Property Record
271 RIVER ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Marathon Paper Mill Office |
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| Other Name: | JAMES RIVER CORPORATION |
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| Reference Number: | 69991 |
| Location (Address): | 271 RIVER ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Menasha |
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| Year Built: | 1928 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19882019 |
| Historic Use: | large office building |
| Architectural Style: | Art/Streamline Moderne |
| Structural System: | Concrete Beam |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Eschweiler & Eschweiler |
| Other Buildings On Site: | Y |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | Additional photo code: FCS 6/26. Fox River Valley Industrial Survey The Marathon Paper Company was established in Wausau in 1909 and combined with the Menasha Printing and Carton Company in 1917. A new Menasha facility was constructed in 1927 in the center of the city. The company expanded again in 1937. The three-story brick Marathon Paper Mill Office, designed by the architecture firm of Eschweiler and Eschweiler, was completed in 1940 and is now located at 271 River Street in Menasha. The company was officially renamed the Marathon Corporation in 1944. The carton plant of the Marathon Paper Mill expanded across the Fox River to the south in 1947 and purchased the Jersild Knitting Company of Neenah in 1952. The company was acquired by the James River Corporation in 1963. The mill primarily produced food packaging products until the 1980s, when the James River Company left the site. What remains of the mill is now occupied by the Canadian firm TC Transcontinental, which also produces commercial packaging. The Marathon Paper Mill Office is significant under Criterion A: History in the area of Industry for its role in the Menasha paper industry. The period of significance for the property would extend from 1940 to 1963. The Marathon Paper Mill site has a number of other buildings including a large two-story industrial loft with Art Modern style details. These other buildings, constructed since 1927, are not potentially eligible as a complex because of their lack of architectural integrity and the fact that many of the historic parts of the mill are now non-extant. |
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| Bibliographic References: |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |