Church Street Historic District
National Register of Historic Places

Church Street Historic District

Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
Listed
August 9, 1989
Type
District
Period
Early Republic
Ref No.
89001099

About this property

The Church Street Historic District is a one-block neighborhood of historic homes built from about 1857 to 1920. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. Wauwatosa was founded in 1835, around the meeting of what is now Harwood Avenue and State Street. In 1853 a portion of the district was platted as the first residential street of Wauwatosa. The Congregational church constructed that year in what is now the district was the first religious structure built in the community, and gave Church Street its name. The Thomas B. Hart House at 1609 Church Street is a Carpenter Gothic-style home built about 1857. Hallmarks of the style are the steep roofs, the bay window, and particularly the ornate bargeboards decorating the ends of the gables. They are cut with jigsaws to a different pattern on each gable, including an oak-leaf motif above the bay, a quatrefoil-and-trefoil combination above the porch, etc. Hart helped start Wauwatosa by building a sawmill on the Menomonee River around 1838, and a gristmill a few years after. The A.F. Kellogg house at 1460 Church Street is a 2-story frame home built in Queen Anne style in 1885. The clapboard siding on the sides is broken by horizontal and vertical boards, a detail drawn from Stick Style. The Daniel T. Pilgrim house at 1514 Church Street is a 2-story Queen Anne house built about 1885, with a cross-gabled form. The front end has angled corners, with windows decorated with jig-sawn hood moulds. The eaves on the gable-end are similarly decorated. The First Congregational Parsonage at 1504 Church Street was built in 1885, a 2-story building across the street from the Congregational Church. Its style is Queen Anne, with a cross-gabled roof, bay windows, and complex porches. The Emma C. Caswell house at 1530-32 Church Street is a 1.5-story house built in 1887, with a hip-roofed porch across its front, and the front gable decorated with board and batten. The L.T. Lehmann house at 1630 Church Street is a 2.5-story Queen Anne built about 1891 with a 3-story corner tower roofed with a bell-like dome. It is decorated with shingles in the gable ends, a band of shingles between the first and second floors, and fine spindle-work in the porch. The John B. DeSwarte house at 1622 Church Street is a 1.5-story eclectic-styled house built in 1891. The bay windows, exposed chimney, and shingled gables are clearly Queen Anne style. The pitch of some roof surfaces, the little shed-roofed dormer, and the gambrel roof could be drawn from Shingle style. The Ferdinand Bark house at 1612 Church Street is a 2-story Queen Anne home built in 1893, with a cross-gabled roof, and cutaway corners on the first floor. Fish-scale shingles decorate the gable ends.

Location

1448--1630 Church St. and 7758 W. Menomonee River Pkwy.
Wauwatosa, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
43.05150, -88.01022

Categories

ARCHITECTURE
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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Everything a full report reveals about Church Street Historic District

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Overview
An interactive map of the location with historic sites, battles and Native heritage plotted, and its full story era by era.
The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks and old features hidden in the landscape.
Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
Finds & Access
Museum objects tied to the area, and the laws on searching, collecting and access here.
Literature
The old books, county histories and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from first peoples to the present day.
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Nearby Historic Sites

Hart, Thomas B., House
Industrial
0 mi
Day, Dr. Fisk Holbrook, House
Industrial
0.2 mi
Sunnyhill Home
Industrial
0.2 mi
Wauwatosa Woman's Club Clubhouse
Industrial
0.2 mi
Damon, Lowell, House
Industrial
0.3 mi

Questions about this property

When was Church Street Historic District listed on the National Register?

Church Street Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on August 9, 1989.

What type of historic resource is Church Street Historic District?

Church Street Historic District is classified as a district in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Church Street Historic District?

The period of significance for Church Street Historic District is recorded as the early_republic era, specifically around 1857.

Can I research the history near Church Street Historic District?

Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Church Street Historic District will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.

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