Property Record
224 STATE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Daily Northwestern Building |
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| Other Name: | The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern Newspaper Office |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 70707 |
| Location (Address): | 224 STATE ST |
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| County: | Winnebago |
| City: | Oshkosh |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
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| Year Built: | 1930 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1980 |
| Historic Use: | large office building |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | Auler, Jensen & Brown/C.R. Meyer Co. |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Daily Northwestern Building |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 5/13/1982 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | The Northwestern office is basically a variation of the design Auler & Jensen employed for the Masonic Temple (OS 10/14) and Wisconsin Life (OS 10/13). Notably, the entrance is marked by four colossal columns (Corinthian in this instance), and the side elevations are articulated with pilasters. This building is distinctive because of the introduction of Renaissance elements such as the small balconies projecting at the corners, and the tile roof. The Northwestern Newspapers have continuously served the city since 1860. In that time only one issue, that of the day of the Great Fire of 1875, has been missed. Of the dozen or so newspapers started in the City, it is the only to survive to the present day. (A/D) In addition to its long heritage of reporting the news, the newspaper is long associated with the life of Colonel John Hicks (1847-1917). Col. Hicks joined the staff of the paper in 1867 and remained with it until his death. In 1869 he became editor and, in 1870, an owner. He bought out his partner, Civil War General T.S. Allen, Commander of the Iron Brigade, in 1886, (D/E/F) A staunch Republican editor, Hicks was appointed Ambassador to Peru by President Benjamin Harrison and Ambassador to Chili by President Theodore Roosevelt. Hicks was also a generous patron of the arts and donated several pieces of sculpture to the city. (D/E/F) |
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| Bibliographic References: | This is a two-story commercial building surfaced with Bedford stone. 4 colossal Corinthian columns set inantis mark the main entrance facade. This neo-Italian Renaissance structure housed THE OSHKOSH DAILY NORTHWESTERN. Conversation with Duane Barasch - Production Manager DAILY NORTHWESTERN Original Blueprints in Northwestern Office Inscription above entrance Karstaedt, 100 Years a City...p. 178 Oshkosh of Today, Oshkosh, 1898 pp. 118-9 Titus, Wm. H. HISTORY OF THE FOX RIVER VALLEY Chicago, 1930; Bio-sketch of Hicks. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |