More Oshkosh Buildings, Part Six

 It has been stated in this blog on other occasions that by the turn of the twentieth century Oshkosh was well established as a center of commerce and population and working to cast off vestiges of the past century. Many of the Italianate or Second Empire style homes were replaced by more fashionable trends in architecture and commercial buildings experienced changes in appearance as well. One such business was S. M. Hay Hardware, located at the corner of Pearl and Main Streets. The company had occupied the corner since 1848 and put up a new building after the fire of 1875 which was most likely the work of William Waters in as much as Mr. Waters was the architect of Mr. Hay's 1873 residence built on Algoma Blvd.

By 1903 Hay Hardware, a purveyor of stoves and other large goods wanted a better display space. The old building had three arched opening along the front on the first floor which were not conducive to product display and the company decided the remodel the building. An article in The Daily Northwestern of May 26, 1903 there was a detailed description of what was to be done; the front of the building was to be removed. The three arched openings which hindered the proper display of merchandise were to be replaced by large plate glass windows. An attractive entrance with display windows was to be add to the Division St. side of the building. The missive further states that the plans were drawn by a local architect, it was not until August 8 in another release that Mr. Waters was named as the planner.  

What emerged after the remodeling was a three story red brick building with large display window on the first floor and oversize widows on the upper floors. Classical details such as a cornice with dentils adorned the top of the structure. The first floor was occupied by the hardware company and the second and third floors were offices. After the Hay Company closed other retailers took over the first floor. The building was razed in the 1960's.

The Twentieth Century Club

The story of the Twentieth Century Club’s meeting place is long and convoluted, its start with the home of Joel Mead, a lumberman and partner in the Mead and Ripley Company. Mr. Mead built his Italianate house circa 1860 on the corner of Wisconsin Ave. and High Street, his partner Sylvanus Ripley built his house around the corner on Algoma Blvd. In 1900 the heirs of Joel Mead either sold or bequeathed the house to The Ladies Benevolent Society. The group had been around for many years and maintained the Home for the Friendless a home for elderly and indigent old women. The home was a small old house located on Main Street and it was the hope of some the club members to convert the Mead place into the groups’ headquarters and home for the friendless. The leaders of the society even went so far as to hier William Waters to draw plans for an eight room addition and other improvements. The next monthly meeting was poorly attended but the society voted any way to move ahead with the renovation plan. The next week there was yet another meeting where it was reviled that a $10,000 bequest from the estate of the Senator Sawyer was only good if a new building were to be constructed. The senator’s son Edger assured the ladies that an endowment of $10.000 would be set aside should the society ever decide to build a new home. A few days later those members against the plan made their opposition known.

So great was the argument stated that Ladies Benevolent Society abandoned plan to renovation the Mead House and sold it to the Twentieth Century Association for $5,000. The Twentieth Century Association was formed in 1898 to promote music and art in the community. Their plan was to renovate the house, making it into a modern club house to be used by various clubs. By April of 1901 the firm of William Waters & Son had drawn plans and bids were let for the remodeling which was expected to cost $10.000.  The club house was completed by mid October of 1901 with the first use coming on the last day of that month.  The club sold the building in 1968 and has since been converted to student housing.

The Winnebago Gun Club

In March of 1899 the Winnebago Gun Club, at its' regular meeting decided to build a club house. Architect William Waters was there and presented plans for a utilitarian building to accommodated the club's needs. The Winnebago Gun Club was organized by shooter to improve and promote the sport of marksmanship. In the summer of 1899 the club was to have the second annual shooting tournament to be held at the Heisinger Farm across from Riverside cemetery and a suitable building was needed. The plan called for a structure one story high, 16' x 32' with the front portion devoted to a large open veranda. The enclosed portion of the building was to have lockers and gun racks, all for the expenditure of $200. The contract for construction went to Fluor Brothers and the club house was to be finished in two weeks.   

By early July of that summer everything was ready for the big tournament. The new club house was finished and painted and a chimney was added for the preparation of lunch. By all accounts the building was perfect for club's needs. The tournament that summer was also a great success, the club made enough money to erase all its' debts. It's unclear what became of the Winnebago Gun Club and it's diminutive club house. The farmland was developed as a neighborhood and the Winnebago Gun Club ceased to be.  

Could be the Union Club.

I have in my collection a rendering of what appears to be a club house.  It isn't labeled in any way except to say it came from the office of Wm. Waters and Son.  That is significant as it dates the drawing to 1900.  For many years I've tried to identify the building, asking groups in Fond du Lac, Appleton and Green Bay if it was in their city.  No one could recognize it.  I concluded the place was never built.  That still left unanswered the question “What was it?”   Recently I decided to revisit my quest to ascertain the identity of the building and turned to the book “A Compilation of Articles Pertaining to the Works of William Waters”   There in the section about Oshkosh Societies, Clubs and Organizations were several newspapers write-ups about the Union Club.  This organization was brought about with the merger of the Crescent Club and Business Man Club and was housed on the second floor of the building on the south east corner of Main Street and Washington Ave. The space had proven to be inadequate and unattractive. 

The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of February 5, 1901 reported on the proceeding of the annual meeting of the Union Club and highlighted the discussion of a club house.  There had been some talk of building some years earlier but nothing came of it.  There seemed to be renewed enthusiasm for the project and William Waters and his son were in attendance to present their plans for a suitable club house.  The plan called for a building of stone and pressed brick at a cost of $15,000 but no location was reviled for the proposed structure.   Over the next few weeks more articles appeared in the press and seem to urge the Union Club and the Elks to build a club house that would be an ornament to the city especially given the wealthy members of the clubs.  Again nothing came of this attempt to construct a club house and the Union Club eventually disbanded.  I can not say for a certainty the rendering here is the proposed Union Club, but it could be.  

