories and Sanborn maps illustrate a construction date between 1893 and 1903. __________ Property Resurveyed in 2023 for WisDOT ID #4994-07-00 by HRL/Vogel: No change. Note property integrity is good, as well as the product of prolific Oshkosh architect William Waters. The structure is not currently considered to be in the project APE. But if it is further encroached upon, a DOE may be warranted. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. OSHKOSH TODAY 1898 PP. 48-49. Oshkosh Northwestern 3/11/2001. Sanborn Maps (1890, 1903). City directories |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |