Jefferson Avenue Historic District

About this property

The Jefferson Avenue Historic District in Janesville, Wisconsin is a historic neighborhood east of the downtown of mostly middle-class homes built from 1891 to the 1930s. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 2006. Starting with Janesville's founding in the 1830s, most of its early neighborhoods grew west of the Rock River. After the Civil War, homes were built east of the river too. Homes in what is now the Jefferson Avenue district were built from 1891 to the 1930s in styles of that period. Here are some good examples of the different styles, roughly in the order built. The Harry and Lillian Brown house at 1018 Oakland Ave is a 2-story cream brick Queen Anne-style house built around 1891. It has the complex roof, asymmetry, and fish-scale shingles in the gable peaks typical of the style. Harry owned Brown Bros. Shoes and Boots on E. Milwaukee Street. The N.B. Robinson house at 115 S Garfield is a 2-story Queen Anne-style house built in 1895. Like the Brown house it is asymmetric, with a complex roof, and shingles in the gable ends. Unlike the Brown house above, the walls are clad with clapboard and an asymmetric porch wraps around one corner of the house - a typical feature of Queen Annes. The porch is framed with turned posts and spindles. A matching carriage house sits behind the house. The Helen & William Jones house at 102 Forest Park Blvd is a 2.5-story house built in 1908, with elements from various styles. The general form is a cube - the American Foursquare style that was becoming popular then. The complex roofline and rudimentary corner tower/bay are drawn from Queen Anne style. And the columns supporting the porch come from the Colonial Revival style that was also becoming popular. Henry Jones was a real estate dealer. The Edwin & Mary Bailey house at 102 Jefferson Ave is also at its core an American Foursquare house, but this one has a Neoclassical portico on the front with four colossal Tuscan columns. Edwin was a partner in Pond and Bailey, which dealt in "ladies clothing." The William P. & Jessie Langdon house at 1024 Oakland Ave is a Dutch Colonial Revival house built in 1920. The signature feature of this style is the house's gambrel roof. William was a building contractor and real estate dealer. The Harry & Clara Summers house at 334 Jefferson Ave is a 2-story brick house built in 1921. It hints at Prairie Style in its low-pitched roof, bands of casement windows, and the bold horizontal lines in the front porch and sun room. Harry was an architect. The William Lathrop house at 302 Jefferson Ave is a 2-story brown brick Georgian Revival house built in 1925. Typical elements of the style are the symmetry, hip roof, and brick exterior. William headed an insurance agency.

Location

Categories

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.

More in Rock County

Historic places, battles, and census history across Rock County.

More historic places in Wisconsin

Browse all historic places in Wisconsin.

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Wisconsin history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.