Celebrating Madison Black History
This February, like every February, is Black History Month in the United States, and the Madison Trust’s Community Education Committee is using the occasion to spread the word about activities and programs that honor the contributions of Black Madisonians to our shared history. Just as important, we want to draw attention to the many Black-led organizations that are doing great work in our area. (Image: NAACP Protest in the Capitol Rotunda in 1961. Photo from the Underrepresented Communities Historic Resources Survey courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHS# 84375.)
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National Historic Landmarks
The Dairy Barn on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus, the La Follette house in Maple Bluff, and the State Capitol in Madison share an important distinction. Each is a National Historic Landmark (NHL). Read our January blog to learn more about the NHL places in Dane County.
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Make a Present of the Past
Many traditions may have been interrupted this year. Nonetheless, holiday gifts are still in order, especially when they can be purchased conveniently and at a distance. At the Madison Trust we believe that a gift of history and preservation is always in season!
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Blind, Blanked and Blocked
Blind windows (to use the most common term) have been used as architectural features for hundreds of years. They are treated like other windows, usually with a lintel and sill, but are then filled with masonry, wood, or other materials so that neither light nor air can penetrate. Read more about this common feature.
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Frank Tetzlaff: A Woodworking Genius
A few weeks ago, a friend asked if I’d be interested in a piece of an old windowsill, she’d just removed from her house on Lake Mendota Drive. Stenciled on the bottom was an inadvertent time capsule: “Frank O. Tetzlaff, Lot 4, Block 5, Mendota Beach, Madi WIS.” If you want this, come get it. Otherwise it’s going in the wood pile.”
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Please Welcome the Community Education Committee
In this month’s blog, we’re introducing the Community Education Committee, a new effort to expand and deepen how the Madison Trust engages with our neighbors in the Madison area. As part of the new committee’s rollout, we’ll be conducting an online survey during the month of September to gather feedback from the local historic preservation community about what activities and topics the committee they would like us to pursue.
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The Old SOB
The State Office Building at 1 W. Wilson St.—conceived when Art Deco design was widely popular for commercial, institutional and government buildings—took nearly thirty years to complete. From the opening of the first section in 1931 to its completion in 1959, the building retained remarkable design integrity in spite of changing tastes during the long span of its construction.
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Breeze Blocks
Mid-Century Modern design has been hot for more than a decade. Though some chronologies show the movement emerging in the 1930s, its greatest influence was felt from the end of World War II in 1945 until about 1970, a period when many modern trends in architecture, furniture and décor blew across America from the West Coast. Among them was the breeze block.
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The Odd Experiment
Our June blog post is an excerpt from a chapter in John Hanou's proposed book, A Round Wisconsin, Round Barns in the Badger State. "I chose this excerpt for this blog, because it portrays some unique Madison, Wisconsin history and new findings from Professor Franklin H. King that up until now, few have known about."
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Germans in Madison
Germans played an important role in Madison’s early history. Some of their stories are highlighted in this post. Read more about the Ott family, the Turnverein and the Fauerbach Brewery.
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Yesterday's Weather
A little more than 100 years ago a visitor to the Capitol building could exit the west wing, descend the stairs toward State Street and, before crossing the street, check weather conditions at a kiosk positioned at the western corner of the square. Read on to learn more about the kiosks.
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CUNA Mutual: At Home in Madison
Last November I read that CUNA Mutual planned to demolish their distinctive circular building and erect a new structure in its place. When I moved here in 1982, the round building was already a landmark (in the unofficial sense) on Madison’s west side. My curiosity was piqued. I didn’t know much about this particular building or the history of CUNA Mutual in Madison.
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New to the National and State Registers
Three properties in Madison were added to the National or State Register of Historic Places in 2019. Historic districts in two nearby communities were new to the lists as well. Learn more about these special places!
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100 Days of Homes
Emily Balsley is an illustrator who lives in Madison and enjoys a challenge. In 2017, she accepted a challenge to draw 100 houses in 100 days. See 65 of the illustrations at Madison’s Central Library through January 2020!
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Give a Gift of History
Catalogs arrive daily. Email inboxes are filled to the brim with sales galore. Magazines, newspapers and websites highlight holiday gift lists. When you’re thinking of gifts for friends and loved ones, don’t forget history and preservation!
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Save Your Windows
Emily Wallrath Schmidt, of the Chicago Bungalow Association, presented on the challenges and opportunities one might have when repairing historic wood windows. She spoke at the Wisconsin Historical Society’s annual local historic and historic preservation conference in late October. The Chicago Bungalow Association has a long record of helping homeowners repair and restore windows on vintage homes.
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In the Wisconsin Legislature
Waukesha County wants out from any regulation by the City of Waukesha’s landmarks ordinance. And State Representative Scott Allen now seeks to exempt all of Wisconsin’s counties from every city’s landmark ordinance.
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Man About Town: George Delaplaine
George Delaplaine was not the first occupant of what we now call the Old Governor’s Mansion. That was Julius T. White, a prominent businessman. Nor was Delaplaine the most famous resident. That would either be Robert M. La Follette or Ole Bull. Nevertheless, George Delaplaine is a person of interest when talking about the history of the Old Governor’s Mansion.
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From Water Pumps to Apartments
As a water pumping station transformed into apartments, Madison’s Nichols Station is a fine example of adaptive reuse—giving new life to a building that has outlived its original purpose.
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