St. Paul's, Neenah

At the turn of the twentieth century there were five Lutheran Churches in Neenah and not one of them worshiped in english.   By 1912 a group of english speaking lutherans decided to form their own congration.  The church rented a small chapel on Bond Street from The Norwegian Lutherans but it wasn't long before the group realized the need for a bigger house of worship.  In the Oshkosh Daily Northwestern of October 3,1914, under the headline; "A PROPOSED TWIN CITY CHRUCH." there appeared a rendering of a beautiful new edifice.  The accompanying article told of the congregations need and described the new building designed by William Water of Oshkosh.

In March of 1915 there were a series of notices in the Oshkosh press concerning the letting of bids for the construction of the new church, the paper didn't mention who got the job.  St. Paul's was similar to other churches that Waters design during the early decades of the twentieth century, gone were the scoring steeples of the mid 1800's.  Instead architect Waters employed an English County church style as seen in Oshkosh's First Congregational Church of 1910 and St. John's of 1914(See Oshkosh Churches Part Three, 61,2012.  St. Paul's cornerstone was placed on July 12,1915 and the building served as designed until 1956.  It was in that year a massive remodeling project was undertaken; both ends of the church were removed and rebuilt such that the congregation would face east instead of west, and the entrance was moved from N. Commercial Street to the W. North Water Street side of the church.

Appleton Churches

I've posted entries on all Mr. Waters' Oshkosh churches and a surprise in Waupaca, it seems as good a time as any to report on churches in other cities.  Mr. Waters' religious works outside of Oshkosh were confined to Waupaca,  Neenah and Appleton.  The architect designed two houses of worship in Appleton, namely St. Joseph Catholic and The Methodist Episcopal Church.  Both commissions came at about the same time too.

St. Joseph Roman Catholic Church was formed 1867 when the growing number of German Katholishers wished to have their own parish.  The group received permission from the bishop to start a congregation and so purchased the old Third Ward School House for $150, moved it to Elm Street and turned it into a church.  By 1870 a building committee was assembled to consider plans for a building. Young architect William Waters had made a reputation with two important Wisconsin State jobs; the architect of the new Oshkosh Normal School and superintendent of construction of the Northern State Hospital for the Insane and it was his plan selected by the committee. Construction began in 1871 and cost $21,140 to build.  The church was dedicated on the first Sunday of November 1872. Over the years there were some remodeling projects, a major one in 1889 with the addition of two pillars and expansion of the sanctuary.  Later the front entrance was changed but what had remained constant was the steeple.  Many churches would for maintenance reasons remove the towering spires for something easier to re-roof.

The Methodist Church in Appleton was there with the founding of Lawrence University and the 

Methodists worshiped in college buildings until 1854 when a church was built across the street from the main college building.  On the morning of March 9, 1872, just before service the church burned down, holy smoke!  The congregation was  eager to rebuild, a lot on the corner of Lawrence and Morrison was acquired and William Waters was engaged as architect and the corner stone for a new church was laid in October of that same year.   That building served the congregation for more fifty years but was replaced in 1925.  The old church was sold to The Knights of Pythias and remodeled to look more like a castle and serve as their meeting hall,late the building was turned to retail use.

Waupaca Surprise

The subject of my last post, the Plymouth Congregational Church of Oshkosh was unusual yet familiar to me.  There was something about the bell tower that resonated with me, as if I'd seen it somewhere else in a different context.  I decided to check the on line reproduction of “Illustrated Waupaca” a book published in 1888.  The original book had no photographs but instead drawings based on photographs.  There was a fine drawing of the Methodist Episcopal Church with a steeple identical to that of the Plymouth Church in Oshkosh. It also bore a resemblance to Oshkosh's 1873 First Congregational church.  I contacted the Waupaca Historical Society and received friendly and informative response from the groups' president.  He sent a photo for the Methodist Church with a truncated steeple and a newspaper article as to how it got that way.    

The article was dated February 20, 1875 told of a thunder storm and a bolt of lightening which struck the 110' spire, destroying it but it seems unlikely that a thunder storm of such ferocity would occur in the winter.  Further investigation was needed so I contacted the church and the pastor sent a copy of the church history.  According to the church history, in 1875 pastor Rev. Moses Alley advocated for a new church in the Gothic style.  A building committee was formed with R. N. Roberts, A. Gordon, Winfield Scott and William West, with Mr. West being credited with raising money, picking committees and drawing plans.  The claim that Mr. West drew plans notwithstanding I believe William Waters to have been the architect of the church.  As for lightening struck steeple there were a few inconsistencies between the newspaper article and the church history.   The church history places the event in 1890 which is more credible for the 1888 “Illustrated Waupaca” pictured the church with a tall steeple, after the mishap the bell tower was considerably abbreviated.  The building served the congregation until 1961 when it was replaced.              

P. S. Just for fun I went, via Google to William Waters' home town of Franklin in Delaware County New York.  There was St. Paul Episcopal Church with a steeple looking much like that of the churches in Waupaca and Oshkosh.  The top of the tower also resembles that of Appleton's 1873 First Methodist Church.   St. Paul's church, built 1865 was the work of Richard Upjohn a prominent eastern architect. Mr. Waters may have been in Franklin at that time and may well have been influenced by what he saw.