| Additional Information: | Bracketed eaves; window cornices; cupola with arched windows and bracketed eaves; open porch with carved posts and capitals. Rear addition with porch; long porch windows. Garage (MO34/18) - separate record.
This dwelling was constructed in 1862 and remodeled in the 1950s. John L. Mather, who is associated with this dwelling, was a very early businessman in the community of Sparta. The Monroe County Drugstore was owned by John L. Mather, who in 1859 built a large two story store (40 x 50 feet) no the corner of Oak and Water Streets (not extant). Mather was a wholesaler and dealer in drugs, patent medicines, and other items. His establishment lasted well into the 1880s.
In 1868, John L. Mather and his partner O.L. Irwin built a paper mill called the Sparta Paper Mill located itself along the La Crosse River in Sparta. They used the La Crosse River as a source of water power for the mill. When the paper mill was first built, the establishment was valued at $40,000. It started by turning out wrapping paper, but later began producing printed paper as well. During the 1870's, the paper mill employed some twenty workers who used 5,000 tons of straw daily to produce 6,000 pounds of low quality wrapping paper, paper bags and newspaper for local papers. In 1870, sold out the business to his partner. The paper mill is no longer extant. |
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| Bibliographic References: | (A) City of Sparta Tax Records, 1870-1945.
(B) Sanborn Insurance Maps 1884, 1889, 1894, 1900, 1911, 1922, 1931.
(C) Monroe County Democrat Aug. 10, 1859; Jan. 3, 1862; Feb. 13, 1867.
(D) Map of Sparta, Wisconsin. Milwaukee: Phoenix Map Company of Milwaukee, 1875.
(E) Koehler, Lyle P., From Frontier Settlement to Self-Conscious American Community: A History of One Rural Village (Sparta, Wisconsin) in the Nineteenth Century. Evansville, Indiana: Unigraphic, Inc., 1979, p. 43.
(F) Jones, Ida Lucille, "A History of Sparta, Wisconsin." B.A. Thesis. University of Wisconsin, 1915, p. 5.d |
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