Old Fourth Ward Historic District

About this property

The Old Fourth Ward Historic District in Janesville, Wisconsin is a large old working-class neighborhood southwest of the downtown, comprising about 1100 contributing structures built from the 1840s to 1930. In 1990 the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. White settlers arrived in the Janesville area in 1835, staking claims on the south side of the Rock River, across from the Big Rock. That same year, Judge William Holmes platted the village of Rockport within what is now this district. Henry Janes platted a competing early village on the east side of the river, which eventually outgrew and subsumed Rockport, but some old names survive. Early entrepreneurs built dams on the Rock River to power sawmills, grain mills, a woolen mill, and a stone-sawing mill. James Harris started manufacturing farm equipment in 1859. Mill-owners and workers built their homes nearby. Around the Civil War prominent businessmen built stylish homes on the north end of the district, close to their businesses downtown. Harris's factory evolved into the larger Janesville Machine, and that later led to the GM assembly plant. From 1860 to 1890 workers at those factories filled most of the district with less fashion-conscious, more modest homes. The district was filled by 1930. Here are some examples of types of buildings in the district, listed roughly in the chronological order built, by centuries. Their styles generally follow the same progression and periods as in most other parts of southern Wisconsin. The First Methodist Church at 315 McKinley St is a 1-story frame structure built around 1847 by Janesville's first Methodists. They worshiped in this building until 1855, when they built a new brick church at McKinley St. and S. Jackson. This building has since been converted into a home, but the original Greek Revival style is still apparent in the low-pitched roof, frieze boards, and cornice returns. The Roswell Hill blacksmith shop at 904 Rockport Rd was probably built around 1855. Though it is rough and utilitarian, the low pitch of the roof, the symmetry, and the plain sills of the windows are compatible with the Greek Revival style that was in vogue then. At some point the second floor housed a small broom factory. The David Jeffris house at 212-214 S Cherry St is a 2-story frame house built in 1862 in Italianate style. Elements of the style are the low-pitched hip roof, decorative brackets under the eaves, and decorative window moldings. Jeffris was a Kentuckian who started a lumber business in Janesville, constructed buildings, and was a founder of Janesville Machine Company and the Merchants & Mechanics Bank.

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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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