Months ago, I was prepared to write an article about the
house at 524 Otter Avenue. I had always
suspected it to be the work of William Waters but an old Oshkosh building
survey recognized Joseph Weber as the architect, so I abandoned my planed
missive. A few weeks past David Groth,
an architectural historical and fellow Waters aficionado asked me about the
house. He said he and others believed it
was indeed a “Waters’ job”. I told him I
agreed with him and would consider the matter further.
I researched city directories and my notes and found that the
house was built in 1886 for W. H. Crawford, a plumber, steam and gas
fitter. The directories of 1886 and 1889
list Joseph Weber as being a carpenter but not an architect. Those same volumes list only A. E. Bell and
Wm. Waters as architects. The house displays many features favored by architect Waters and would have been a fine example of his Queen Anne Style of the time. I then
recalled other instances of erroneous architectural attribution in the Oshkosh
building survey. It’s likely the
researchers for the building survey found Mr. Weber’s name as the builder and
concluded that he was also the architect. Perhaps David Groth, the others and I are
correct and the house is truly from William Waters’ drawing board.
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