Today, this building on Chicago Street has largely been forgotten. Tucked away between S. Jackson and S. Van Buren Streets, the fortress-like building that once housed the Wisconsin National Guard Armory and a bottling plant lies in disrepair. Built in 1918 by the Allouez Mineral Springs Company as a bottling plant, it remained in use for only a few years. On Christmas day 1926, the old armory at Hagemeister Park burned down. The following year, the Battery B of the Wisconsin National Guard’s 121st Infantry would move into the building, remaining there until a new facility was constructed in the fall of 1963. Used as a warehouse or vacant for the next 40+ years, the building is now threatened with demolition due to high costs to renovate or reuse the building for other purposes.

Records indicate the building originally faced S. Van Buren Street, also evidenced by the more ornate facade on the eastern elevation.  Homes would eventually be built along S. Van Buren Street, necessitating a change in entrances to Chicago Street as it is today.  Although the building is deteriorated, many original details remain, including hardwood floors on the main level, intact window frames, and the overall layout of the structure. Fire maps note the sturdy fireproof construction, essentially being made almost entirely out of steel and masonry.  

This building is listed as Record #170101 with the Wisconsin Historical Society

The Charles Kies home is an interesting brick Italianate home dating to c1867. The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that this building is a “fine example in very original condition.” Architectural elements include: basket handle arched windows, a two story gabled roof, denticulated molding, and corbelled brick hood molds. Originally the home had a wraparound veranda covering the northeast corner. Charles Kies is listed in the 1874 Green Bay city directory as a Justice of the Peace.

This building is listed as Record #2243 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

This building was constructed in 1887 by Arthur C. Neville, a two-time mayor of Green Bay, attorney, and prominent local historian. The earliest tenant of the retail building was Mueller & Spuhler Dry Goods. In the 1920s and early 1930s it would be occupied by the H.C. Prange Company before their larger location was constructed directly across the street on the corner of Pine & N. Washington.  Although the interior has been renovated numerous times over the past 123 years, the exterior remains much the same as when it was first built. Since the 1990's the first floor has been home to several restaurants.

This building is listed as Record #164681 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Neville Building as it appeared in 1916 when occupied by the A. Spuhler Company - Green Bay Press Gazette, August 1916

This striking building on the corner of N. Baird & Cedar streets was constructed by John Zilles in 1894 as the “Brown County Union Hall.” A cast iron plaque attesting to this is visible above the second story window on the principal façade.

The John Zilles Brown County Union Hall building is made of contrasting cream brick with pilastered corners and a corbelled parapet, according to the Wisconsin Historcal Society. In the past decade the building has been renovated after years of neglect. Photos of the structure taken in 1975 and 1987 indicate all windows were covered in plywood.

View from 1975 - courtesty of the Wisconsin Historical Society

Green Bay’s earliest remaining theater, the Vic has been a fixture on E. Walnut Street for over a century. Over the years, the building has had several incarnations, including: the Vic Theater; Green Bay Theater (1900-1930); Orpheum (1930-1955); and most recently as Confetti’s Club.

The building faced extensive remodeling in c1930 when an Art Deco façade was added by designer George Johnston. Decorative elements include three main bays, stylized fluted cast stone panels, incised chevrons and a “lozenge ornament,” as noted by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The building is topped with cast stone rays, capitals, and pilasters.

The first floor façade has been further altered in recent years; however most of the exterior remains true to the 1930s; the interior also includes many original elements from the building’s history as a theater.

This building is listed as Record #2226 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

This very distinct building was constructed in the High Victorian Gothic style in 1873, and was originally known as “Albert Platten Wholesale Produce.” The Wisconsin Historical Society notes it has “an elaborated, corbelled brick cornice,” and “Gothic arched window surround of centrally placed window…with a carved wood plaque filling the space above the flat arched window head.” Over the years the building housed a hardware store, the Golf Shack, and most recently, the “House of Homebrew.” As of 2010, the current owners are in the process of renovating and restoring the building.

This building is listed as Record #1955 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Built of rock-faced cut-stone blocks in 1901, this Richardsonian Romanesque style building closely resembles the neighboring building, 115 N. Adams Street. Architectural features include two cast iron rosettes and a keystone in the center. The building was home to Orange Blossom Jewelers for many years. The building was purchased by Angelina Restaurant in the mid-2000s, and underwent a renovation which included bringing back the original hardwood floors, and a featuring exposed brick walls.

This building is listed as Record #29458 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

This venerable Queen Anne style commercial and residential building has stood at the corner of Broadway and Walnut Streets for over 100 years. Constructed in 1899, this brick structure features an Ashlar stone beltcourse. Brick moldings and pilastering to frame elements such as doors and windows is used extensively. Originally, a parapet and two and a half story turret extended from the NE corner of the building. Deborah B. Martin’s 1903 book, A Souvenir of Green Bay, Wisconsin, includes a photograph of the building as it originally appeared.

Remodeling of the Gray Building took place numerous times in the last century. Lost is the turret and parapet; however much of the façade remains largely unchanged. Remodeling of the building in the late 2000s resulted in a somewhat restored appearance. Arc windows which were hidden under plywood are once again visible, as well as full storefront windows on facing Walnut Street.  A portion of the original brick wall facing Broadway was removed and replaced with windows.

This building is listed as Record #1966 with the Wisconsin Historical Society.

Historic image from a postcard dated 1910. Gray Building shown on the right.

A unique building in that no other example of a concrete block design for a home is known in Green Bay, according to the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Architecture & History Inventory list.

The society’s notes this home features “wall cladding of oversized concrete blocks having the appearance of dressed ashlar cut stone.” They also note that the building “shows an interesting attempt to use a ready-made material to imitate more costly ones.” It was built in 1905 by Frank Schumacher.

This building is listed as Record #2016 with the Wisconsin Historical Society

This building is unique to Green Bay as it is the only structure identified as High Victorian Italianate style architecture by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Constructed in 1899, this apartment building is comprised of brick with a limestone beltcourse and two polygonal bays. It has the feel of an urban brownstone, yet stands alone. The First Baptist Church to the north pre-dates the apartment building by 25 years; to the immediate south lies a parking lot. North Chestnut at one time had many fine larger homes, most of which were demolished after 1975. 

This building is listed as Record #1994 with the Wisconsin Historical Society

Built by Dominick Hagerty in the 1920s, this Art Deco building perfectly complements the former Fox Theater to the south, having many identical design features. Faced with fluted cast stone pilasters, decorated capitals, along with an incised chevron and ray pattern, this building is one of several intact Art Deco buildings remaining downtown.

Former tenants included the IBA College of Cosmetology, and most recently the Daily Planet. It is now considered an endangered property, having been vacant for approximately one decade, and with several proposals to redevelop the site in recent years.

This building is listed as Record #37924 with the Wisconsin Historical Society

This nicely constructed building at the corner of Main St & St. George St. was designed by the prestigious local architect Henry A. Foeller. Consisting of brownstone and brick, this building was erected in 1903, serving as the Farmers Exchange Bank. The Wisconsin Historical Society’s Architecture & History Inventory lists the building as a “very good commercial building of polygonal shape with a rounded north facing corner.” The original display windows are intact.

Although in a state of distress today, the overall integrity of the exterior appears intact under a layer of black and gray paint applied sometime after 1975.

Wisconsin Historical Society, 1975

This building is listed as Record #2094 with the Wisconsin Historical Society