Historic Main Street Walking Tour
The two tours on Historic Main Street explore two historically distinct areas. Tour A is of the National Register of Historic Places Main Street Historic District, and tour B is of the Depot Hill Historic District. You will see that they have very different characters; in buildings, commercial uses, and general feeling of place.
It is recommended that you walk on the opposite side of the street from the buildings that are being discussed. Take the time to look up at the second and third stories of these buildings, and you will be rewarded with a historic vision of Main Street Stoughton.
This project has been funded with the assistance of a grant-in-aid from the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, under provisions of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, as amended. Historic Preservation grants-in-aid are administered in Wisconsin in conjunction with the National Register of Historic Places program by the Historic Preservation Division of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin. However, the contents and opinions contained in this publication do not necessarily reflect the view or policies of the national Park Service or the State Historical Society of Wisconsin.
The Stoughton Commercial Architectural and Historical Survey was conducted between October 1990 and March 1991 to identify, research, and evaluate properties of architectural and historical significance. The survey was executed by Historical Preservation consultant Rebecca Sample Bernstein. Products of the survey will be maintained at the Division of Historic Preservation, State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State Street, Madison; The State Historical Society of Wisconsin Library, 816 State Street Madison, Stoughton Chamber of Commerce, 532 E. Main Street, Stoughton; The Stoughton Public Library, 304 South Fourth Street, Stoughton; Stoughton Historical Museum, 324 South Page Street, Stoughton; the Media Centers of the Stoughton Area Public Schools; and Stoughton City Hall, 207 S. Forrest Street, Stoughton.
An Historic Preservation grant-in-aid from the National Park Service, administered through the Division of Historic Preservation of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, partially funded the Stoughton Commercial Survey. Funds and assistance to match the grant were provided by the Stoughton Landmarks Commission, the Stoughton Downtown Revitalization Association, and the City of Stoughton.
This guide was originally printed in July 1991.
Historical Background
The land that would eventually become the village of Stoughton was first alienated from the United States Government in 1836 by “The Western land Association,” The Association was comprised of Mark Healy and B. B. Kircheval. In August 1838, they sold the land to Daniel Webster who appears to have lost it through non-payment of taxes. In 1841 Herman Cope and Thomas S. Taylor purchased land from the Territory of Wisconsin at a tax deed sale, as well as a warranty deed from Daniel Webster. On July 3, 1847, Luke Stoughton bought the land (800 acres) from Cope and Taylor for $2,100.
A native of Vermont, Luke Stoughton had resettled in the Janesville, Wisconsin area in 1838. At first he had a farm north of Janesville, but in 1840 he and his family moved into town where he established a mercantile business. While he was selling real estate, he noticed and purchased the undeveloped land nestled in a large bend of the Yahara River. He envisioned a complete town on the site; and in 1847 platted the town and built a lumber mill and dam to provide for the imagined buildings. The plat included Main, Jefferson, Washington, Page, Water, Division, and Forrest streets. Stoughton then publicized his town to others. The small community attracted travelers and customers as it was halfway between Janesville and Madison and was centrally located for surrounding farmers.
As the surrounding land was cleared, the cut timber was brought to mill. The resulting lumber was used in the construction of the first generation of Stoughton’s buildings. One of Stoughton’s first buildings was a general merchandise store on what is now the northwest corner of Main and Division Streets. Alvin West brought his family to Stoughton and started an Inn on the southwest corner of Main and Division. In the spring of 1848, Mr. Colton and Mr. Wescott erected a blacksmith shop “near the upper bridge” and a residence nearby. Luke Stoughton moved his family to the new village from Janesville, and in 1850 built a small grist mill and shortly thereafter a larger one, both located on the edge of town on the north east side of the river. The first schoolhouse was built on the corner of Main and Page streets in that year as well. Local farmers by that time had most of their basic needs supplied: lumber, flour, general goods, and education were all available.
