HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 5 Irving-Church Historic District MarkerIrving-Church Historic District
The Irving-Church Historic District encompasses homes built between 1850 and 1939.
Some styles preserved in the district include Queen Anne, Greek Revival, Italianate,
Craftsman, Tudor and Prairie. The boundaries are West Irving Avenue, Church Avenue,
Franklin Street and Elmwood Avenue. The district was placed on the National Register
of Historic Places in 1994.
This area was originally part of a 155-acre section of land claimed by George Wright
Sr., one of the original settlers of Oshkosh, in circa 1838. Upon Wright’s death in 1841,
he divided his land between his three sons. William Wright received 106 acres of his
father’s estate, divided the land into city lots and sold them at an affordable price to
encourage settlement in Oshkosh. His civic pride earned him the reputation as the
“Father of Oshkosh.”
Oshkosh’s middle- and upper-class citizens, like lumbermen, lawyers, merchants,
bankers, doctors, educators and politicians, resided in this area of the city. One of the
neighborhood’s influential residents was Rose C. Swart, a teacher at the Oshkosh
Normal School (University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh) for 51 years and a leader of the
Women’s Suffrage Movement. The wealthy lumber families of Morgan, Radford,
Choate, Campbell, and Conlee also lived in the district.
Several of the ornate homes were designed by renowned Oshkosh architects Adam
Bell, Edwin Cole, and William Waters. Waters, who also resided in the neighborhood, is
well known for designing several commercial structures on North Main Street built after
the fire of 1875. He also had the honor of designing the Wisconsin Building at the 1893
World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago.