The William Plankinton Mansion (also known as the William Plankinton House) was built in 1876 [1] by the millionaire meatpacking entrepreneur John Plankinton and presented as a wedding gift when his son William Plankinton married Mary Ella Woods. [2] Located at 1529 W. Wisconsin Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Victorian style residence was designed by Edward Townsend Mix, the most prominent Milwaukee architect of that era. [3]
One of the mansion's notable ornaments was a lion's head on its external marble-faced construction. The interior featured ornate woodwork, and the stairwell was illuminated by a stained glass window. [4] The building was sold in 1918 to Marquette University and for decades served as a hospital annex. In 1969 it was demolished to make way for new university structures.
Wisconsin Avenue was originally named Spring Street, but after several mansions were built along the street, it developed into the most prestigious residential area for the wealthy and in 1876 was renamed Grand Avenue. [5] Known as "A Merchant Prince and Princely Merchant" for his philanthropy, [6] John Plankinton owned property between Fifteenth and Sixteenth Streets on Grand Avenue and here financed three residences: one for himself (the extensively remodeled James Rogers mansion at 625 N. Fifteenth Street along with its surrounding seven acres of parkland, purchased in 1865); [7] one immediately next door, to the east, for his son William and built in 1876; [4] and one across the street for his daughter Elizabeth built in 1886-88 (at 1492 W. Wisconsin Avenue). [8] [9] Elizabeth never moved into her residence, and after William Plankinton died in 1905, his descendants moved to another location, since the neighborhood had undergone decline and Grand Avenue was no longer regarded as the city's most prestigious address. [4] Following discussions that began in 1913, it was finally renamed W. Wisconsin Avenue in 1926. [10]
While the Elizabeth Plankinton House was sold in 1910 to the Knights of Columbus and used for club gatherings and events, [11] [12] the William Plankinton Mansion and other associated Plankinton real estate of several acres were purchased by Marquette University in 1918. [4] The Plankinton family sold the property under the condition that the mansions on it were to be demolished by 1920. A legal loophole to this clause was found, and the mansions were temporarily saved. [4]
The William Plankinton Mansion was remodeled to a hospital facility during 1919 and became the Trinity Hospital Annex by 1920. It had a capacity of 42 patients and was an extension of the Trinity Hospital of Milwaukee, which had a capacity of 106 patients needing more intensive treatment. The annex served both as an eye, ear, nose and throat clinic and as a nurses' training hospital providing rehabilitative care to convalescing patients who were transferred from the main Trinity hospital. [13] [14] After the structure was no longer used as a hospital annex, it was repurposed in 1953 as Marquette's Alumni and Athletic Office. [15]
The William Plankinton Mansion was demolished in 1969 to make way for new university facilities constructed in the 1970s. [16] In 1975, the John Plankinton Mansion located next door to the site of the William Plankinton Mansion was likewise demolished. [17] Finally, the Elizabeth Plankinton House was demolished in 1980 and removed under much protest, [18] leading to the formation of the City of Milwaukee Historic Preservation Commission in 1981, with the aim of protecting Milwaukee's architectural heritage. [19]
The Avenue is an urban shopping plaza currently under renovation that spans three city blocks in the downtown neighborhood of Westown in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. There is one store anchored by T.J. Maxx and GRAEF-USA Incorporated, and three vacant spaces last occupied by Old Navy, OfficeMax, and Linens 'n Things.
The Golden Square Mile, also known as the Square Mile, is the nostalgic name given to an urban neighbourhood developed principally between 1850 and 1930 at the foot of Mount Royal, in the west-central section of downtown Montreal in Quebec, Canada. The name 'Square Mile' has been used to refer to the area since the 1930s; prior to that, the neighbourhood was known as 'New Town' or 'Uptown'. The addition of 'Golden' was coined by Montreal journalist Charlie Lazarus, and the name has connections to contemporary real estate developments, as the historical delimitations of the Golden Square Mile overlap with Montreal's contemporary central business district.
Marquette University High School (MUHS) is a private, all-male, Jesuit school located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Marquette Stadium was an outdoor athletic stadium in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the home field of the Golden Avalanche of Marquette University, its intercollegiate football team. Located in the Merrill Park neighborhood west of the university, the stadium opened in 1924 and had a seating capacity of 24,000 at its peak. Citing financial issues, the football program was discontinued by the university in December 1960. The concrete grandstands were demolished in the summer of 1976.
Solon Spencer Beman was an American architect based in Chicago, Illinois and best known as the architect of the planned Pullman community and adjacent Pullman Company factory complex, as well as Chicago's renowned Fine Arts Building. Several of his other largest commissions, including the Pullman Office Building, Pabst Building, and Grand Central Station in Chicago, have since been demolished. Beman designed numerous Christian Science churches and influenced the design of countless more.
The Brush Park Historic District is a neighborhood located in Detroit, Michigan. It is bounded by Mack Avenue on the north, Woodward Avenue on the west, Beaubien Street on the east, and the Fisher Freeway on the south. The Woodward East Historic District, a smaller historic district completely encompassed by the larger Brush Park neighborhood, is located on Alfred, Edmund, and Watson Streets, from Brush Street to John R. Street, and is recognized by the National Register of Historic Places.
Gordon W. Lloyd was an architect of English origin, whose work was primarily in the American Midwest. After being taught by his uncle, Ewan Christian, at the Royal Academy, Lloyd moved to Detroit in 1858. There he established himself as a popular architect of Episcopal churches and cathedrals in the region, mostly in the states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In addition to churches, Lloyd designed several secular works, such as commercial buildings, residences and an insane asylum. Though his office was in Detroit, Lloyd lived across the river in Windsor, Ontario, Canada.
Alexander Chadbourne Eschweiler was an American architect with a practice in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He designed both residences and commercial structures. His eye-catching Japonist pagoda design for filling stations for Wadham's Oil and Grease Company of Milwaukee were repeated over a hundred times, though only a very few survive. His substantial turn-of-the-20th-century residences for the Milwaukee business elite, in conservative Jacobethan or neo-Georgian idioms, have preserved their cachet in the city.
James Ludington was an American businessman. He obtained a sawmill in the village of Pere Marquette. Ludington platted the land there and formed a town with a lumber company operation. He sold his interest to the lumber company for a large sum of money and became wealthy. The town later changed its name and became Ludington, Michigan, although he never lived there.
Richard Henry Park was an American sculptor who worked in marble and bronze. He was commissioned to do work by the wealthy of the nineteenth century. He did a marble bust of John Plankinton, an astute businessman who founded the meat industry in Wisconsin and was "Milwaukee's foremost citizen."
Charles Pierrepont Henry Gilbert was an American architect of the late-19th and early-20th centuries best known for designing townhouses and mansions.
Albert C. Nash (1825-1890) was an American architect best known for his work in Milwaukee and Cincinnati.
Old Gold Coast is the name of a historic district in south Omaha, Nebraska. With South 10th Street as the central artery, the area was home to neighborhoods such as Little Italy and Forest Hill. The area is referred to as "old" because it was replaced in prominence in the late 19th century when a new district usurped its importance. This area south of downtown was generally bounded by Leavenworth Street on the north, Bancroft Street on the south, the Missouri River on the east, and South 16th Street on the west.
The Washington Monument is a public artwork by American artist Richard Henry Park located on the Court of Honor in front of the Milwaukee Public Library Central Library, which is near Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The bronze sculpture is a full-length portrait of a 43-year-old George Washington, and stands on a granite pedestal; a bronze woman points up at Washington while a child, also made out of bronze, gazes upward. It was sculpted by Richard Henry Park and was erected in 1885 with philanthropic financial support from Elizabeth Plankinton. The statue was restored between July 2016 and January 2018.
Elizabeth Ann or Anne Plankinton was an American philanthropist in the early 20th century, the daughter of Milwaukee businessman John Plankinton. She was also known as "Miss Lizzie" and the people of Milwaukee called Plankinton the "municipal patroness" because of her generosity. She made a large donation that built the first YWCA in Milwaukee. She also purchased an elaborate large-scale pipe organ for the newly constructed city auditorium.
John Plankinton was an American businessman. He is noted for expansive real estate developments in Milwaukee, including the luxurious Plankinton House Hotel designed as an upscale residence for the wealthy. He was involved with railroading and banking. The Plankinton Bank he developed became the leading bank of Milwaukee in his lifetime. He was involved in the development of the Milwaukee City Railroad Company, an electric railway.
The Elizabeth Plankinton House was a stone structure in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA, intended to be the residence for Elizabeth Plankinton. Built between 1886 and 1888 by John Plankinton for his daughter as a wedding gift, it cost at least $100,000. The architect Edward Townsend Mix designed the house in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. It was located opposite John Plankinton's own house on Grand Avenue in an upscale residential area of the western part of the city, near other mansions. Mrs. Margaret Johnston was the only person to have a permanent residence in the house (1896–1904). The Knights of Columbus used the property between 1910 and 1978. Despite being listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1976, the house was demolished on October 11, 1980, to make way for student facilities for Marquette University. The facility ultimately built was the Marquette Alumni Memorial Union. It is extremely close to the site of the house, but the majority of the land occupied by the house remains a grass lawn in 2020.
William Plankinton was an American businessman, manufacturer, and industrialist. He followed in his father's footsteps in the meat packing and meat processing industry.
The John Plankinton statue is a six foot (1.8 m) lifelike representation of the businessman and industrialist. It took the sculptor Richard Henry Park six months to make and was initially placed in the Plankinton House Hotel in downtown Milwaukee in 1892. The property in 1916 was redeveloped into the Plankinton Arcade shopping plaza. The property was again redeveloped in the 1970s into the John Plankinton Mall at the same location where the hotel once stood. The latest redevelopment of the property occurred in 1980 to 1982 and renamed the Shops of Grand Avenue. The statue was restored in 2012 and placed on a 15 foot (4.6 m) pedestal becoming a permanent part of the shopping plaza. It is now viewed by hundreds of shoppers daily.
Having started at the bottom of the ladder and becoming a multi-millionaire, he was referred to as 'A Merchant Prince and Princely Merchant'.