In 1853 the community of Stoughton had to its credit a sawmill, gristmill, merchants, carpenters, a doctor, a preacher, and a blacksmith. Unfortunately the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad was planned to pass through nearby Dunkirk, assuring that town of prosperity. However, when the railroad officials asked Josiah Lyon of Dunkirk for a donation of land, he refused, insisting instead that they pay for it. Luke Stoughton successfully offered a free, sizable plot of land to the railroad company if they would choose to bypass Dunkirk, and go through Stoughton instead. Consequently, on December 15, 1853, freight and passenger service came through Stoughton. Construction of the railroad continued through the winter. The line reached Madison on May 23, 1854. Although the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad had reached Stoughton in 1853, it could not counter the Depression of 1857 and nearly all of the stores (which had increased from two to twelve) closed. Perhaps because the community was still so new, it was able to revive itself, and by 1871, there were thirty-three business buildings along Main Street. One of the buildings built for these new businesses was the Williams Block (no longer standing, site of 129 West Main Street) also known as the Opera House. The most magnificent of the commercial buildings on Main Street of its day, it housed a bank, hardware store, post office, and grocery.
As the community grew physically, so did its reputation. By 1880, Stoughton was called “first in commercial importance in the county.” From the mid-1880’s until the first decade of the twentieth century the retail businesses along main Street grew steadily. In 1887 there were thirty-eight business buildings on Main Street. In the next thirteen years, twenty-one new commercial buildings were added. By 1898, nine more were erected. By 1904, a total of seventy-six business buildings lined Main Street stretching from the Yahara River to the railroad tracks. Three more were constructed before 1912. By 1926 the community’s economic downturn was reflected in the loss of four buildings.
Previously part of Dunkirk Township, Stoughton was incorporated as a Village in 1868. On February 6, 1882 the City Charter was adopted. At that time, government structure changed from a Board and President to a Council and Mayor.
Downtown Tour A
National Register of Historic Places Main Street Historic District
381 East Main Street – Opera House
The Stoughton Opera House was restored and reopened on its 100th anniversary, is an imposing Romanesque Revival civic building constructed of brick with stone and wood trim, resting on a Bedford stone foundation. Red St. Louis pressed brick was used on the two side walls, while less expensive brick was used on the less important rear walls. Typical of the Richardsonian Romanesque Revival are the projecting wall dormers and gabled pavilions, the tower on the northeast corner, paired and triple windows, heavy round arches with contrasting centered keystones and the stone ornamentation marking the upper edges of the wall dormer and the side pavilion. The new tower is an exact replica of the original, using modern materials. It is the only building of this style on Main Street in Stoughton. Mr. F. Kemp of Beloit designed the building, and Bonnett, Michie & Co. constructed it.
The Opera House is a reflection of the community’s self-image at the turn-of-the-century. Not only is the architecture impressive, but also, a six hundred seat auditorium is housed in the second story, and has a balcony in the third story.
From 1884 to 1901, “municipal legislation” had been conducted in a building across the street, 374 East Main Street. Built in 1884, this building housed the fire-station on the first floor and the municipal (city government) offices on the second floor. In 1901 the new City Hall replaced the building as both a City Hall and an engine house.
341 East Main Street: O.F. Tipple Block
This commercial building was constructed in 1891 as Mr. O.F. Tipple’s livery barn. Note that the building has a high parapet, which gives it a more imposing character than some of the buildings on Main Street. The Italianate Style, popular from the 1860’s through about 1900, is evident in decorative brickwork embellishing an otherwise plain façade, particularly the segmental arch lintels, and the graduated corbelling in the cornice.
304 South Fourth Street: Carnegie Public Library
Designed by Claude and Stark, an architectural firm based in Madison and fluent in the design of libraries, the 1907 Carnegie Public Library is constructed of brick and stone in the Neo-Classical Style. The Neo-Classical (interchangeable with the term “Classical Revival”) was popular with other period revivals around 1900, and was catapulted to popularity by the “Great White Way” of the 1906 World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago. The cornice is accentuated by modillions. Scrolled keystones accent the entrance arches and the window lintels. Decorative applied trim highlights the window and door transoms. The building is an excellent example of a small Neo-Classical local library, common throughout the United States as the embodiment of Carnegie Libraries. Other Claude and Stark Libraries can be seen in Merrill and Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin.
