Newly designated area dates to 1850s
By Jeff Cole
of the Journal Sentinel staff
Last Updated: Sept. 26, 2000
Port Washington - Chico Poull remembers when he first opened
Schooner's Pub on Port Washington's Franklin St. in a building that has
been a tavern since it opened its doors in 1907.
"These two old guys would come in," Poull said. "One
time they told me they were born here. I asked them if they meant in
Port Washington and they said yeah. But then they told me that they had
been born in the apartment over the bar before Prohibition.
"They were Irish guys. I wish I could remember their
names."
Poull said he knows he owns one of the oldest continuously operating
bars in Port Washington. Built by Martin Zimmerman, the tavern is now
part of the city of Port Washington's newly designated State and
National Historic District. The district, which was announced Monday,
runs up Franklin St. and takes in most of downtown.
The Zimmerman building was built on a lot that had been cleared by
the largest fire in Port Washington's history. In 1899, the Wisconsin
Chair Co. plant, which was near what is today the north slip of the Port
Washington marina, burned down. It took most of the 100 block of
Franklin St. with it, including the building that had stood on the site
of Schooner's Pub.
The Zimmerman building is one of more than a dozen buildings in
downtown Port Washington that are part of the newly created district.
All are part of the city's commercial district.
Much of Port Washington's commercial district was constructed in the
1850s, said Jim Draeger, an architectural historian with the State
Historical District. Every city in Wisconsin once had a similar
collection of buildings, but most were torn down as cities grew and
needed larger retail buildings, he said.
"Most of downtown Milwaukee would have looked like this at one
time," Draeger said.
According to the Port Washington Historical Society, Zimmerman built
one of the first concrete block buildings in Port Washington. The
building's facade is faced with rock.
"Fortunately, the Zimmerman building is still almost totally
intact today," the society's brochure says, "the only
significant change being the filling in of its first-story window and
the replacement of its original entrance door."
Poull said he was just notified of the creation of the historic
district. He said he was looking into taking advantage of the tax
credits that come with such a designation to do some restoration work on
his buildings.
Jimmy Fortunato knows what his building looked like in the 19th
century - he has pictures dating from the 1880s.
Fortunato owns the Barnum Blake Building at 201 N. Franklin St. The
building was constructed in 1854 and is one of the oldest buildings in
Port Washington.
Barnum Blake was one of Port Washington's first entrepreneurs. He
built a commercial pier on Lake Michigan, sold lumber and was also a
land speculator. His building was apparently a retail establishment.
Appeared in the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Sept. 27, 2000. |
History