The Old Ashland Post Office is a historic building in

Ashland, Wisconsin Ashland is a city in Ashland County, Wisconsin, Ashland and Bayfield County, Wisconsin, Bayfield counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is the county seat of Ashland County. The city is a port on Lake Superior, near the head of Chequamegon ...

, United States. It now serves as the ''Ashland City Hall'', which is what most people know it as, and refer to it as. It houses the offices of city government. It was designed by the noted federal architect

Willoughby J. Edbrooke Willoughby James Edbrooke (1843–1896) was an American architect and a bureaucrat who remained faithful to a Richardsonian Romanesque style into the era of Beaux-Arts architecture in the United States, supported by commissions from conservative f ...

, and constructed in 1892-93 under the supervision of local architect H.P. Padley. The building 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 ...

in 1974 for its architectural significance. The building is designed in the

Richardsonian Romanesque Richardsonian Romanesque is a architectural style, style of Romanesque Revival architecture named after the American architect Henry Hobson Richardson (1838–1886). The revivalism (architecture), revival style incorporates 11th- and 12th-century ...

architectural style, and constructed entirely of

brownstone Brownstone is a brown Triassic–Jurassic sandstone that was historically a popular building material. The term is also used in the United States and Canada to refer to a townhouse clad in this or any other aesthetically similar material. Ty ...

. The building is of special historic interest, and is a

contributing resource In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distr ...

within the West Second Street Historic District, of downtown Ashland. With It is the tallest building in the Historic District, and one of the best local examples of fine architecture. The monumental three-story building features a prominent four-story

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

, with a pyramidal-shaped roof. The tower no longer contains its

bell A bell /ˈbɛl/ () is a directly struck idiophone percussion instrument. Most bells have the shape of a hollow cup that when struck vibrates in a single strong strike tone, with its sides forming an efficient resonator. The strike may be m ...

, although the original bell still exists and is owned by the city, but kept in storage. The first story windows have brownstone

voussoir A voussoir ( UK: ; US: ) is a wedge-shaped element, typically a stone, which is used in building an arch or vault.“Voussoir, N., Pronunciation.” Oxford English Dictionary, Oxford UP, June 2024, https://doi.org/10.1093/OED/7553486115. Acces ...

s, and

archivolt An archivolt (or voussure) is an ornamental Molding (decorative), moulding or band following the curve on the underside of an arch. It is composed of bands of ornamental mouldings (or other architectural elements) surrounding an arched opening, ...

moldings. The second story windows are rectangular, and the third story windows and tower openings are

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

ed at the top. The main entrance has a large foliated arch supported by clusters of short

column A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. In other words, a column is a compression member ...

s, all in the Richardsonian Romanesque style. A very old flat-roofed addition on the back (north) side is made of matching materials, and matches the exact style. This addition houses the present-day

City Council A municipal council is the legislative body of a municipality or local government area. Depending on the location and classification of the municipality it may be known as a city council, town council, town board, community council, borough counc ...

meeting room. A highlight of the interior is a fine oak staircase, which leads to each floor, and up to the tower. The stairwell also has paneled

wainscoting Panelling (or paneling in the United States) 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 t ...

, which has been nicely restored. The building was made with locally quarried Apostle Island brownstone of excellent quality. However, there are signs of deterioration due to recent sand-blasting that occurred while the building, once a

vocational school A vocational school (alternatively known as a trade school, or technical school), is a type of educational institution, which, depending on the country, may refer to either secondary education#List of tech ed skills, secondary or post-secondar ...

, was renovated for use as the City Hall. In the 2010s, the building was made handicap accessible, with a new ramp on the west side. Ashland City Hall

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{{Registered Historic Places Government buildings completed in 1892 Post office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Ashland County, Wisconsin Ashland, Wisconsin 1892 establishments in Wisconsin Richardsonian Romanesque architecture in Wisconsin

See also

References

External links