255 East Main Street: Badger Theater
This period revival theater has Neo-Classical details, including quoining, the trim on the central opening, the door hoods, and the scarab in the cornice. The building was touted as “as nearly fireproof as it is possible to make one, its construction being of steel, brick, cement and tile.” It was once owned by Charles Guelson and Gustave Roe. Construction for the theater began in April 1920. It opened for business in March 1921.
The first movie picture theater had opened in Stoughton in 1908. Between 1908 and 1929, when the first “talke” came to the Badger theater, Stoughton’s theaters included the Lyric, at 110 East Main Street; the White Front, at 155 East Main Street; the Globe Theater at 155 West Main Street; the Princess Theater, 143 West Main Street; and another “modern” movie theater whose location is unknown, perhaps 151 East Main Street, Movies were also shown in the City Hall Auditorium beginning in 1910.
139, 147, 151, 167, 175, 183, & 195 East Main Street
Constructed in 1889 after a fire destroyed a row of frame buildings on the site, these buildings were designed to be “as nearly alike as possible, thus giving the entire row a uniform appearance”. Although each building was individually owned (note the owner’s name in the date block of each section), local contractor George Becker superintended the construction of all the buildings. The result is a series of two-story cream and red brick buildings identical in their commercial Italianate detail. The uniform metal cornice with brackets, dentils, raised pediments, the decorative corbelled brick at the frieze, and the tall windows surmounted by stilted, segmental lintels with keystones visually ties the building together as one unit.
111 East Main Street: Hausmann Block
Distinguished by its engaging oriel tower, the Hausmann Block was built in 1903 by Madison contractor L. B. Gilbert and operated as a saloon by Madison brewer Carl Hausmann. This building is a fine example of a Queen Anne style applied to a commercial building. Covered with decorative pressed metal, the tower is supported by brackets and rises into a conical roof and finial ball. Garlands, dentils, raised panels, and engaged pilasters further embellish the tower.
101 West Main Street: Hotel Kegonsa
This site has been the location of a hotel since the very beginning of Stoughton’s history. The present building (now a pharmacy) was constructed between 1912 and 1926. Community founder Luke Stoughton persuaded Alvin West to establish an inn on this property in 1855, Hotels occupying this site have had a number of different names: The Stoughton House, the Mt. Vernon House, The Higbee House, the Hutson House, and the Hotel Kegonsa.
171 West Main Street: Citizens State Bank
The most austere of Main Street’s Neo-Classical (Classical Revival buildings, the Citizens State Bank (C. 1906-07) is dominated by a massive entablature supported by four colossal brick piers. The piers, which are spaced between broad and deep-set windows, are ornamented with stone banding and stone capitals. The entablature features a brick frieze, stone dentils, and a projecting cornice. Despite its massive character, the bank shares the same scale and preference for cream brick seen in other commercial buildings in this part of Main Street.
201 West Main Street: Hyland-Olsen Block
Built in 1897, this large Neo-Classical (Classical Revival) building was designed by Milwaukee Architect Jay Knapp and constructed by local contractors George Becker and Fred Hill. It was owned and operated by K.G. Olsen and Dr. Francis Hyland. It housed Stoughton’s first and finest department store – the Department Company Store, the first telephone exchange, and bank, offices, and meeting halls for fraternal organizations.
Neo-Classical details on the building are a physical representation of the importance of this building to the community. The bracketed metal cornice features a central raised pediment ornamented with decorative moldings and finials. Rusticated stone piers frame the building and divide the façade into bays. A rock-faced stone lintel course surmounts the windows and a stone sill course underscores them. A corbelled brick course runs beneath the cornice and a large terra cotta crest ornaments the upper stories of the front façade. The legend (Department Co.) is still visible. Originally the building had interior cast iron columns, large plate glass display windows, and an elevator.
