Another Suspect

There once was a building near the corner of High Avenue and Division Street in Oshkosh.  It was on the north side of the street and was for many years the home of Muza Sheet Metal but was demolished to make way for a parking lot.  The building was erected sometime between 1886 and 1889 and was numbered as 80 and 82 High Street.  The first occupant was C. E. Angell and Company, a dealer of grass and garden seeds and may have he who had the building put up. The second floor was the residence of William Mainland, the secretary and superintendent of the Oshkosh Gas Light Co.  The seed company was at that address in 1900 but by 1903 the Oshkosh Spice Co. was there and by 1910, E. B. Morley a provider of crockery and glassware occupied the space.

I had always suspected the structure to be the work of William Waters and here’s why; The building is of a template often used by architect Waters, that is, two store fronts on either side of a stairway to the second floor.  The upper floor had a single arched window on center and sets of triplet windows with elegant arched tops on each side.   Although I only knew the building as painted brick I speculate it was of a cream-colored brick and not a red pressed brick.  Bands of limestone trim completed the façade for a stylish appearance.