The Mitchell Building is an ornate five-story bank and insurance building designed by

E. Townsend Mix Edward Townsend Mix (May 13, 1831 – September 2, 1890) was an American architect of the Gilded Age who designed many buildings in the Midwestern United States. His career was centered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and many of his designs made use ...

Second Empire style Second Empire style, also known as the Napoleon III style, is a highly eclectic style of architecture and decorative arts, which uses elements of many different historical styles, and also made innovative use of modern materials, such as i ...

and built in 1876 in

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee i ...

. It was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artist ...

in 1973.

History

Alexander Mitchell was a

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

immigrant who came to the U.S. in 1839. By 1876 he was a successful businessman - president of the Wisconsin Marine and Fire Insurance Company Bank, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, and the Northwestern National Insurance Company. He had also served two terms in the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together the ...

, representing Wisconsin's 4th District. Around that year he commissioned this new office building to house his bank and insurance companies. With It replaced Mitchell's previous Marine Bank building and is believed to sit on the site of the home of

Solomon Juneau Solomon Laurent Juneau, or Laurent-Salomon Juneau (August 9, 1793 – November 14, 1856) was a French Canadian fur trader, land speculator, and politician who helped found the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He was born in Repentigny, Quebec, Canad ...

, who founded Milwaukee in the 1830s. Milwaukee Mitchell Building

Mitchell hired prominent Milwaukee architect E. Townsend Mix to design his new building, and Mix came through with a 5-story rectangular block, in then-popular Second Empire style, with its first-story walls of gray Minnesota

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies und ...

and upper walls of

limestone Limestone ( calcium carbonate ) is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of . Limestone forms wh ...

, trimmed with multiple elaborate

cornices In architecture, a cornice (from the Italian ''cornice'' meaning "ledge") is generally any horizontal decorative moulding that crowns a building or furniture element—for example, the cornice over a door or window, around the top edge of a ...

and window hoods, with a complex mansard roof and an ornate central tower. Masonry contractor John Roberts carried out Mix's design. Francis A. Lydston decorated inside with

frescoes Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plast ...

. The interior was said to be as elaborate as the exterior, with marble floors,

wainscot Panelling (or paneling in the U.S.) is a millwork wall covering constructed from rigid or semi-rigid components. These are traditionally interlocking wood, but could be plastic or other materials. Panelling was developed in antiquity to make ro ...

, and elegant staircases, but much of that has disappeared with remodeling. Mitchell Building 6675

On completion in 1878, Mitchell's bank and insurance company took residence in the building. The bank remained until 1930. In 1879 the Mackie Building was begun just next door, also built by Mitchell, designed by

and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Today the exterior of the Mitchell Building remains highly intact, and stands as an example of Second Empire style in Milwaukee.

References

{{commonscat, Mitchell Building (Milwaukee, Wisconsin) Bank buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Second Empire architecture in Wisconsin Commercial buildings completed in 1876 National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee 1876 establishments in Wisconsin