188 West Main Street: Erickson Block
This building is an exuberant example of Classical Revival commercial architecture. Built in 1905, the building is dominated by a massive entablature with a bracketed metal cornice. A colossal colonnade on cantoned brick pilasters crowned with terra cotta capitals rises through the upper stories on the west façade and frames the front façade. The colonnade rests on a first story base, punctuated by tall windows with heavy stone lintels. The stylized surround, ornamented with brick banding, which encloses the upper stories of the front facade, is worthy of special notice.
Built between 1898 and 1904, these commercial Italianate buildings have a simple vernacular design, similar in detail to others on Main Street. The bracketed metal cornice and segmental arch lintel (on the building on the left) are ubiquitous on Main Street. While the round arch windows on the building on the right are not unusual (you will see two other buildings with round arch windows later on the tour), the halo-like treatment of the window is unique in Stoughton. The prism glass transforms above the display windows on the storefront are unusually well preserved.
100 – 110 East main Street: Scheldrup Pharmacy
Built in 1897, this is one of the few buildings on Main Street that exhibits a Queen Anne influence. The present tower was recently rebuilt. It had been added to the building between 1904 and 1912, perhaps as a reaction to the tower on the newly constructed building (#6) across the street. This building has been a pharmacy throughout its history.
160 East Main Street: Masonic Hall
Built in 1869, the Masonic Hall rises three stories above Main Street. The building is one of the most impressive on Main Street due to round-headed windows surmounted by compound arches which punctuate the cream brick façade. Other buildings on Main Street have segmental rather than round arches. While the original metal cornice has been removed, the cornice line and frieze are decorated with brick details and an inscription stone identifying the building as the Masonic Hall.
180 East Main Street: Jensen Block
This building, the Jenson Block, also has round headed windows with compound brick arches. The use of round-headed arches came earlier in the Italianate style than the use of segmental arches. This building was constructed between 1871 and 1882.
246 East Main Street: United States Post Office
The Post Office features many Art Deco details, particularly in the transom above the main entrance, the scones on either side of the entrance, and the iron hand rails flanking the main stairs. An original mural entitled “Air Mail Service” executed by Edmund Lewandowski adorns the west wall of the lobby.
The first post office in Stoughton was established in 1848 at an unknown site. In 1881, the Post Office was moved to the Williams Block (which burned in the early 1960’s, it was on the site of 129 W. Main). Between 1904 and 1912, the Post Office moved to what is now the east section of the Wisconsin Power and Light and Stationery House building. In 1938, the Post Office moved to this building designed by Louis Simon, Treasury Department architect.
288 East Main Street: Roe Building 910’s through the
Built in 1913, this building reflects the necessary change in emphasis from wagon manufacturing, which was a major element in Stoughton’s economy, to automobile sales and service from the late 1910’s through the present. It housed the first automobile business in Stoughton. The Roe Automobile Company sold Overland, Oakland, Paige and Jewett, Chandler, and Willys-Knight automobiles. This garage had a capacity of 20 cars.
Of particular interest is the tripartite window under a wide segmental arch in the center of the main elevation. This second story window was originally used as a show window. The second story floor was reinforced to support cars on display on the second story. The “bullet-shaped” corner protectors at the main entrance are typical of automobile-related buildings of the 1910’s through the 1930’s.
This building, which housed a photography studio and the Young Men’s Christian Association in 1898, and the Women’s Christian Temperance Union in 1904, represents a transition in architecture through its details. The pressed metal cornice has dentils, panels, and brackets in an elaborate profile, more indicative of the earlier Italianate influence. The interesting window pattern on the second story is indicative of both Romanesque influence with the round arches, and the Queen Anne style with the multi-paned transom under the large arches.
ADDENDUM TO TOUR A
In December of 1996 a devastating fire destroyed the three buildings that once stood in the expanse now occupied by this new building. A huge hole remained in place until this building, named “Kegonsa Plaza,” was built in 1999. In 2023, it was renamed Anderson Plaza.
