Property Record
115-117-119 3RD ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Tousley Block |
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| Other Name: | The Fabric Shoppe; Dorf's Inc. |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 88432 |
| Location (Address): | 115-117-119 3RD ST |
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| County: | Sauk |
| City: | Baraboo |
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| Year Built: | 1886 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19892014 |
| Historic Use: | large retail building |
| Architectural Style: | Italianate |
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| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
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| National/State Register Listing Name: | Downtown Baraboo Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 6/8/2015 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 8/15/2014 |
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| Additional Information: | The building at 115, 117 and 119 3rd Street was built for Alfred Tousley by local mason D.W. Worth in 1886. The structure consists of two two-bay stores flanking a three-bay store in the center and is notable for its pressed metal cornice with the ‘1886’ date inscribed in it. The eastern store, 119 3rd Street, has often been excluded from discussions of the building, or treated separately, because it is separated by an interior masonry wall though it was constructed at the same time and shares a continuous façade. A brick string course links segmented arched windows and a number of the windows have been replaced with rectangular forms. Patterned brickwork on the façade separates the windows from a bracketed pressed metal cornice and a triangular pediment caps the building between the western and central storefronts. The cornice on the eastern storefront has a more geometric pattern. Early tenants include the Gollmar Brother’s Furniture store in 1887, Wallace, Porter and Gerks, Undertakers and Furniture until 1893, and the Yagy Brother’s Crockery store until 1895. For the next few decades a large number of stores occupied addresses at the Tousley Block. The second floor served as the home to a number of offices and a large meeting hall where, from 1916 on, the Elk’s Lodge was located. F.W. Woolworth, a growing national department store, opened a store at the site in 1921 and remained until 1936. In 1929, a serious fire damaged the building, leading to an interior remodel of the Woolworth store and the Elk’s Lodge. Another remodel of the building took place when Roy Lindgren purchased the property in 1936. The Schultz Brothers Variety Store opened in the central and eastern stores in the same year and combined them, removing the brick dividing wall. The storefronts were altered with the addition of black Carrara marble with the name of the new store engraved. The Schultz Brothers store remained until 1979. |
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| Bibliographic References: | City of Baraboo Directory records on file with the Sauk County Historical Society. Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps, 1885, 1892, 1898, 1904, 1913, and 1927. On file at the Wisconsin Historical Society. Ward, Joseph Wayne. Baraboo, 1850-2010, Vol. III: Chronology of the Growth of the Commercial & Retail Districts. Self-published, 2013. Wolter, Paul. Notes collected for tours of Downtown Baraboo. Multiple dates. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |