Old Fourth Ward Historic District | |
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Location | Roughly bounded by Washington St., Center Ave., Court St., Franklin St., and Monterey Park in Janesville, Wisconsin |
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Coordinates | 42°40′31″N89°01′33″W / 42.67524°N 89.0257°W |
Area | 230 acres (93 ha) |
NRHP reference No. | 90000789 [1] |
Added to NRHP | May 30, 1990 |
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. [2] In 1990 the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places. [3]
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. [2]
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. [2]
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 Merchants Avenue Historic District in a residential neighborhood southeast of the downtown in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, composed of 33 mostly large homes on large lots within six city blocks around Merchants Avenue. It was placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
Washington Avenue Historic District is the historic center of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the location of the early industry and commerce that was key to the community's development. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986.
The East Park Historic District in Stoughton, Wisconsin is a 7 acres (2.8 ha) historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2003.
The Church Hill Historic District is a mid-to-upper-class residential area north of Portage's downtown. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 for its significance in architecture and social history.
The Mansion Hill Historic District encompasses a part of the Mansion Hill neighborhood northwest of the capitol square in Madison, Wisconsin. In the 19th century the district was home to much of Madison's upper class, and held the largest concentration of large, ornate residences in the city, but in the 20th century it shifted to student housing. In 1997 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
The Courthouse Hill Historic District is a 30-block area on the east side of Janesville, Wisconsin, containing many historic structures built from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s in various styles, including homes of many of Janesville's influential leaders from that period. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.
The Lovejoy and Merrill-Nowlan Houses are two large, adjacent houses built in the 1800s in the Courthouse Hill Historic District in Janesville, Wisconsin. The Lovejoy house is in a rather eclectic Queen Anne style; Merrill-Nowlan is Georgian Revival. They were separate single-family homes with independent histories until both were owned by the YWCA in the 1970s. In 1980, they were added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Near East Side Historic District is a neighborhood in Beloit, Wisconsin composed of stylish homes of prominent citizens from the 1800s and the buildings of Beloit College. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.
The Maple Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood that lies northwest of the downtown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, United States. Part of the original city plat for Lake Geneva, it was first home to early settlers before the town became known as a retreat for wealthy Chicagoans. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.
The West Washington-North Hi-Mount Boulevards Historic District is a historic neighborhood in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with stylish homes built along the named streets beginning in 1912, mostly businessmen and professionals. In 1994 the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Jenifer-Spaight Historic District is a historic neighborhood a mile east of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, including houses built as early as 1854. In 2004 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).
The Langdon Street Historic District is a historic neighborhood east of the UW campus in Madison, Wisconsin - home to some of Madison's most prominent residents like John B. Winslow, Chief Justice of the state Supreme Court, and nationally recognized historian Frederick Jackson Turner. The district has a high concentration of period revival style buildings - many built from 1900 to 1930 to house Greek letter societies, and many designed by Madison's prominent architects. In 1986 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
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.
The Northwest Side Historic District is residential district in central Stoughton, Wisconsin, United States with 251 contributing homes built from 1854 to 1930. In 1998, the neighborhood was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The South Main Street Historic District is a surviving collection of eleven commercial buildings built from 1877 to 1915 in the old downtown of Oregon, Wisconsin, plus the WWI memorial. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The South Main Street Historic District a fairly intact remnant of Janesville, Wisconsin's old downtown east of the Rock River, built in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In 1990 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
The Southwest Side Historic District is a neighborhood in Stoughton, Wisconsin with over 100 contributing properties in various styles built as early as 1856. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.
The Walker's Point Historic District is a mixed working-class neighborhood of homes, stores, churches and factories in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with surviving buildings as old as 1849, including remnants of the Philip Best Brewery and the Pfister and Vogel Tannery. In 1978 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The NRHP nomination points out that Walker's Point was "the only part of Milwaukee's three original Settlements to reach the last quarter of the Twentieth Century with its Nineteenth and early-Twentieth Century fabric still largely intact," and ventures that "For something similar, one would have to travel to Cleveland or St. Louis if, indeed, so cohesive and broad a grouping of...structures still exists even in those cities."
The West Hill Residential Historic District is a historic neighborhood on a bluff above the Chippewa River west of downtown Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It includes 163 contributing properties in a variety of styles, ranging from mansions of lumber executives built in the 1870s to ranch houses of the 1950s. In 2021 the district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.