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Summary
Parkview Historic District
644-655 College Street and 247-319 (odd only) Parkview Drive
Milton, Rock County, Wisconsin
Dates of Construction: 1890-1941
The modern City of Milton is made up of two separate communities, old Milton and old Milton Junction. Each of these small communities developed separate downtown commercial districts. Old Milton’s commercial district was largely developed along old Main Street, what is now known as Parkview Drive. The Parkview Historic District encompasses the most architecturally intact and historically important buildings of old Milton’s historic downtown.
In the nineteenth century, the retail buildings in this area were primarily of frame construction, and in fact, it was a large fire in two of the buildings on College Street in 1915 that started a major reconstruction effort. The owners of the businesses in the burned buildings decided to rebuild a single three-storefront commercial block. They had their building decorated with classically-influenced motifs and the popular dark red brick of the time.
The local builder of this new commercial block decided one year later to build another three-storefront block along Parkview Drive, replacing smaller buildings on the same site. The builder used slightly different decoration for his building, but the same red brick. These two new triple-storefront commercial buildings anchored old Milton’s downtown, especially since one of the storefronts in the building on Parkview Drive housed the post office for many years.
The replacement of older buildings with two commercial blocks that were architecturally similar was unusual, but a similar development occurred on College Street about six years later. In 1921, a very large and unusual rusticated concrete block building was constructed for an agricultural implement dealer and in 1922, a much smaller building, but one that used the same materials, was constructed for a dental office.
These interesting buildings, along with a fine cream brick commercial building constructed in 1890 and a Colonial Revival-inspired medical office constructed in 1941, makes this historic district architecturally distinctive.
Property Details
Resources Within The Property
Designations
State & National Registers of Historic Places
The State Register and National Register recognize buildings, sites, districts, structures, and objects that are significant in national, state, or local history. The State Historic Preservation Office in conjunction with the National Park Service maintains the list for Wisconsin and makes the data available to the public for research and education.
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