| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office.
Related Buildings:
Coach House (14/35)
F.P. Bowen Meat Market (15/36)
Historic Names:
F.P. and Julia Bowen House
Grant and Alice Ross House
Harry and Julia Carswell House
Architectural Description:
Flat stone lintels; bracketed overhanging eaves; projecting two-story portico with colossal ionic columns and one story side porches; two over two windows; sidelighted entrance with transom and pilasters flanking door; Second Empire roofed rear extension.
Characterized by overhanging eaves ornamented by paired cut-out scroll brackets, the main rectangular block of this brick Italianate styled house features a wooden bay window with bracketed eaves and stone lintels over the two over two windows.
The original rectangular house received an addition used for the kitchen featuring a mansard roof with gable roofed dormer in the 1880s (B). The two-story flat roofed portico exhibiting colossal Ionic columns, scroll bracketed eaves and one-story side porches also supported by Ionic columns, was placed across the front of the main block in 1908 (B).
Architectural/Engineering Significance:
The Fred and Julia Bowen House is significant under Criterion C as an example of the Italianate influenced residential architecture in Richland Center. Clearly the best example of Italinate influenced architecture, the Bowen House exhibits the bracketed overhanging eaves, rectangular block form, hip roof, long narrow windows, and classical details associated with the style. Other good examples of the Italianate style in Richland Center include commercial buildings such as the H.T. Bailey Block at 194 East Court (15-20), the James building at 172 E. Court (15-19) and the O.J. Burnham Building at 187 E. Court (15-23).
Built in 1869 for Fred Bowen, a local drug store and meat market merchant, and Julia Bowen, later to be a prominent suffragette, the Bowen House received a French Empire styled kitchen addition in the 1880s and a Classical Portico in 1900, both of which add to the historic character of this Italianate styled house (ABC). The Bowen coach house (14-35) is located northeast of the house.
Historical Background:
Frederick and Julie Bowen erected their dwelling in 1869 (1). The Bowen estate passed to the Bowen heirs in 1905 (2). It remained in the Bowen family through 1944 when Julia R. Carswel, a local artist, gained partial ownership of the house (3).
After arriving in Richland Center in 1854, Fred Bowen initially invested in a mill near but not in Richland Center. By 1859, he purchased a drugstore business perhaps from Dr. Henry Priest. Selling it in 1861, he acquired a tannery. In 1865, Bowen repurchased one-half interest in a mill which he retained through 1873. Bowen began to deal in livestock by 1871, and by 1891 he acquired part interest in the Star Meat Market. He retained his livestock business through 1903 (4).
Mrs. Julia Bowen became noted for her work in the early phase of the Women Suffrage Movement. In 1876, she with Mrs. D.E. Pease became the first women to serve on the school board, an area becoming defined as part of the women's sphere. The school had taken over the task of education from the family. Julia Bowen became the president of the Women's Club which formed in 1882. This group quickly became a strong advocate of women's rights. She was also identified with temperance as a member of the WCTU (5).
Historical Significance:
The Fred and Julia Bowen House gains local historical significance under Criterion B in association with the Bowens. Because of the importance of this association, the house possesses historical significance from 1869 to 1905 when it passed from the Bowen estate to its heirs. Fred Bowen gains importance under the Goods and Services Topic of the Commerce Theme in recognition of the many enterprises in which he engaged. He invested in a mill, tannery, drugstore, meat market, and the livestock business. Such overlapping interests in small businesses were not uncommon in the nineteenth century. They provided insurance against the collapse of any one of the businesses. Julia Bowen acquires recognition under the Suffrage Movement Topic for her work in the Women's Club and the Temperance Movement Topic for her work in the WCTU, two common joint memberships in Richland Center. |
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| Bibliographic References: | 1. Richland County Abstract Company, Indices to Land Records in the Richland County Courthouse (Richland Center: Richland County Abstract Office, n.d.), WDH-24, Republican Observer, July 14, 1870, p. 4; Margaret Scott, Richland Center: A History (Richland Center: Richland County Publishers, 1972), p. 86. Richland County Historical Society, Richland Center, Wisconsin (Dallas: Taylor Publishing Company, 1986), p. 363.
2. Richland County Abstract Office, Ibid., FD-44.
3. Richland County Abstract Office, Ibid., WD89-47; Scott, Ibid., p. 118.
4. Scott, Ibid., pp. 17, 23, 99; Margaret Scott, The Story of a Hundred Years of Medicence in Richland Center, Wisconsin (Richland Center: Richland County Publishers, 1981) p. 206-207; C.W. Butterfield, History of Crawford and Richland Counties (Springfield: Union Publishing Company, 1884) p. 1188; George W Hawes, Wisconsin and Minnesota's State Gazetteer, Shipper's Guide and Business Directory (Indianapolis: George W Hawes, 1863), p. 200; M.T. Platt, Wisconsin Business Directory (Milwaukee: M.T. Platt, 1873), P. 214; R.L. Polk & Co., Wisconsin Gazetteer and Business Directory (Chicago: R.L. Polk & Co., 1891), p. 900; Ibid., 1895, p. 906; Ibid., 1903, p. 1041.
5. Republican Observer, January 24, 1905, p. 8; Richland County Historical Society, Ibid., pp. 362-63: Scott, 1972, Ibid., pp. 63, 90-91.
A. Abstract of Property, Richland County Abstract Corporation, per Joyce McKay, February 1988.
B. Margaret Scott, Richland Center, Wisconsin, A History (Richland Center: Richland County Publishing, 1972), p. 86.
C. History of Crawford and Richland Counties, Wisconsin, (Springfield, Illinois: Union Publishing Company, 1884), p. 1149.
1875 Bird's eye map. |
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