William Waters Oshkosh Architect

Commercial Structures

Commercial buildings were a large part of Waters' practice. Some of his earliest commissions were buildings devoted to business and he continued designing business blocks until the end of his career. Many of his early jobs in Appleton and the fires which destroyed Oshkosh's Main St. gave Mr. Waters ample opportunity to build his skill with regard to store front design. There was one design template in particular that served his clients well. This design consisted of one building with two stores with a stairway to the second floor between the stores. The store front layout depended on client need. Many had a central recessed entry flanked by large display windows. In some cases the entrance was to one side, as seen here in the Commercial Bank,
On the second floor twin or triplet windows provided light and ventilation to offices or flats. At the center of the structure, above the stairway was a single window. This design is well suited to long rows of buildings. A study of business houses from the 1870's will show a few examples of this design template. Mr Waters may not have been the genesis of this design but used extensively were it would work well.