The Iron Block Building is a five-story commercial structure with a cast-iron exterior built in 1860 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1974 it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

- the only surviving building in Milwaukee with a cast iron skin - a common technique from 1850 to 1870.

History

James Baynard Martin moved from Maryland to Milwaukee in 1845, where he dealt in grain and real estate, and served as an insurance executive and banker. By 1860 he was ready to build a large speculative commercial block in downtown Milwaukee. With . From 1850 to 1870 there was a trend to clad some commercial buildings in

cast iron Cast iron is a class of iron–carbon alloys with a carbon content of more than 2% and silicon content around 1–3%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloying elements determine the form in which its car ...

panels. The panels were durable and fire-resistant, and they could be applied to a structure without having skilled stonemasons on site. Martin chose that type of building, and engaged Daniel D. Badger's Architectural Iron Works of

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

to design it. George H. Johnson designed the building, panels were cast in New York, they were transported to Milwaukee by boat, and the building was constructed in 1860. Martin's new building was four stories tall with the basement somewhat exposed at the northwest corner - an

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

-styled design, with round arches above the windows resting on paired decorative columns and iron surfaces deliberately grooved to look like blocks joined with mortar. At the top was a

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

with a shallow

pediment Pediments are a form of gable in classical architecture, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the cornice (an elaborated lintel), or entablature if supported by columns.Summerson, 130 In an ...

in the center. Beneath the cast iron skin, most of the underlying structure is brick and timber. The main street-level entrance suggested the Roman temple, with its own pediment and

entablature An entablature (; nativization of Italian , from "in" and "table") is the superstructure of moldings and bands which lies horizontally above columns, resting on their capitals. Entablatures are major elements of classical architecture, and ...

resting on pairs of

Corinthian columns The Corinthian order (, ''Korinthiakós rythmós''; ) is the last developed and most ornate of the three principal classical orders of Ancient Greek architecture and Roman architecture. The other two are the Doric order, which was the earliest, ...

. The building was initially called the Excelsior Block, for the Excelsior Lodge of Masons, whose lodge was on the top floor. At street-level, the building housed four or five shops. Over the years the street-level storefronts have been modified, but the upper stories are largely intact, except that the cornice was cut back and some iron removed. Around 1900 a 5-story brick addition was added on the south side. In 1984 the building was largely restored, both inside and out. The Historic American Buildings Survey considered the Iron Block "notable as one of Milwaukee's most prominent early commercial buildings, as one of the small number of pre-

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

structures remaining in the central business district, as the city's chief example of the use of the cast-iron front, and as the work of George H. Johnson, the English-born builder-architect who figured so significantly in the development of building technology a century ago."

References

{{National Register of Historic Places Commercial buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Buildings and structures in Milwaukee Commercial buildings completed in 1860 National Register of Historic Places in Milwaukee

History

See also

References