W. H. Doe Fire House

The history of the Wm. H. Doe Fire House is not well documented. There had long been a fire house on High Street, the Union Hook and Ladder Company, located on that street between Division and Light streets. As the city expanded it made little sense to have three fire houses just a few blocks from Main Street and companies were relocated. Most of the history to be found on the fire house were newspaper notices of city council proceedings. The first was dated 3/18/1874 and told of a resolution voted upon concerning a new steam fire engine recently purchased by the city. The resolution was to name the engine for William H. Doe and instructed the manufacturer to affix a plaque to the machine bearing that name. A reason for this honor was not reported in the missive. Next, on May 27, 1874 Alderman Whitney of the Fire Commission presented to the council a plan for a new fire house intended to house the new Wm. H. Doe Engine and perhaps that's why the house took on that name as well. That report

was followed on June 10^th by a more detailed proposal which mentioned a High Street lot, recently purchased and the cost for both wooden and brick structures. Also on that same day in the same newspaper there appeared a notice for the taking of bid for the new fire house, the plans for which could be seen at the office of William Waters. The city council approved the building of the new station and for the rest of that year notices of the council proceeding concerned themselves with the letting and payment of contracts for the building.

Mr. Waters' design for the Doe Fire House was a departure from his earlier efforts. The building was simple and symmetrical with no tower to grace the facade. There was a large central door for equipment flanked by passage doors. On the second floor, at center was a set of double windows with single windows on either side and above that was brick cornice topped by a parapet. Photographic evidence shows an addition of a wooden shed on the north wall, perhaps to accommodate more equipment. The station was not without a tower but it was placed toward the back of the building. That neighborhood along High Street was the industrial center of the city and was lined with factories that produced sash and doors, wagons and carriages, trunks and luggage as well as matches, all things made of wood. Algoma Boulevard was becoming a popular residential street for the wealthy of Oshkosh, so it was imperative to have good fire protection. The station was still in use in 1922 but was decommissioned not long after that, at the end it was the home the the University Book Store before being razed in order to provide green space.      

The Phoenix Fire House

Mr. Waters' commissions continued with homes, commercial structures, churches, schools and in the summer of 1871 the Phoenix Fire House on Main Street just north of Merritt Avenue. As you will learn this was a most appropriate name for the building.  The city of Oshkosh was sensitive to the thereat of fire, having experienced two divesting conflagrations in 1859 and 1866.  The summer of 1874 was hot, dry and windy.  There were two fires that summer one in early May and another on the afternoon of July 14, at about 3 pm.. 

A fire broke out in a barn near the corner of Main and Church.  Pushed by southwest winds the fire scorched a wide swath toward the northeast, the Phoenix Station lay in it's path and didn't escape the flames and could not be saved.  By the next day the fire was out and the damage assessed; all that remained the the Phoenix Engine House was the front wall and tower.  The Oshkosh Weekly Northwestern of August 6, 1874 reported on the city council meeting and the decision to rebuild the brigade's station on Main Street.  At a subsequent meeting it was moved by Alderman Stringham to preserve what remained of the front wall and tower, and so it was that the Phoenix Fire House rose from it's own ashes. 

For the decades that followed the rebuilt Phoenix served the city well but was decommissioned in 1915. 
The building was purchased by Henry Roeder and used as auto and machine repair shop, by 1922 it housed the Oshkosh Oakland Agency.   The top of the tower was removed and a display window replaced the doors but little else changed on the exterior of the old fire house.  It continued as a retail space until the late 1960's when it was demolished to make a parking lot.     

Brooklyn Fire House

When William Waters came to Oshkosh he wasted no time in finding work and establishing himself as an architect. Some of his early commissions came from the city of Oshkosh and in May of 1868 the young architect was preparing plans for a new forth ward school house to be erected of Jefferson St., there was also that month a notice to builders, published in the paper advertising for bids on the construction of an engine house in the third ward, the plan for which could be seen at the office of Mr. Waters. By the end of June the Oshkosh City Times wrote a brief description of the south side fire house, calling it the handsomest building of it's kind in the city and praising the large decorative cornice and Nicolson pavement of the equipment deck. (Nicolson pavement is of wooden blocks.) Even more praise came from Oshkosh Journal of August 8, 1868 which ranked it as one of the finest fire houses in the state. Noting its' ornamental bell and look out tower, the article stated, “Architecturally the building is well harmonized, and is a specimen of fine taste and good workmanship.”

The building must have impressed more than just the newspaper reporters because the city of De Pere built a structure nearly identical to it which served as fire house and city hall. There are no records which establish William Waters as the architect or someone else for that matter.  

The Brooklyn fire house served the south side of Oshkosh unaltered for nine years, then an addition was erected to accommodate a hook and ladder truck. The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of 7/22/1879 gave comprehensive summery of the new building, describing its' many attributed and incorporation into the existing fire house. The modifications satisfied the fire departments' needs until 1946 when a new station was built many blocks to the south. For years the building was the home of the Wisconsin Sign Company and was placed on the National Register in 1969 with major restoration following.

Special Edition, William C. Klapproth, Part Two

Ever a student of architecture, I recall in my youth being attentive to features of Oshkosh housing and wondered about similarities between certain dwellings. As I grew and traveled Wisconsin I even noticed similar features in houses elsewhere and at last I embarked on a research mission to  discover who was responsible for the houses I had admired. One element I noticed on some of the better class dwellings in Oshkosh was a semicircular bay window, located at the corner of the first floor. Several homes in my native neighborhood displayed this unique bit of fenestration and I began to notice it elsewhere in the city too. Many of the fine dwelling along Washington Avenue, Algoma Blvd, Jackson Street and New York Avenue shared this bay window trait.

At the corner of the house the foundation formed a semicircle from the front wall to the side wall and rose the height of the window sills, there was a picture window flanked by sash windows. The bay was topped with a roof with low points at the ends and center and high points along the front and side walls. I learned through my research that the bay window style was unique to William Klapproth. The architect had other signature features, a favorite element employed by Mr. Klapproth was the Jerkin Head gable and although not exclusive to his work the architect used the truncated gable a great deal. There is another gable treatment used by architect Klapproth and can also be seen on the building of Wm. Waters and E. E. Stevens, the Prow Gable. The etymology of the name is unclear but it can look like the front of a ship and Mr. Klapproth used it sparingly.  Klapproth was also fond of using columns with Ionic capitals, festoons and other classical features to adorn his homes.   

Like many other American cities, Oshkosh had plethora of “American Foursquare Style” houses. This style was very popular at the turn of the twentieth century, Mr. Klapproth conceived many dwelling based on that scheme and expanded versions too.

 From 1900 until 1905 architect Klapproth had a profound effect on the look of Oshkosh but before his arrival in town he lived and worked in Los Angeles.

There were two notable projects to his credit: The West Lake Park Pavilion and East Park Conservatory. There may have been other Los Angeles building designed by the young architect but research has yet to discover them. In Oshkosh, William worked with E. E. Stevens and designed a new house for his bride and himself. For a number of years Klapproth worked with Stevens before opening his own office, when he did he won a number of high paying commissions: the residence of O. T. Waite, a manufacturer of grass rugs, Charles Clark, a partner in a steam boat line and the Ladies Benevolent Society’s Home for the Friendless are but a few.

 

In the next few years he designed homes for Herman Weyerhorst, F. D. Cross, J. F Hayes, Julius Kiel and A. C. McComb. He penned plans for a new larger house for his family, Christ Lutheran Church and Peace Lutheran School as well as submitting drawing for the new High School. In 1902 Mr. Klapproth designed perhaps the most beautiful commercial building in Oshkosh, the Main Street establishment of H. F. Wenrich, stone cutter and monument maker.  

That same year the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern reported that the first of a number house designed by Mr. Klapproth was finished. The dwelling was part of a housing co-op started Edward Lull a contractor who subdivided a section of land from Sixth to Ninth Avenues and from Idaho to Knapp Street. The co-op was open to the public and there were three different styles of house from which to chose. Many of the Klapproth house still stand in the Hi-Holder neighborhood, as that section of town was known.

 Many fine home along South Park Avenue seem to be of his design and on the other side of town he planed dwellings for W. J. Campbell on W. Irving Ave, C. W. Schmidt, Frank La Bubbe and A. W. Schram all constructed on Washington Avenue.

 William Klapproth was also getting much work out of town, a home for W. H. Brown on Superior Street in Antigo, Mr. Puchner's residence in Wittenberg, the George Schultz home on Franklin St. in Shawano and a couple in Waupun, one of which was the mirror image of the Charles Clark residence in Oshkosh.

