Schlegelmilch House

Herman A. Schlegelmilch worked in gun manufacturing in Prussia before his immigration to New York City in 1853. He married Augusta Krueger, also a German immigrant, in 1858, after they met in their new settlements in Wisconsin. Their first child, Dora, was born in the summer of 1859. A year later, the Schlegelmilch family moved to Eau Claire, where Herman set up a gun shop. They shared a living space with the business until 1866, when Herman built a new hardware shop on the corner of Eau Claire and Barstow Streets. It was the first brick building in Eau Claire. The family continued to live in the former gun shop until 1869, when a fire destroyed it and several buildings on the same block.

After the fire, Herman purchased a frame house at 517 S. Farwell St. and moved there with his family, which now included four children--Dora, Louise, Emilie, and Herman F. The Schlegelmilchs added a brick wing to the house in 1871. A fourth daughter, Eda, was born in the house in 1873; sadly, she died of typhoid fever in 1893, after contracting it on the trip home from the Chicago World's Fair. The house was left to the three surviving Schlegelmilch daughters after Herman died in 1903 and was remodeled not long after that. Nearly twenty years later when Augusta Schlegelmilch died, most of the family moved out of the home, leaving daughter Louise Schlegelmilch as its sole resident until her death in 1948. During her ownership, numerous family members visited or resided in the home, including Louise’s niece Agnes Barland McDaniel, who was gifted the home after her aunt’s death.

The Schlegelmilch family continued to leave their mark on the Eau Claire community, even after the immediate family moved away. Agnes Barland McDaniel gifted the home to the Chippewa Valley Museum in 1977. Its contemporary use as a house museum highlights local history, including the history of families, visitors, and immigration to Eau Claire throughout the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The house is available for tours and private events by special arrangement with the Chippewa Valley Museum.

• Bailey, William F.. History of Eau Claire County Wisconsin: Past and Present. Chicago, IL. C.F. Cooper & Co., 1914.
• Herman Schlegelmilch House, City of Eau Claire Landmark Commission. Accessed August 4th 2020. http://web.ci.eau-claire.wi.us/landmarks/tour/Herman_Schlegelmilch_House.pdf.
• Property Record: 517 S Farwell St, Wisconsin Historical Society. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Property/HI29236.
• Schlegelmilch Daniel Historic Home (1871), Wisconsin Historical Markers. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://www.wisconsinhistoricalmarkers.com/2014/12/schlegelmilch-daniel-historic-home-1871.html.
• Schlegelmilch House, Chippewa Valley Museum. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://www.cvmuseum.com/explore/historic-buildings/21/schlegelmilch-house/.