422 N 5TH ST

422 N 5TH ST

Milwaukee

Milwaukee

1888

2000,2016,2019,2025

warehouse

Commercial Vernacular

Brick

Burnham and Root

No

M in the photo codes is short for Menomonee Valley negatives. 2016 - Two-story painted brick with flat roof. Minimal column details at the corners of the building near the roof. Windows are sim pathetic replacements. Central door with modern glass surround Building permits reveal that the Chicago-based architectural firm of Burnham and Root designed this structure which was constructed in 1888 by Peters & Greenwall. The permit further identified Davidson & Sons as the owners and used as “Davidson Warehouse No. 2.” City of Milwaukee directories offered no information about the Davidson business, however, Baist’s Property Atlas of Milwaukee revealed that the building was owned in 1898 by the Crystal Soap Works. Sam Rosen was the next owner noted who, in 1946, leased the building to the Herlec Company which specialized in light manufacturing and radio parts assembly. The Friedman Mathews Corporation – a manufacturer of plaster and plastic items – occupied the building in 1953. The structure currently houses Stone Creek Coffee. (Building Permits; William G. Baist, ed., Baist’s Property Atlas of Milwaukee and Vicinity [Philadelphia: Baist, 1898]). 2025: The late nineteenth century, commercial vernacular building is positioned southeast of the I-794 alley and N 5th Street intersection. The building is surrounded by an alley to the north, a paved parking lot to the west, concrete sidewalks to the east, and 420 W St. Paul Avenue Street to the south. The two-story, brick building has a rectilinear plan and is covered by a flat roof. The main, west façade is divided into three bays. The central bay has a metal and glass door flanked by sidelights and transom windows surmounted by a round arch window on the first story and a two-over-two rectangular window in a segmental arch opening. The outer bays have stacked segmental arch openings each composed of three two-over-two sashes. Nine gooseneck lamps span the cornice and illuminate “Stone Creek Coffee” which is painted across the façade. The north facade has a series of replacement windows and doors set into the segmental arch openings. The east façade has three sets of paired four-over-four windows set into the segmental arch openings on the first story and two eight-over-eight sashes in the outer bays of the second story. The second story’s center bay is infilled. There are four awning windows at grade level below the center and south bays, and an infilled window below the north bay. Infilled grade level windows are present on the west and north facades. The Crystal Soap Co. was designed by Burnham and Root and was constructed by Peters and Greenwall in 1888. Preliminary research does not suggest any potential significance under Criterion A: History, or Criterion B: People. Under Criterion C: Architecture, the resource has diminished historic integrity due to replacement windows. The integrity of setting has been severely compromised due to the loss of neighboring, contemporaneous buildings and the construction of I-794. It is a typical example of a late nineteenth century commercial vernacular building in Milwaukee. The building is recommended not eligible for listing in the NRHP.

http://www.doorsopenmilwaukee.org/buildings/stone-creek-coffee-factory/

Not Listed