 It seems that Mr. Klapproth left Oshkosh in 1906 and moved to Los Angeles but returned to Oshkosh in 1912 and once again set up an office but work was not plentiful; a few jobs in town and one in
Clintonville.  Mr. and Mrs. Klapproth spent the winter of 1918-1919 in California and returned but work was sparse with only the Wilson Music and  the James Gould residence to he credit that year.

The architect  did submit a plan for the new Punhoqua School which was of a one story design, unheard of in Wisconsin at that time and the plan was rejected as too costly to heat.  The glory years of the past were gone and the architect was unable to rekindle his fire that once burned so bright. Oshkosh owes much to William Klapproth for a deep and beautiful architectural history.  

Special Edition, William C. Klapproth, Part One

In a recent post I mentioned that as the twentieth century progressed William Waters faced stiffer competition from younger, more aggressive architects, one such man was William C. Klapproth.  Mr. Klapproth was born in 1869, the son of a Chicago bricklayer.  Klapproth grew up in Chicago, became a draftsman and worked in that city for a time then moved to Los Angeles where by 1890 was employed in the office of prominent architect R. B. Young, soon young William became an architect as well.  He planned two Los Angeles parks projects, the West Lake Park Pavilion and the East Park Conservatory, both were widely praised.  Abruptly, Mr. Klapproth left Los Angeles in 1893 to return to the mid-west, settling in Oshkosh and took a position in the office of E. E. Stevens where he worked for four years.  Propelled by his great aptitude and ambition the young architect found an eager clientele and opened his own office in the Webster Block on Main Street.  Oshkosh of the early 1900's was a center of population, manufacturing and commerce which in turn created wealth and a market for upscale housing.  It was not long before Klapproth's output surpassed that of his erstwhile employer and that of the venerable William Waters.  One of the first things architect Klapproth did when he arrived in town was to purchase a lot on the corner of Pleasant St. and Hudson Avenue and have a house of his own design built.  He courted Miss Helene Bernicke the daughter of a local cigar maker.   The two were married in May of 1895 and in time she had a daughter Violet and a son, William. 

 Commissions of all kinds came his way, an early and conspicuous one was The Ladies Benevolent Society's Home for the Friendless on Main Street.  He also took work in Waupun, Shawano, Wittenberg, Luxemburg and Antigo.  His designs included houses, churches, schools and a proposal for the new Oshkosh High School.   Sometime about 1900 the Klapproth family moved to a new house on Elm Street, in the 5^th ward.  In July of 1902 one of the 5^th ward aldermen resigned, Mr. Klapproth was nominated as a replacement and elected by the city council as alderman.    Everything seemed to be going well until March of 1903 when Klapproth was arrested for indecent exposure, there had been an incident about a month earlier and the police had surveillance on Mr. Klapproth.  The case didn't go to trial as the architect plead guilty.  In a letter to the city council, alderman Klapproth resigned his position, saying he was going to Chicago, then on to Pensacola to seek the help of a specialist on nervous diseases, the missive went on to say that Mr. Klapproth would then spend a month in Cuba.  On April 9, 1903 it was reported that the architect and former alderman had returned to the city form Pensacola and was seen in front of his residence but would not go into the house yet walked about the neighborhood.  He was taken to Alexian Brothers Hospital to be examined as to his mental condition. 

Despite his arrest and conviction, he continued to work, finishing some seventeen buildings in Oshkosh and elsewhere.  In the 1905 Oshkosh city directory Mr. Klapproth is still listed in the business roster of architects but there is no listing for him among the general population and the address directory shows 150 Elm Street, his home address as being vacant.  In January of 1906 a notice was published in the Daily Northwestern that architect Klapproth sold his office furniture and other apparatus to Fluor Brothers and departed the city. 

 It's unclear where William and his family went but his name appears in the Los Angeles city directory of 1908 and he's listed as head draftsman at the office of R. B. Young, for whom he worked in 1890.  Mr. Klapproth continued his employment with Young's office through 1912 the same year his wife Helene divorced him.  He returned to Oshkosh with a new wife named Katherine and he again opened an office on Main Street.  For several years he and Katie lived and worked in Oshkosh and he received commissions for a few homes in town and one in Clintonville.  Late in 1918 he and his wife left to spend the winter in California, they returned in April of 1919.  From 1920 until his death Mr. Klapproth residency got somewhat murky, he worked in Oshkosh as an architect but by 1922 was in Los Angeles employed as a salesman.  In the summer of 1927 Mr. Klapproth, with $30,000 in his possession, was intercepted on his way Excelsior Springs, Missouri where he intended to invest the money in a questionable scheme.  On June 13, 1927 a judge made his wife special guardian and the architect was confined the Milwaukee County Hospital for the Insane, where a special jury found him to be sane.  After his release from the hospital Mrs. Klapproth asked to be made his general guardian with control over his property and money.  His death notice dated July 25, 1931 stated that Mr. Klapproth had been in ill health for an extended period. 

