1310 State St
Eau Claire, WI, USA

David Drummond House

The David Drummond House is located in Eau Claire, Wisconsin.


History

David Drummond was a Canadian immigrant who founded a number of businesses in Eau Claire. The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.

National Register of Historic Places - David Drummond House

Statement of Significance:

The David Drummond house is one of the finest examples in Eau Claire of the Queen Anne style, a major residential style in America during the 1880s and 1890s. The Queen Anne is one of three original American residential styles that developed in the late-nineteenth century on the Eastern seaboard and spread across the country. In the Drummond house one finds a tendency toward the Georgian Revival with a taut brick exterior and the classical motifs. However, the picturesque romanticism of the Queen Anne remains strong in the Drummond house with complex massing and shingled surfaces of the roofs.

David Drummond built the house in 1888 and 1889 and the Drummond family occupied it until 1932. Drummond was born in 1849, and in 1870 moved from his birthplace in Ontario, Canada, to Eau Claire. In 1873 he was one of the founders of Brooks and Drummond, a meat packing firm and from 1876 to 1881 he was president and sole administrator. In 1881 his brothers joined the firm, taking lesser administrative positions and the firm was renamed Drummond Packing Co. The Drummond Company grew to be the largest and most complete meat-packing operation in northwestern Wisconsin. David Drummond was founded in 1882 of Eau Claire Gas and Light Co., in 1888 of a real estate company, and later of the Pioneer Furniture Co. In conjunction with his business interests, Drummond was a real estate speculator and built the Drummond Packing Co. office and refrigerator building in 1880, the Eau Claire Grocery Company buildings in 1882, his residence in 1888, and the Drummond Block in 1895. Thus, Drummond was an important historical figure in the city f s industrial growth and his residence is a fine example of a style important to the time and place.