R. J. Weisbrod’s Home

Rudolph J. Weisbrod was a prominent citizen in the early days of the city of Oshkosh.  He was born at Summers, Prussia in August of 1839 and moved to Oshkosh with his parents in 1853, at age fourteen.  After his service in the Civil War he returned to Oshkosh and opened shop as furniture builder and undertaker.  In 1873 he had a three-story building erected in the first block of Main Street on the west side of the street.  Business must have been good because in 1876 Mr. Weisbrod was able to build a stylish house on Washington Street just beyond Bowen Street.  Rudolph also became interested in politics, serving first as alderman when as Chief Fire Engineer and from 1885 until his death in 1901, Chief of Police. 

His house was said to have been the work of William Waters, a claim I didn’t fully embrace at first but soon I recognized the Waters’ “stamp”.  The building was typical of many of his houses from the mid to late 1870’s with low pitched roofs and small but ornate front porches.  One feature that was of great interest was trim around the first-floor windows and the small roof over the double window second floor.