What Might Have Been

It's fun to imagine what places would look like if somethings as reported in the newspapers had happened. Through my research over the the past few years I've learned of many projects reported upon that never came to pass: school additions, apartment houses and club houses. Not too long ago I posted an article on the proposed Union Club of Oshkosh which was never built. There were in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries any number of fraternal or social clubs, men and women could join and Oshkosh was a city of joiners as there were an abundance organizations in town. By the early twentieth century the Oshkosh newspapers was urging any group to build a large ornamental club house that would bring prestige to the city. In 1900 the Union Club and the Elks were under pressure to build and drawings and plans were presented but nothing came of it. Finally in 1903 the Oshkosh Yacht Club built its' beautiful club house at the foot of Washington Avenue. In the 1800's clubs would rent space, erect or buy a commercial block and house their club rooms on the second floor, while drawing income from the stores below. One such outfit was the Elks Club, a group which formed after the Civil War with the Oshkosh lodge first meeting in 1894. For many years the B P O E lodge number 292 occupied rooms on the second floor of a building on the corner of  Main and Church Street. The building was constructed after the fire of 1874 and was home at first to the Oshkosh Business College.

The group was unhappy with the accommodations and in 1902 started a campaign to build a club house, several sites were considered but nothing came of it. In April of 1903 a fire damaged the building and the club considered remodeling and adding a third story to the structure, which was owned by the estate of the late Daniel Libbey, who's sons Frank and Charles were member of the lodge. William Waters was retained to draw up plans for the modifications and the proposal was announced in an article in the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of May 15, 1903 along with floor plans of the renovation but no sketches of the exterior. Perhaps Mr. Waters would have given the outside a face lift to bring the old building into the twentieth century.

The changes never happened and the Elks met at the Odd Fellows Hall for a time and then in the rooms once used by the Union Club on the second floor of the Heissinger Bros. Block on the corner on Main and Washington St.  Finally in 1913 the Elks were able to build a large decorative club house on Jefferson Street that building was demolished in 1978.

Bandstand on the Square

In the nineteenth century there were phonographs which reproduced music after a fashion but no radios, television or computers on which to share popular music, live performances were the way most popular music was transmitted. Oshkosh had a lively theatrical and musical scene with many venues for entertainment of all sorts. The Grand Opera House was host to many vaudeville shows and the city had several noteworthy bands. In the summer band concerts were often held outdoors and were very popular with the denizens of Oshkosh. The Oshkosh Weekly Northwestern of July 23 1891 reported that at a recently held outdoor band concert the band was encumbered by the large crowd and a movement was forming to build a band stand in Opera House Square. There was great enthusiasm at first with a petition being presented to the city council asking that the fountain on the square be move and the band stand be built according to plans drawn by William Waters. A subscription campaign was started, the city council appropriated $500 for the project and work started on the foundation. It was decided that the square should be repaved as well and by early October came the announcement that the band stand would not be built until the spring. In April of 1892 the Oshkosh Times urged the city to finish the project but the city was reluctant to authorized more funds. For the rest of the year and the year that followed, city hall bickered about the finances.

Finally in the spring of 1894 construction was started and four limestone arched were built. In the mist of the arches was the fountain and the walls held up a deck from which the band would play. Around the deck was a metal railing with uprights and frame work to support a canopy. The band stand adorned the square until 1907, that was the year it was announced that Col, Hicks would erect a civil war solder monument in the square. It was decided that that band stand should be relocated to North Park. There were a few newspaper notices about the move but nothing to indicate if indeed it was moved or where in the park it was put. A notice of a concert in North Park by the Arion Band was publisher in the summer of 1908 and in June of 1927 Fluor Brothers won the bid to build new band stand, which would imply that the structure had been moved and was in need of being replaced by the late 1920's.