Property Record
98 Fifth St
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Whiting, Frank, Boathouse |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 67500 |
| Location (Address): | 98 Fifth St |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Neenah |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1932 |
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| Additions: | 1939 |
| Survey Date: | 2004 |
| Historic Use: | boat house |
| Architectural Style: | Spanish/Mediterranean Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stucco |
| Architect: | MESSMER & BROTHERS; ROBERT M. FLOUR BROS. |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Whiting, Frank, Boathouse |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 4/20/2011 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/20/2010 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | 1 1/2 STORY MEDITERRANEAN ECLECTIC STUCCO HOUSE, WITH RANDOM RED BRICK, "QUOINS." WITH MANSARD ROOF. MIXTURE OF MEDITERRANEAN AND FRENCH PROVINCIAL. THE BOAT HOUSE WAS BEGUN IN 1932 AND ADDED ONTO AND REMODELED IN 1939 WITH LIVING QUARTERS. BUILT AS SECOND HOME OF FLAMBOYANT FRANK WHITING, PRESIDENT OF WHITING PAPER CO. REPUTEDLY COST $100,000 TO BUILD. The structure was last surveyed in 1981 with a map code of 6/2 on City Engineer's Base Map. The Whiting Boathouse was built for Frank B. Whiting in 1932, while the additional living quarters were executed in 1939. Whiting was born in Omro, Wisconsin, in 1895, and was adopted at age three by Mr. and Mrs. George Whiting. After attending Mohican Academy in New York and Princeton University, he returned to Neenah to join his father in runngin the George A. Whiting Paper Mills. In addition to his business concerns, Whiting was active in boating and yachting, and interest that began after purchasing his first boat. Shortly after that purchase, Whiting erected the subject boathouse at a noted cost of $100,000. His obituary notes the structure as "one of the most luxurious of its kind in the nation." Whiting died in March 1952 and the boathouse was given to the City of Neenah later that same year. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 1932 NEENAH TAX ROLL, P. 105. ARCHITECTURAL BLUEPRINTS, CITY ENGINEER, JUNE 23, 1939, 8-8-1931. TWIN CITY NEWS RECORD; 3-31-1952, P. 1, COL. 1. "Frank B. WHiting is Dead at Age of 67," Twin City News Record, 31 March 1952, 1/1. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |