Historic Structures

Structures of the type Commercial

William Tallman Warehouse, New Bedford Massachusetts

One of the oldest remaining commercial buildings in the old waterfront area of New Bedford, with hoisting equipment preserved.

Land was purchased by William Tallman in 1790. The building was purchased by William Watkins in 1853, and by John McCullough in 1904. In 1888 it was occupied by a hardware business on the first floor, offices on the second floor, storage on third floor. It was purchased by the N. B. Wholesale Beef and Provision Co., Inc., in 1928.

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Second Ward Savings Bank (now Milwaukee County Historical Center), Milwaukee Wisconsin

Erected for the Second Ward Savings Bank in 1911-13, and since 1965 it has served as headquarters of the Milwaukee County Historical Society. This graceful structure is a fine example of the Neo-classical revival. The application for the building permit (No. 2110) is dated September 27, 1911. By January 10, 1913, construction was complete, and the bank opened officially on February 3. It Is reported to have cost approximately $400,000.

In 1928 the Second Ward Savings Bank, the original owner, merged with the First Wisconsin National Bank of Milwaukee, and the building became the First Wisconsin's Second Ward Office. In April, 1965, the First Wisconsin donated the structure to Milwaukee County. The historical society took possession a few weeks later, and the former bank reopened as the Milwaukee County Historical Center in October, 1966.

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Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company Home Office, Milwaukee Wisconsin

The date stone on the facade, above the central entry, reads "Erected A.D. 1886." On January 28, 1885, Northwestern Mutual's Executive Committee recommended to the Board of Trustees that a new home office be erected, and the firm's plans were made public in the Evening Wisconsin and Milwaukee Sentinel on January 29 and 30, respectively. Title to the property at Broadway and Michigan-lots 4, 5, and 6 of Block 8 in the Third Ward-was legally transferred to Northwestern Mutual from the Newhall House Stock Company on February 4. The purchase price was $90,000. On April 17 the company applied for a permit to build. The two month lapse between acquisition of the lots and application for the permit came about, in large part, because of a bill pending before the Wisconsin legislature in February and March 1885. Introduced by Assemblyman Henry J. Goddard of Chippewa Falls, the bill was designed expressly to prevent construction of the new block, and while its defeat was never in doubt, the company delayed signing contracts until the issue was resolved. By the end of April 1885, the last vestiges of the Newhall House were being removed from the site, and the contract for furnishing and setting the granite walls of basement and first story had been let. By April of the following year Northwestern Mutual's legal department had moved into the "New Insurance Building," as the press called it, with other departments following suit by May 1. The first policy was issued from the new home office on July 19, the first Board of Trustees meeting held there the next day; and on the following day, July 21, 1886, the building was dedicated. The City of Milwaukee and State of Wisconsin published in 1888 reports that block and lots had cost $725,000. Initially, the insurance company occupied only the second floor, with all other rooms and suites made available for rental; and by June 1887, at the latest, all these had been leased. Among the early tenants were the Milwaukee Art School, the National Exchange Bank (southeast corner, first floor), Angus Smith and Company (southeast comer, third story), the Lake Shore and Western Railway (suite on the fourth floor), and West and Meyers Insurance (rooms on the first story).

The building was erected for the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company and served as the firm's home office from 1886 to October 1914, when the present home office, 720 East Wisconsin Avenue, officially opened. In 1923 Northwestern Mutual sold its former headquarters to the Milwaukee Mechanics Insurance Company, from whom the current owner purchased it in 1947.

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 Mitchell Building, Milwaukee Wisconsin

 Merchants and Mechanics Banks Building, New Bedford Massachusetts

 Institution for Savings, New Bedford Massachusetts

 Empire Building, Denver Colorado

 Chamber of Commerce (Makie) Building, Milwaukee Wisconsin