Rather than build three replacement buildings, owner/developer Eric Peterson decided on a single two-story building with a central walkway that joins the front entrance to the rear parking lot.
Using this publication, “Historic Downtown Stoughton Design Guidelines,” the Landmarks Commission worked with the developer and the Planning Commission to ensure that the least three key guidelines were applied in the design of this replacement building:
No setback from adjacent building;
Compatible height (two stories) with adjacent buildings; and
A brick façade of compatible color with surrounding buildings.
While the latter guideline was only partially implemented for economic reasons, the application of all three are seen as a key reason that the building largely succeeds in fitting into its context.
Downtown Tour B
Depot Hill District
401 East Main Street: Filling Station
This small cream brick filling station was constructed between 1912 and 1926. it was all that remains of a larger automobile sales and repair shop complex that belonged to Samuel Peterson, who was mayor of Stoughton from 1904 -1906. As with the Roe Building, this building represents a change in the local economy from wagon manufacturing to automobile sales and service beginning in the late 1910’s. This building has been removed for the new fire station.
421 East Main Street: Hanson House
The Hanson House / Grand Hotel is a two story commercial vernacular building with Italianate details. It had a kitchen, bar-room, laundry and servants’ bedrooms in the basement, office, ladies parlor and twelve bedrooms on the street level, and twenty-seven bedrooms on the second floor. In 1893 the name was changed to the Grand Hotel.
TOBACCO WAREHOUSES
Historically, tobacco buyers and manufacturers built large centralized facilities to concentrate a number of smaller purchases into one large shipment. Consequently, Stoughton’s location on the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad made it a logical choice for the siting of such warehouses.
The tobacco trade in Stoughton began in 1871 when Matthew Johnson bought and sold only a small amount. Edgerton remained the local growers’ main market until James S. Hutson erected the warehouse in 1877. Tobacco growing, harvesting, sorting and shipping became a vital part of Stoughton’s economy. Stoughton prospered through World War I. Soon thereafter, however, the small city experienced a severe decline in the wagon making trade; while at the same time it felt the effects of years of soil-depleting tobacco farming practices. The amount and the rice of Stoughton’s tobacco declined. By 1922, tobacco warehouses were laying off their employees or closed all together. By 1898, there were a total of seventeen tobacco warehouses in Stoughton, of which three still remain on Main Street near the railroad depots. The success of the tobacco industry is reflected in the architectural details and massive scale of these warehouses.
The tobacco warehouses are representative of the development and longevity of the tobacco industry in Stoughton. The dependence of the tobacco industry on the local railroad is clear from the proximity of the warehouses to the tracks and freight depot. Common to all warehouses are the tall windows capped with shouldered segmental arch lintels resting on protruding stone sills.
Built between 1884 and 1887, this two story cream brick tobacco warehouse was originally used by Turner, Dearborn and Atkinson Tobacco. Different enterprises have used the building, including; Cullman’s and Rosenblum in 1892; Townsend & McCarthy and Cullman Brothers shared the building in 1898; Henry Miller and Townsend & McCarthy shared the building in 1904; and Cullman Brothers and Hanson & McCarthy shared the building in 1912. Cullman Brothers and Halverson and Bitters shared the building in 1926
This warehouse was built of stone and cream brick in 1891 for Levi Kittleson of Waukesha. In 1898 the building was occupied by the O.K. Roe Tobacco Company. Between 1912 and 1926, it became the L.B. Carl Tobacco Warehouse.
This cream brick two-story tobacco warehouse was constructed in 1888. The two-story brick addition on the east was added between 1912 and 1926. By 1898 it was the O.C. Lee Tobacco Warehouse.
529 East Main Street: Freight Depot
This building, Stoughton’s first depot, was constructed by 1861 at what was then the east end of Main Street, with tracks flanking the east and west sides of the building. The depot has been altered on the front, but on the west elevation he outlines of the original Italianate windows and the Italianate brackets in the eaves are still visible.
