Mr. Danielson's Block

Architect William Waters found many commercial building design opportunities in Neenah, one such structure was a business block for contractor George Danielson.  The preliminary announcement of Mr. Danielson's intention to build was an article in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of August 8, 1892 which stated that William Waters would draw the plans for the new block.  In November of 1892 the Neenah Times reported that Charles Paul, a grocer and dry goods purveyor would soon occupy the new store.  The building was described as being built of St. Louis Red Pressed brick and cut stone, large and commodious, finished inside in fine style.  The edifice was said to have cost $8,000, a great improvement to Wisconsin Avenue.  The second floor was finished as a residence for Mr. William T. Ward, proprietor of the Russel House sample rooms, the bar in Neenah's largest hotel, 

The building was representative of architect Waters' work for that time.  The use of red pressed brick and limestone for lentils and trim were favored by Mr. Waters.  The building features a design element found on several other of his hand; at the top of the front elevation on either side of a gabled pediment the brick work had square indentations in even rows, a motif found on the Athearn Hotel and several bank buildings.  Mr. Danielson was a contractor and builder and doubtless built the structure which might account for the speed with which it was completed. The building added to the grace and dignity of the business district.   

Henry Sherry's Buildings

William Waters was very busy in the early 1880's drawing plans for the home, office and business block of Henry Sherry.  Mr. Sherry was born in 1837, a native East Menden, New York.  He came west to Wisconsin, started out in business with great success and married Abbie Paddock in 1865 at Ripon.  He resided in Neenah but his holding and enterprises were statewide. He had lumber mills in Neenah and Oshkosh as well as Wood County, he invested in boot manufactures, paper mills, real estate and banks, a true empire builder.  The near west side neighborhood in Neenah bore the moniker “Sherrytown”, Sherry Wisconsin in Wood county and Sherry Junction in Langlade County also derived their names from Henry Sherry.  The city of Park Falls owes its' being to Mr. Sherry as he built a paper mill there.  No biography of the man would be complete without mentioning his bankruptcy in the early 1890's, no doubt brought about by the panic of 1893.  His loses amounted to well over one million dollars, a sum he and his son managed to repay. 

 Mr. Sherry's building spree started in 1882 with a large and ornate mansion on East Wisconsin Avenue, the house was in the Esthetic Style and was an elegant addition to the mansions on that street.  The next year Mr. Waters was drawing plans for a business block and an office building.  The business block became known as the Post Office Block, because the post office occupied the first floor corner.   There were three other retail spaces on the first floor and according to fire insurance maps of the day one side of the second floor was the Masonic Hall and the other was City Council meeting room.  The building was of a cream colored brick with an asymmetrical layout.  Just past the Post Office portion was a stairway leading to the second floor above which was a window with a Gothic Arch and beyond that rose a diminutive tower holding a set of double windows on the front elevation.  The tower was capped by a short hipped roof and flag staff. 

The building featured some patterned tiles above the second floor windows, for greater visual interest.  Along the top of the building the line was broken by three gable peeks in the parapet which corresponded to large sets of windows below them.  The building was designed in the Esthetic Style, same style as Mr. Sherry's house.

At about the same time William Waters designed an office building for Henry Sherry.  It was just across the street from the Post Office and was the hub for all of Mr. Sherry's business dealings, on the second floor was a public library, according to insurance maps.  The two story brick structure was a classic Waters' design for that time.  It was built of cream colored brick with courses of dark brick as accents.  The chamfered corner held the front door which was flanked by columns holding up a pediment.  Above the front door and pediment was a large window and above that was a set of small triplet window just below the ultimate pediment.  At first there was just the building on the corner but by 1887 the fire insurance maps indicate a sizable addition to the west side of the building.  The structure had many uses including Neenahs' first YMCA.  By the 1970's its was no longer useful and was razed.