1303 Emery Street
Eau Claire, WI, USA

Emery Street Bungalow District

The Emery Street Bungalow Historic District is located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, United States. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.


History

Contributing buildings in the district were constructed from 1915 to 1930.

National Register of Historic Places - Emery Street Bungalow District

Statement of Significance:

The Emery Street Bungalow District represents an architecturally significant and distinguishable entity whose components lack individual distinction. As evidenced by its name, the residential district is composed primarily of bungalows, a housing type that proliferated during the first decades of the twentieth century. The owner and contractor-built dwellings are found throughout Eau Claire's residential sections but are particularly concentrated on the city's eastside. Located in this area, the Emery Street Bungalow District provides the community's most intact and visually cohesive collection of bungalows. The simply designed residences are unified by their common size, shape, alignment, and construction materials. Their combined presence creates an Identifiable district that is unique in Eau Claire

The bungalow district is part of a larger neighborhood known locally as Eastside Hill) which adjoins the older, inner city on the west. Platted during the early twentieth century at the tine Eau Claire emerged as a regional manufacturing center, the region is filled with bungalows and other simple residences. Bungalows, generally (and vaguely) described as a one-story house with an attic or additional sleeping porch and room, evolved from English and Indian antecedents and represented an outgrowth of the cottage idea. The unpretentious yet charming homes were most often erected by middle income owners who respected the simplicity, soundness, and livability the bungalow offered. In addition, inexpensive construction plans were available from "Bungalow Books" distributed by local contractors and builders and from such national outlets as Sears, Roebuck & Company and Montgomery Ward's which "offered do-it-yourself owner-builders all the materials and fixtures needed.

Within the district, the dwellings designated as pivotal are architecturally intact bungalows. Altered bungalows and other compatible residences are considered contributing structures. Only two non-contributing buildings are in the district - a feature which additionally insures the unity and distinctive character of the area.