September 4, 2019 A Presentation

                                               https://vimeo.com/360362870

On Wednesday September 4, 2019 my wife and I presented a power point at the Oshkosh Public Library.  Please click on the above lick and enjoy the show,

"The Tiniest Sleigh Bell"

Hey everyone! I've published a children's book and it's available as an e-book or print edition. Just Google "The Tiniest Sleigh Bell" and find the many options for purchase.

Three for One

Smith School was closed in 2019 which ended a nearly one hundred twenty-five-year history of serving the educational needs Oshkosh.  In 1894 the school board received a report on the condition the school buildings and the report was critical of Smith school which had served the community since the mid 1860’s.  It was decided to build a new school and architect from Appleton, Merrill, Milwaukee and Joliet, Illinois submitted plans.  William Waters also proposed a design which the school board adopted.  In November of 1895 the construction contract was let to Domke and Meyer, and the building was in use by 1896. 

As Smith school was under construction Mr. Waters got two more school jobs.  The first was for the Wittenberg High School which was built in 1897 using plans like though of Smith School.  The Wittenberg school was slightly larger than Smith school and was constructed of a dark brick whereas Smith school was of a cream-colored brick. That building severed until 1970 and was demolished to make way for a new school. 

The other school erected using similar plans was the Brandon High School.  The Brandon school was somewhat smaller than its predecessors but had dormers on the front and sides as well as a belfry.  The structure was of a light-colored brick and featured a header above the front arches which read “High School”.  It too was razed after the combination with another rural high school. 

The fenestration of the front elevation of all three buildings was the same with two entry arches on the first floor above which were three windows. To the sides on the first floor were sets of double windows and on the second floor a set of double windows flanked by single windows. It was a graceful design worthy of repetition.  

I'll be in Oshkosh

On Wednesday September 4th at 6:30 pm I will give a power point presentation at the Oshkosh Public Library.  The presentation is about William Waters, his life and works.  Please join me.

Design Repeat

The reuse of a design has previously been discussed in this blog.  If Mr. Waters had a plan a client liked, he would use it again.  In 1900 architect Waters drew plans for *Peter King’s residence on Waugoo and a residence for Nic Stein on North Park Avenue, aka Parkway, the buildings were mirror images of each other.  Nic Stein was the proprietor of a sample room on Main Street and had been employed as a book keeper for another bar owner, Peter Stein, perhaps his brother. **Peter Stein also had a house designed by William Waters.  The bar business must have been lucrative for the Kings  and Steins all had new houses built about the same time.   

But Nic Stein was not the only one to have a house based on the Peter King design, Henry L. Sorenson of Neenah had a house of the same plan built on Church Street in the Sherrytown neighborhood.  

The dwelling was, with but a few alterations the same as King’s house on Waugoo in Oshkosh.  Mr. Sorenson was a partner with George Barlow in the Badger Furniture Store on W. Wisconsin Avenue, and his home would have been in easy walking distance from the store, HHHHH

* See, The Kings of Waugoo 7/10/2017

** See, Bells of St Mary’s 9/16 2017

The Union Block

The recent posting of a photo on social media of an Appleton street scene was a revelation to me.  It wasn’t an image I was familiar with, but I leaned it was the north side of E. College Avenue between Oneida and Morrison.  At the center of the picture was a large two-story building which exhibited many features of a William Waters’ design; store fronts flanking stairs to the second floor, sets of triplet windows on the upper floor and intricate brick cornice capped with pediments.  I had to learn more. 

Directories and maps of the time were the best resource.  The earliest directory I found was for 1877, at the time Appleton lacked a coherent numbering system for buildings and so descriptions of location were provided, an example would be (sic) n s Atlantic e Durkee, meaning the north side of Atlantic east of Durkee.  Commercial concerns would often indicate the business block which housed them.  There were several references to The Union Block in the early directory and newspapers, with the aid of fire insurance maps I concluded the building was the Union Block.  The Appleton Post of 12/31/1874 published an article about several of the new building to town, one being the Union Block owned by, Dr. Stansbury, Capt. Edwards, Samuel Phinny and David Smith.  The contractors of the building were William Johnson and Robert Pride, no mention was made of the architect.  I recognized the name of David Smith as being a client of Mr. Waters for such building as the Manufacturers Bank and a residence, perhaps Mr. Smith enlisted architect Waters once again.     

The Tischer Block

An article in the Oshkosh Northwestern of July 17, 1873 listed the many jobs William Waters had in other cities.  There were several in Appleton one of which was a store for Mr. Tischer.  My early research on the subject yielded nothing but I thought I’d try again. I’ve since learned that Fred Tischer at age twenty-eight in 1854 came to this country from Germany and settled in Greenville west of Appleton.  When the civil war started he joined the 15th regiment of Wisconsin volunteers, and returned to Appleton after the war.  In 1873 Fred planned to erect a business block, a note in the Appleton Crescent of April 19,1873 tells of the cellar excavation for the building.  Also, there were numerous advertisements throughout 1873 for the Berg and Tischer Meat Market.  The Appleton city directory of 1877 listed Mr. Tischer as a clerk at Hackert’s Store and residing on the south side of College Ave., east of Oneida.  In 1885 there were ads for May and Tischer, groceries and provisions.  He died in July of 1893 at age sixty-seven.

The question remained, where was the Tischer Block and what did it look like?  A notation in a newspaper from 1874 said the Tischer Block was opposite the Levake Hotel, which was on the north side of College Ave., just east of the corner of Morrison St.  With that information as well as the listing of Mr. Tischer’s residence as being on the south side of College, east of Oneida, I knew where  and what to look for, a building of two stores with a stairway between them a, favored lay out of architect Waters.  Consulting the earliest Sanborn map of that area I found two likely buildings; one was the Warner and Whorton Block and the other was further west.  Next, I traveled along E. College via Google and low and behold found what I was looking for, the building at 111-109 E. College fit the criteria.  There was one feature that truly marked it as the work of Mr. Waters, that was the segmented pilasters that flanked the center window of the second floor.  Alteration were made over the years, new store fronts and smaller windows chief among them.