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The building housed doctors, lawyers, insurance agents and others. The street-level facades were updated as stores moved out and in, so the originals are gone, but the upper exterior remains largely intact as it was after its 1899 update. Over the years the interior became more and more dated, and in
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housed at least five stores at street level. The second floor held offices: attorneys, at least one doctor, Lappin's own real estate office, and others. The third and fourth floors held an 800-seat auditorium called Lappin's Hall. Some part of those floors held an architect's office, a photographer,
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Thomas Lappin arrived in 1839, a few years later, and started the first store in
Janesville, on Main Street. In 1842 he built a wooden 2-story store on the site of the current Lappin-Hayes Block. He prospered, and in 1855 replaced that store with a grand new $ 36,000 brick business block. The red
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Thomas Lappin died in 1899. He had specified in his will that his other real estate holdings could be sold, but "in no event sell my four story Block unless my said
Executors are unable to mortgage the same." Yet that same year the executors sold it to Dennis and Michael Hayes, Janesville
220:. Hood moulds of windows which were replaced by the corner towers were moved to other locations, and fire escapes were added. Much of the interior was remodeled, aiming to produce Janesville's "first modern office building." An early elevator was installed and the central
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The NRHP nomination considers the building significant for both its 1855 and 1899 architecture, for its association with Thomas Lappin and Arthur
Peabody, for its association with Northwestern Mutual Life, and for the social importance of Lappin's Hall.
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In 1836 Henry F. Janes, for whom
Janesville was named, built a wooden house in the wilds where this block would end up - one of the first houses in Rock County. As the community grew, he ran a ferry across the
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and
William J. Beauley of Chicago to design updates to the building. The changes included the unusual round towers on the two corners, covered with sheet metal and decorated more in step with the
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was one of the most important tenants, moving offices to the building in 1858. Lappin's Hall was the main public hall in the city until Myer's Opera House opened in 1870.
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160:, started in 1855 and expanded in 1899. It housed a public hall called Lappin's Hall and the early offices of Northwestern Mutual Life. In 1976 it was added to the
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that was popular in the 1890s than the original
Italianate. The original cornice (probably wood) was replaced with a projecting sheet metal cornice decorated with
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brick upper stories and their windows are largely unchanged from 1855, but that original building had a different
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above the windows are a surviving element of the building's original
Italianate style. Inside,
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Commercial buildings on the
National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin
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National
Register of Historic Places in Rock County, Wisconsin
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and did not have the round towers on the corners. The
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contractors. They renovated the structure, engaging
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340:Buildings and structures in Janesville, Wisconsin
228:1974 the upper floors and elevator were closed.
285:NRHP Inventory/Nomination: Lappin-Hayes Block
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198:Hall. The basement may have held a saloon.
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35:U.S. National Register of Historic Places
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355:Commercial buildings completed in 1855
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313:"Lappin-Hayes Block - Janesville, WI"
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350:Italianate architecture in Wisconsin
162:National Register of Historic Places
156:is a 4-story commercial building in
202:Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance
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283:Richard P. Hartung (1976-03-18).
252:. Wisconsin Historical Society
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16:United States historic place
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130:NRHP reference
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120:Architectural style
289:National Park Service
158:Janesville, Wisconsin
115:Peabody & Beauley
88:42.68275°N 89.02269°W
61:Janesville, Wisconsin
250:"Lappin-Hayes Block"
93:42.68275; -89.02269
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58:20 E. Milwaukee St.
191:Lappin's New Block
154:Lappin-Hayes Block
27:Lappin-Hayes Block
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214:Queen Anne style
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196:Odd Fellows
187:hood moulds
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67:Coordinates
334:Categories
319:2013-06-01
301:one photo.
294:2021-01-15
256:2021-01-15
236:References
218:modillions
175:Rock River
124:Italianate
79:89°01′22″W
76:42°40′58″N
222:lightwell
112:Architect
137:76000224
55:Location
194:and an
183:cornice
168:History
299:With
104:Built
152:The
107:1855
132:No.
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