Property Record
115 S 4TH ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Wisconsin Telephone Co. |
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| Other Name: | Bell Telephone Co. |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 74882 |
| Location (Address): | 115 S 4TH ST |
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| County: | Jefferson |
| City: | Watertown |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1927 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19862020 |
| Historic Use: | telephone/telegraph building |
| Architectural Style: | English Revival Styles |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Herbst & Kuenzli |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Main Street Commercial Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/2/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | This building was constructed for the Wisconsin Telephone Company in 1928. The first telephone reportedly came to Watertown in 1877. In 1881 a switchboard was set up in town at the location of the Masonic Temple (demolished). The Wisconsin Telephone Company obtained this service and its offices were housed at 101 E. Main St. This building was built to house the growing phone company service in the community. This building is significant for local history under National register criterion A because it is the most significant home for the telephone company in Watertown. This building was constructed at the peak of the expansion of the phone service. It had passed from an oddity to a necessity by the 1920s and new switching facilities and offices were needed as the quarters on Main Street were too small. The building, therefore, represents the culimination of the development of telephone service in the community, as it moved into the modern era. The building is also contributing to the overall development of commerce in the Main Street Commercial historic district because of the long-time presence of the phone company here. Constructed in 1928 for the Wisconsin Telephone Company, this large red brick building has a small metal cornice ornamented with applied metal rosettes placed directly above the windows and below the brick parapet. The asymmetrical six-bay facade is divided vertically by stylized, wide brick pilasters edged with white masonry "label" style borders. Paired windows wih white masonry flat lintels, sills and "label" accents as well as multipaned windows further characterize the facade and side elevation. A white masonry belt course or water table links the window sills of the lower story and articulate a base or foundation for the building. Characterized by a buttressed Tudro arched opening, the off-set entrance exhibits the same "label" styled ornament along the edge of the projecting white concrete door frame and is topped by the design of a telephone pressed into the rectangular pediment projecting above the door frame. The Telephone Building has been altered by the replacement of the windows in the south two bays of the facade and on the south elevation. A large two-story contemporary addition has been added to the rear of the building. The Wisconsin Telephone Company Building is significant under criterion C as an example of Elizabethan Revival. The only example of the Elizabethan Revival in the Main Street Historic District, the red brick Wisconsin Telephone Building in a restrained interpretation of the style typical of much of the historic architecture designed in the early 20th century, is characterized by the abstracted, stylized and scaled-down white stone strapwork around the windows, the stylized applied brick pilasters and the entrance that is further characterized by a Tudor arched doorway. This building is one of two extant examples of commercial or public architecture influenced by the Elizabethan Tudor-Revival in the early 20th century in Watertown. The other example of a commercial building in the Tudor Revival design is located at 200 North Second Street (62-28). Examples of Elizabethan-Tudor influence on residential architecture during this period includes the houses at 1003 Charles St. (34-21), 1333 Livsey Place (34-13), 901 Richards Ave. (35-3), 903 Richards Ave. (35-4), and 1326 Thomas Ave. (35-16). |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) Sanborn-Perris Insurance Map 1937. (B) Watertown, Wisconsin Centennial 1854-1954, Watertown: Jansky Printing Company, 1954, pp. 48-49. (C) Master Builder May 1927, p. 26. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |