Exploring Stevens Point Wisconsin (#2)

Continuing with our exploration of the area around Market Square in Stevens Point.  The ladies were checking out a couple of stores and I was just wandering along the street taking photos…

The Romanesque inspired Johnsen Building at 820 - 824 Main Street was completed in 1896.   With its scale and prominent location on Market Square in the Mathias Mitchell Public Square – Main Street Historic District, this is an important structure.  All of the brick was supplied by a local brick company and it’s reportedly the first local building to be constructed entirely by locally supplied pressed brick.  

The current occupant is the Radiance Salon at 820 Main Street.  I also like the  building next door.  It's now Erbert’s and Gerbert’s Sandwich Shop at 812 Main Street.  The building certainly appears to meet the historic criteria but I couldn't find any references about it.  However, a little research revealed that Erbert’s and Gerbert’s is a chain of franchised sub shops centered in the upper Midwest.  To learn more, go to https://www.erbertandgerberts.com/.

Apparently, an Erbert's and Gerbert's sub shop was once located in a Knoxville shopping mall but its now closed. 

I was frustrated in my efforts to learn about these buildings.  The building with the blue upper level has a plaque at the top that states that it is the Frank Bemowski Building and that it was built in 1878.  Other than his dates of birth and death, I couldn’t find anything on the building's namesake either…

The building to the left is located at 1232 2^nd Street so the other building must be at 1234 or some approximation of that.  The building at the left is currently occupied by Nail Masters… Both buildings are appealing but I find the one at the right especially attractive.    

Loved this building!  Talk about dramatic… The K. Chilla Building is located at 1205 – 1209 Second Street on Market Square.  Kasimir Chilla built this building in 1892 as a double store on the lower level with a hall above.  Kasimir operated his hardware store on one side and he rented out the other side.  Chilla’s Hall on the second floor was one of several in the downtown area used as meeting halls.  In addition it was a popular place for Polish weddings and it served as a gymnasium for other social groups.

Today it’s at least partially occupied by Embracing Life Chiropractic at 1205 Second Street.  As I’ve commented before, what I like most about Stevens Point’s central historic district is that most of the old buildings are in use!

The historic Mathias Mitchell Public Square in downtown Stevens Point is home to the longest running farmer’s market in Wisconsin.  The 2 square block marketplace at the end of Main Street has provided a place for local farmers to sell their produce ever since Mitchell donated it to the town back in 1847. 

FYI, the market is open from May through October from 7 AM until the farmers are sold out…usually around 2:30 PM.

I was stunned, ‘gobsmacked’ as the British would say, at the quality and artistic arrangement of the produce in this stand as well as the others.  I assured the gentleman that I’d be back with a bunch of women and that I was pretty sure that they’d buy something!  (You need to enlarge this photo!)

Many of the produce stands in the Square were being operated by Hmong Americans.  Wisconsin has the third largest Hmong population in the USA and they are the largest Asian ethnic group in Wisconsin.  Allies of the USA during the Vietnam War, they sought asylum as political refugees after the Communist takeover in Laos and Vietnam.  As of 2010, about 1% or almost 50,000 Hmong-Americans were living in Wisconsin.

These flower bouquets at the farmer’s market were fantastic!  The variety and presentation surpass most florist’s arrangements… Talk about bright and colorful! 

True to my word, Karole, Bonnie and Laurie eventually made it to the produce stand that I’d visited.  They all wished we needed to buy some of that great looking produce!  This is Karole taking a photo but they all took turns taking pictures… 

I also ‘delivered’ on my promise that the ladies would buy something from that farm stand’s proprietor.   Here we have Bonnie, Karole and Laurie with the floral arrangements Karole purchased to give to local family members.  (Laurie is hidden behind her flowers)

Would you care to guess how much they paid for each of those bouquets?  If I was an Stevens Point area florist, I’d have a stroke!  How about $7.50 each!  Wow!

I thought that this eye-catching mural deserved special notice.  It’s painted on Buffy’s Lampoon Tavern at 1331 2^nd Street.  The oldest section of the tavern was completed in 1866 by William Spraggon for his bakery operation.  Mr. Spraggon was a major mover and shaker back in his time, serving as an alderman for several terms and as the city’s mayor for seven terms.

The mural shows activity on the city square ca. 1910.  It shows what market square and the town’s residents looked like at that time.  The painter/muralist started painting in the spring of 2006 and she completed it just before Polish Thanksgiving in the fall of that year.  The faces depicted are actual images of Stevens Point residents, past and present.  They were copied from photos provided by family and friends.

Note:

·         This is just one of 5 murals around the downtown area of Stevens Point.  To learn more and to view all of the murals, just go to http://stevenspoint.com/index.aspx?NID=704.

Downtown Stevens Point is certainly upholding Wisconsin tradition.  There are several bars in the area and the state has historically ranked in the top 3 in the USA for the number of bars per capita!

 

This is Butter’s Brickhause Tavern at 1343 2^nd Street just a block off the public square.  It occupies the former Gusman/Skowronski/Glinkski buildings.  These 2 buildings were completed in 1904 and in 1911.  Local architect Tom Brown (with offices on Main Street) returned these structures as well as at least 2 others in the area, to their past glory.

The Brickhause Tavern looked closed at first glance…but it turns out that they were just resting up after another long night of action.  The Brickhause Tavern is open daily from 3 PM until 2 AM!  To learn more, you can go to https://www.facebook.com/brickhausetavern54481.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a tour!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave