| Additional Information: | 2015 survey information:
Elger's Red Bell Market was constructed in 1888. It is asymmetrical in plan with a concrete foundation, asbestos walls
and gabled roof with asphalt shingles. The front facade faces east, and is a false front that conceals the front-gabled form
behind. The parapet extends from either side of the gable peak, which contains a single 1-over-1 double-hung window.
Underneath the window is a shingled porch awning that spans the front of the structure and is supported by circular metal
posts in concrete bases. Large plate glass display windows frame either side of the front door, with a horizontal sliding
window located higher up near the northwest corner of the building. The rear of the building joins up with a gambrelroofed
structure that has the appearance of a converted barn.
Elger's Red Bell Market is notable within the history of commerce in New Berlin. The building
functioned as a family-operated market from 1909-1977, serving the entirety of the Prospect Hill neighborhood located
south down National Avenue. It became a hardware store in 1977 and is currently a sporting goods store. The New
Berlin Landmark Commission declared the building a New Berlin Landmark in 2009.
2019 City of New Berlin survey recommendation write-up:
This combined commercial and residential building is sheathed with a variety of replacement materials, all of which has been painted red. The Boomtown front, commercial portion of the structure is fronted by a shed-roofed overhang with replacement supports. Board-and-batten siding is located beneath the overhang, as are the storefront windows (also replacements). A two-story, gambrel-roofed, residence wing extends to the east and is pierced by regularly placed, replacement windows. On the north side of the building is a large warehouse.
The original one-room store was built in 1888 by John and Burton Ingersoll, sons of pioneer physician Dr. John Ingersoll who is reportedly responsible for the naming of Prospect Hill. Located at what was once referred to as “Orts Corners,” but still considered Prospect Hill (or simply Prospect), the Ingersolls ran the store until selling to George Vyvyan in 1902. During Vyvyan’s ownership, he built up a meat business, which he would continue after selling the store and ice house to Joseph and Lillian Elger in 1909 and moving to West Allis. Elger would continue the meat route begun by Vyvyan and expand the property to include a warehouse, new ice house, a hardware wing, as well as living quarters. The business would continue in the Elger family with Joe’s sons Donald and Glenn when Joseph and Lillian retired in 1947. The grocery end of the business was discontinued in 1969 and, in 1977, the hardware business and building was sold to Jack and Jean Wachholz. The hardware business continued into the early 1980s, after which the building was purchased by Lennie Chappell. Today the building serves as Chappell’s sporting goods store. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Historical & Architectural Resources Survey, City of New Berlin, Waukesha County, Wisconsin prepared by tes | Historical Consulting, LLC, 2019.
Footnotes for 2019 City of New Berlin survey information provided below:
A reference to “Orts Corners” in association with the Ingersoll Bros. store, as well as the then proposed cheese factory was included in newsbriefs for “Prospect,” The Waukesha Journal, 21 February 1891, 8 and in the same column the paper wrote, “It is expected that Ingersoll Bros. will do a much larger business, when the factory gets running.”; Libbie Nolan, “After 60 Years, New Berlin Grocery No Longer Will Be Dispensing at Landmark in the City,” Waukesha Daily Freeman, 25 October 1969, 2; A date in the building’s foundation reads October, 8, 1888, which has been accepted as the building’s date of construction, “Elger Family Leaving Store,” New Berlin Citizen, 28 September 1977, 12; Laurel Walker, “N.B. Store Will Live on in Historical Display,” Waukesha Daily Freeman, 3 October 1977, 3; Jim Kress, “Elger’s Store Helped Develop New Berlin,” New Berlin-Mukwonago Post News, 30 June 1976, B4. “Elger’s Red Bell Market,” Local landmark designation information available at http://wi-newberlin2.civicplus.com/593/Elgers-Red-Bell-Market, Accessed August 2019.
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