532 East Main Street: Passenger Depot
Built in 1913, this depot has American Craftsman style architectural details, such as the wide overhanging eaves, the exposed rafters, the projecting belt course, and the use of stucco on the exterior walls. The depot across Main Street became the freight depot, while this newer depot handled passenger traffic. Unlike neighboring villages where the railroad did not stop, Stoughton had a healthy, growing economy from the 1880’s to the 1920’s. The railroad’s presence made Stoughton a center for agriculture, since products and people could be transported easily to and from the city.
This simple automobile-related 20th century commercial building has a brick front and concrete sidewalls, trim and foundation. Two big show windows and a center door to accommodate automobiles define the three bays of the main elevation. This building is a typical example of early twentieth century commercial vernacular architecture, particularly applicable to automobile related structures. Built between 1912 and 1926, this garage had a capacity of ten cars. The building was constructed by Kurt Jensen. Jensen also constructed the Roe Building (288 East Main Street), which is similar in style to this garage.
This garage also represents the transition the residents of Stoughton had to make from a local economy based on wagon manufacturing to an economy incorporating the growing demand for and use of automobiles.
508 East Main Street: Pabst Tavern
This unique two-story cream brick building was constructed between 1898 and 1904. It has a terra cotta Pabst gable. The shallow lancet arch lintel over the windows, the castellated and stepped parapet, and the projections supported by scalloped bracing are indicative of Queen Anne style influence on a Commercial Vernacular building.
In the late nineteenth century, Wisconsin breweries marketed their beer close to home to reduce costs of shipping and losses due to spoilage. Construction of company-owned taverns in Wisconsin provided a direct market for the Pabst, Schlitz, Miller, Jung, and Gettleman breweries.
NATIONAL REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
WISCONSIN STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
Listing in the National Register and/or the State Register recognizes officially the significance of a property or district to the heritage of the state and the nation. The national Register is the official national list of historical, architectural, engineering and archeological properties and districts worthy of preservation. Listing in the National Register:
Makes property owners eligible for federal matching grants-in-aid for historic preservation, when they are available, which are administered by the division of Historic preservation.
Provides protection through comment by the National Advisory Council on Historic preservation on the effect of federally financed, licensed, or assisted undertakings on historic properties, as stated in section 106 of the National Historic preservation Act.
Makes available federal 20% tax incentives, and state 5% “piggyback” tax incentives, to encourage the preservation of depreciable historic structures, which are used for commercial, industrial, residential rental, and other income-producing purposes.
The Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places, created under sec. 44.36, Wisconsin Statutes, parallels the National Register, but is designed to enable state-level historic preservation protections and benefits. Most of the properties in Wisconsin listed in the National Register are also listed in the State Register. Listing in the State Register:
Provides review through comment by the State Historical Society on the effect of state facilities development, long-range planning, and state grants, permits, and licenses on historic and prehistoric properties.
Makes available 25% state tax credits for rehabilitating non-income producing historic properties, primarily private houses.
Makes available local property tax exemptions for archeological properties and privately owned historic buildings used for stipulated purposes.
Requires state agencies that own such properties to plan for their preservation and attach historic preservation easements to them when disposing of them.
Requires local governments who own such properties to consider the effects of their undertaking on them, and attach historic preservation easements to them when disposing of them.
NATIONAL AND STATE REGISTER CRITERIA FOR EVALUATION
The quality of significance in American history, architecture, engineering, archeology, and culture is present in districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects that possess integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association, and:
That are associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history;
That are associated with the lives of persons significant in our past; or
That embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction; or
That have yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important to prehistory or history.
There are certain types of property that generally are excluded from listing, such as properties used for religious purposes, moved buildings (in the case of the National Register), and properties achieving significance less than 50 years ago. More information regarding the National Register and/or the State Register can be obtained from the Division of Historic Preservation of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 816 State Street, Madison, Wisconsin (608) 264-6500).