Fox River Valley Industrial Properties Intensive Survey Stacks of logs at the Thilmany Paper Company Plant, Kaukauna, c.1950. WHS Image ID: 82885 Prepared By Legacy Architecture, Inc. 605 Erie Avenue, Suite 101 Sheboygan, Wisconsin 53081 Prepared For Wisconsin Historical Society State Historic Preservation Office 816 State Street Madison, Wisconsin 53706 2019 Acknowledgments The following persons or organizations assisted in completing this project: Legacy Architecture, Inc. City of Appleton Jennifer L. Lehrke, Principal Historic Preservation ConsultantDeAnn Brosman, Assessor Rowan Davidson, Historic Preservation Consultant Matt Tooke, Property Assessor Leila Saboori, Historic Preservation Institute Intern Robert Short, Historic Preservation Consultant City of Menasha Gail Biederwolf, Administrative Services Coordinator Joe Stephenson, Associate Planner Wisconsin Historical Society State Historic Preservation Office City of Neenah Daina J. Penkiunas, State Historic Preservation Officer Brad R. Schmidt, Deputy Director Joseph R. DeRose, Survey & Registration Historian Cassie Kohls, Assessment Technician Amy D. Wyatt, Historic Preservation Specialist Felipe Avila, GIS Coordinator City of Oshkosh Wisconsin Department of Revenue Jan Rogers, Office Assistant Kurt Keller, Supervisor City of Fond du Lac Judy Lara, Operations Program Associate Linda Baxter, Property Appraiser II City of Green Bay The generous donors who made this survey Alex Drews, Appraiser II possible. City of Kaukauna Allyson Watson Brunette, Principal Planner Jason Holmes, Planning/Engineering Technician This intensive survey has been financed entirely with private funds raised and administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The contents and opinions contained in this report do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Wisconsin Historical Society, nor does the mention of trade names or commercial products constitute endorsement or recommendation by the Wisconsin Historical Society. All photographs contained in this report were taken by Legacy Architecture, Inc. unless otherwise noted. Historic images contained in this report are courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society unless otherwise noted. This page intentionally left blank. 1 Table of Contents Chapter Contents Page Acknowledgements ..................................................................................................1 Table of Contents .....................................................................................................3 Chapter 1 Executive Summary .................................................................................................5 Chapter 2 Methodology ............................................................................................................7 Chapter 3 Historic Context Fox River Valley 12 Green Bay 14 Kaukauna 19 Appleton 22 Menasha 25 Neenah 28 Oshkosh 31 Fond du Lac 35 Chapter 4 Fox River Valley Industries Brewing and Bottling 40 Carriages, Wagons, and Motorized Vehicles 41 Distribution, Shipping, and Packing 43 Food Products 44 Masonry, Stone, and Cement 47 Metal Products 49 Miscellaneous Small Industries 51 Lumber and Wood Products 53 Paper Products 57 Textiles and Clothing 60 Chapter 5 Architecture Industrial Architecture 64 Building Types 66 Architects 69 Chapter 6 Survey Results Introduction 74 Results and Tables 76 Chapter 7 Bibliography ........................................................................................................106 Chapter 8 Notes ....................................................................................................................118 Chapter 9 Appendix ..............................................................................................................125 Income-Producing Property Tax Credit Program Brochure Guidelines for Planning Historic Preservation Tax Credit Projects in Wisconsin 2 This page intentionally left blank. 3 1 Executive Summary The Wisconsin Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) undertook a campaign to fund the Milwaukee Industrial Properties Intensive Survey which was conducted by Mead & Hunt, Inc. in 2015-2016. Spring boarding on its success, the SHPO undertook a second campaign to fund a similar intensive survey of architecturally and historically significant industrial properties in the Fox River Valley, including the communities of Green Bay, Kaukauna, Appleton, Menasha, Neenah, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac. The purpose of this survey was not to write a definitive history of the Fox River Valley, but rather to provide an overview of the history of the region with specific emphasis on industry. The major objective of the project was to identify individual resources, complexes, and historic districts that are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and, therefore, eligible for federal and state historic tax credits. The availability of these financial incentives makes these resources, complexes, and historic districts attractive for reinvestment and rehabilitation for continued use. The survey was conducted by Legacy Architecture, Inc. during a period of four months, beginning in May 2019 and concluding in August 2019, according to guidelines described in SHPO’s Survey Manual . The project scope was defined in consultation with the SHPO to include all pre-1980 buildings currently identified on city zoning maps as industrial. The survey consisted of four major work components: 1) reconnaissance survey, 2) historic research, 3) evaluation of resources, and 4) intensive survey report. The Fox River Valley Industrial Properties Intensive Survey identified approximately 290 resources of architectural and historical interest, including 20 individual resources, six complexes, and one historic district that are eligible for listing in the of Historic Places, as well as one proposed expansion of an existing National Register-listed historic district. 4 This page intentionally left blank. 5 2 Methodology Introduction The Wisconsin Historical Society’s State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) undertook a campaign to fund the Milwaukee Industrial Properties Intensive Survey which was conducted by Mead & Hunt, Inc. in 2015-2016. Spring boarding on its success, the WHS undertook a second campaign to fund a similar intensive survey of architecturally and historically significant industrial properties in the Fox River Valley, including the communities of Green Bay, Kaukauna, Appleton, Menasha, Neenah, Oshkosh, and Fond du Lac. The purpose of this survey was not to write a definitive history of the Fox River Valley, but rather to provide an overview of the history of the region with specific emphasis on industry. The major objective of the project was to identify individual resources, complexes, and historic districts that are eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places, and, therefore, eligible for federal and state historic tax credits. The availability of these financial incentives makes these resources, complexes, and historic districts attractive for reinvestment and rehabilitation for continued use. The survey was conducted by Legacy Architecture, Inc. during a period of four months, beginning in May 2019 and concluding in August 2019, according to guidelines described in SHPO’s Survey Manual . The survey consisted of four major work components: 1) reconnaissance survey, 2) historic research, 3) evaluation of resources, and 4) intensive survey report. Reconnaissance Survey The survey scope was defined in consultation with the SHPO to include all pre-1980 buildings currently identified on city zoning maps as industrial (including General Industry, Light Industry, Industrial, Industrial Park, General Industrial, Heavy Industrial, Urban Industrial, and Industrial – Business Park zoning districts), excluding properties already listed in the National Register or contributing to a National Register historic district. Noncontributing industrial, mill, or warehouse resources in historic districts were resurveyed to document if they might now be considered contributing to the historic district or be individually eligible. During the course of the project, any buildings discovered that were clearly industrial historically, but were currently zoned otherwise, were also surveyed. Certain historic uses that are sometimes located in industrial areas were excluded from the survey scope. Power-generating resources like coal-fired or hydroelectric powerplants are common within the Fox River Valley. However, they produce power rather than goods and are 6 covered by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission license renewal process with federal government oversight. Resources related exclusively to transportation, such as railways, railway buildings, highways, road maintenance buildings, and bridges were also excluded. Likewise, automobile sales and repair, which are retail and service oriented rather than industrial in nature, were not included in the survey. The reconnaissance survey had two products: 1) Wisconsin Historic Preservation Database (WHPD) records and 2) survey maps. WHPD records, publicly visible online as the Architecture and History Inventory (AHI), document data related to each resource and contain at least one photo. Records for 202 previously surveyed resources that have been altered, restored, or demolished were updated with new data and photos. Of those, approximately 6 resources were altered to the point that they were no longer survey worthy, and 108 resources were demolished, leaving