Property Record
6125 W NATIONAL AVE
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WEST ALLIS STATE BANK |
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| Other Name: | WEST ALLIS STAR |
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| Reference Number: | 9204 |
| Location (Address): | 6125 W NATIONAL AVE |
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| County: | Milwaukee |
| City: | West Allis |
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| Year Built: | 1912 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 2007201520192020 |
| Historic Use: | bank/financial institution |
| Architectural Style: | Neoclassical/Beaux Arts |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | Charles Lesser |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
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| Additional Information: | ROUND ARCHED WINDOWSDORIC COLUMNS FLANKING ENTRYENTRY ON POINT OF TRIANGULAR BLDG [Date Cnst:CA] Previously surveyed in 1980. An updated inventory card was submitted in 2007 to illustrate the building's northern facade along W. Greenfield Avenue. 2015- Situated at the corner of National and Greenfield avenues, this one-to-two-story, brick, Neoclassical Revival style building has triangular massing. The round-arched entrance faces the intersection and is framed by free-standing Tuscan columns. The building features a prominent cornice with square modillions. Side elevations exhibit large round-arched window openings with decorative keystones and limestone sills. Fenestration is universally modern. Basement-level openings have been filled with glass block. West Allis State Bank constructed the subject building as their bank circa 1912. At that time, George C. Hinkley was bank president. An $18,000 addition was constructed in 1925. The Hinckley Company served as architect and contractor for this addition. West Allis State Bank remained at this location into at least the mid-twentieth century. An advertisement for the bank in 1950 stated that "checking accounts, large or small, welcome" and also advertised their safety deposit boxes. -"IH-94/USH 41/WIS 341 Survey," WisDOT ID #1080-27-01, Prepared by Heritage Research, Ltd. (McQuillen) (2015). 2019 - Resurveyed - appearance unchanged. "The former West Allis State Bank was designed by Charles Lesser and constructed in 1912, with an addition in 1925 designed and built by the Hinckley Company. The Neoclassical-style building has a triangular, “flatiron” form that faces west toward the six-point intersection of W. National Avenue, W. Greenfield Avenue, and S. 62nd Street. The primary corner façade features a round arch entryway flanked by monumental Doric columns with a frieze panel above that reads “WEST ALLIS STATE BANK.” The building’s side elevations are similar in appearance. Each is five bays wide. Four of the bays have large round arch windows with decorative stone sills and keystones, while the fifth, rearmost bay has a square window opening on each story. Accentuating the building’s flat roof is a classical cornice with modillions and triglyphs. All windows and doors are modern replacements, including glass block within the basement window openings, and the portion of the brick parapet at the corner of the building appears to have been rebuilt. The building ceased functioning as a bank sometime in the mid-twentieth century." **2020 - Resurveyed for I-94 project 1060-27-04. No significant changes apparent. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Assessor records; West Allis City Directories; Building file accessed at West Allis City Hall. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |