Start your tour outside of the Sun Prairie Historical Library and Museum.This location was the original homesite of Charles and Lovina Bird, the area’s first settlers of European descent. Charles was a member of the group led by his brother, Augustus Bird, charged with building the capitol in Madison, that passed through and named Sun Prairie in 1837. “After nine weary days of rain they were thrilled with sunshine upon this prairie and carved “Sun Prairie” on a burr oak tree one mile and a half east of this village.” Charles returned to Sun Prairie in 1839 and built a wood frame home that was replaced in the 1850s by a brick house. The home passed to his daughter Ada Bird, an internationally acclaimed pianist credited with starting the University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Music. After Ada’s death, the property was donated to the village for use as a public library. In 1924 the Bird's house structure was replaced by the current building, designed by Alvin Small and built by Frank Stegerwald, Sr. In addition to housing the library, the building was used for local government offices, a community meeting place, and the only public women's restroom downtown for its first years. Image 1B dates from World War II when the building’s basement served as a Red Cross center. The Historical Library and Museum is one of 26 buildings in the Sun Prairie Downtown Historic District, spanning 100 to 245 East Main Street, that were constructed between 1862 and 1958. The District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.Scroll down for more detail on this building.
Cross at the light over to the north side of Main Street for a close-up view of Sun Prairie’s “Old City Hall.”Built in 1895, the hall was a significant municipal achievement for the small but growing community. Located in the center of Sun Prairie’s downtown, the building’s first floor included a council room, jail, vault and two rear bays serving as engine house storage for the local fire department, with a 1000-gallon cistern of water storage in the basement below. The second floor's open hall ran the full length of the building and was used for dances, operas, agricultural shows and other community centered events. The building is capped by 65’ tall tower that held the community’s fire bell. The city moved to a new municipal building in 1956 and the “Old City Hall” passed to private ownership, with commercial use on the first floor and apartment residences above.From the corner of the Old City Hall, look back to the south across Main Street.The Queen Anne style building on the corner was the Hotel Kleiner built in 1896, the town's first new hotel in over 25 years. A large “Citizen’s Benefit Banquet” was held on February 3, 1897, in honor of the formal opening of the hostelry with over 100 people attending. A hint of the pride and class of the new hotel was captured in the newspaper report of the time; “as each person was ushered in, they were given a bouquet of roses, as everything down to the minutest detail was arranged for the perfect enjoyment of the guests. Music and singing of a high order was rendered to while away the time until dinner was announced”.[1]After “a feast fit for the Olympian gods” a formal program of speeches was held. Most interesting for the modern observer was a speech entitled “Sun Prairie and Hotel Kleiner in 1997,” outlining predictions for the future 100 years after the night of the banquet. Although the renaming of Main Street as “Wonder Street” was a bit off, visions of Sun Prairie having grown 5 times its original size with airships, clear flowing water from wells and even a type of solar panel were described and turned out to be relatively accurate.[2]Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
From Old City Hall, walk east down Main Street towards the corner of Main and Columbus Street.The buildings you pass were constructed by Alfred Johnson (108/110 E. Main) in 1896 and George Maloney (114/116 E. Main) in 1904.[1] The buildings were operating as saloons by 1899 and 1905, respectively, two of the 9 operating in the town by 1906.[2] When Madison voted in July 1917 to become a “dry” town, prior to nationwide prohibition in 1920, the “Sun Prairie Special” train service was heavily used by Madisonians seeking traditional tavern services. One tavern owner boasted of taking in "$4 per minute" before the the train returned back to Madison. As one might expect, there were some behavior issues on the return train that were the subject of a petition to the Wisconsin railroad commission by the local Women's Club in 1918.[3] Stop at the end of the block.The parking lot area of this property originally held a two-story building constructed in 1893. The structure across the parking lot was added in 1914 and by 1917 housed a four-lane bowling alley, pool hall, snack bar and barber shop.Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
Proceed east and cross Columbus Street.This corner was a key junction of 19th century roads leading to Madison, Columbus and Watertown. Starting in 1850, Colonel W. H. Angell managed a hotel and tavern on this site for several years. What became known as The Sun Prairie House had various proprietors following Angell and by 1864, Hezekiah Austin owned the hotel and enlarged it to accommodate 25 guests.[1]At this time, across Main Street from the Sun Prairie House was the Bird Dance hall owned by the town’s first settler Charles Bird. With an idea prescient to Minneapolis’ Skywalks, Austin and Bird had an elevated covered walkway built at a cost of $400 over Main Street to connect the two venues so that patrons would not have to walk in the snow and mud. However, upon completion a legendary disagreement between Austin and Bird emerged as Bird wanted to charge fifty cents for use of the bridge to enter his hall. In typical dispute fashion, no one was allowed to use the bridge in either direction. Resolution of the dispute is lost to history, but at some point, the bridge was removed.[2]In 1909 Erhard Batz purchased the property and established the corner location as a bank, with a well-appointed interior including an angled entry, tiled floors, richly papered walls along with marble and mahogany fixtures. [3] The Farmers and Merchants Bank, managed by Batz, first occupied this prime space and continued operating there until its bankruptcy in 1929. The Bank of Sun Prairie then occupied this location from 1929 until 1955.Standing on this corner in October 1935, you would’ve been witness to a daring, depression era bank robbery. Two armed robbers dressed in overalls as farmers lined up the bank employees telling them “keep your mug to the wall.” After entered the vault, they loaded a sack with the cash and escaped with $2500 and were last seen heading north toward Bristol in a green-colored Ford V-8.[4]Scroll down for more detail on this building.
Look back to the South across Main StreetObserve the two similar looking buildings that straddle King Street. Though modern in their appearance due to their rounded corners, these two Neo-Classical buildings are on the order of 120 years old and frame the Main block’s intersection with the south running King Street. The Conrad building to the right (121 E. Main), was the first 3 story commercial building constructed in the growing city and was acclaimed by the local newspaper at the time: “The building is the most-costly ($15,000) and handsome private pile in the village and will be an ornament when Sun Prairie is many times larger than it is today.” Joseph J. Conrad built the building to house a restaurant and bowling alley on the 1st floor, office suites on the 2nd floor and a dance hall on the 3rd floor. Through most of this building’s existence it has operated as a bar and restaurant.Built almost a decade later, the Lohneis-Weisensel Block to the left of King St. (201/205 E. Main) was constructed on the original site of first settler Charles Bird’s general store and dance hall. Otto Weisensel, a Sun Prairie merchant since 1901, bought the building and opened a general merchandise and grocery store. The smaller, one-story structure to the left was added in 1942 as Weisensel family members continued to operate the business. They later converted it into separate men’s and woman’s clothing stores connected through interior doors to a Ben Franklin chain store. To the left, further down the block is a bay window, Queen Anne style building (209/211 E. Main) where many a story has been told. Originally one of Sun Prairie’s many taverns, the building was later owned by the town’s barber, Frank Reininger, who groomed his customers for over 40 years at this site. During parades down Main Street, including one to mark the end of World War II, Reininger would make use of his large front window and a microphone system to provide energizing commentary.Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
Continue walking east down Main Street towards the corner of Market Street.As you go, you'll pass the original sites of Sun Prairie's first stand-alone Post Office (210/212 E. Main) and the homesite of one of Sun Prairie's early leaders, Colonel W.H. Angell (current Bank of Sun Prairie Building). Colonel Angell, whose title emanated from service in the Vermont militia, formulated the original charter of the Sun Prairie village and was the donor of the land for the park that still bears his name southeast of the town center.[1] His home was moved from this site in 1928 to accommodate planned construction for the Bank of Sun Prairie. However, plans changed and the cleared property became a city park used for band concerts and outdoor movies. The Bank of Sun Prairie’s original intentions were finally realized in 1955 with the construction of a new building on the lot.As you walk further down the block, you'll pass three buildings constructed in the late 1800s. The Dott Building (238 E. Main St.) was constructed as a saloon in 1891 and is believed to have served in that capacity continuously since that time. The corner of E. Main St. and Market St. was the site of one of Sun Prairie's original hotels, the American House Hotel. The hotel was a two story, cream brick structure with room for 30 guests and a large hall which was destroyed in 1887 by a fire. In 1889, Dr. Ledyard Lewis had the current building constructed on the hotel’s foundation. The proverbial "Corner Drugstore" (242 E. Main St.) was used both for retail and his medical office. In 1910, Dr. McCabe took over the medical practice and purchased the building. Cronkrite’s Sun Prairie Drug Company, later Rexall, occupied the space from 1937-1955. Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
Cross Main Street to the south and take note of the the mural on the building at the corner of Market and Main (245 E. Main St.).This building's original construction dates from 1887, with additional modification in 1901. The mural was painted by local artist Steven Brock in 2015 and traces from Sun Prairie’s naming story in 1837, to a city parade scene in honor of veterans and a homage to renowned Sun Prairie artist Georgia O’Keeffe.[1] The newer Cain Building sits further up the block at 243 E. Main Street.The city district to the southeast of this spot housed two key industries, agricultural canning and porcelain manufacturing, that were a large source of employment for Sun Prairie residents during most of the 20th century. The Sun Prairie Canning company was started in 1900, with the main canning building now the home of the Nitty Gritty on Market Street.[2] With the heightened demand for canned food during WWII, the canning factory employed over 500 people who were assisted by German POWs used for field and canning work.[3]Automobile production was taking off when the American Sparkplug Company was founded in Sun Prairie in 1919.[4] Porcelain insulators were a key component of the sparkplug devices that were essential for the growing numbers of automobile engines. Later renamed Wisconsin Porcelain, the company remained Sun Prairie’s largest employer from 1940 through 1963. Prior to circuit breaker technology, the company was shipping over 600,000 of the ubiquitous “Buss Fuses” per day.[5]In the early 2000s, the City of Sun Prairie pursued redevelopment of the entire cannery site and a neighboring porcelain factory site as part of a $20m “Cannery Square” downtown revitalization initiative.[6]Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
From the Market Street corner, continue your tour walking west back up Main Street.After passing the 243 E. Main, the next 3 buildings were all built in 1897 and housed a number of different commercial establishments during the early 20th century, including the Bank of Sun Prairie and Trapp's Cash Bargain Store. Note the façade of the building at 239 E. Main St. embossed with "Hardware," boldly announcing the business of its original owner, Isaac D. Hayden.The current occupant of 235 E. Main St. speaks to Sun Prairie’s early excitement associated with the emergence of the bicycle in the 1890s. Many bike races were held, the most notable being an annual bicycle race from Main Street in Sun Prairie, to Williamson Street in downtown Madison, a distance of 12 miles.[1] The Wisconsin State Journal called the race “the event of the year” in 1895, with riders completing the route in just over 30 minutes. Prizes were offered by local businesses with a new $100 bicycle for the first-place winner, ranging down to a $3.50 box of cigars for lower places.[2]Scroll down for more detail on these buildings.
Continue walking west up Main Street.The building at 227/229 East Main with buff-colored, Lannon stone was constructed in 1896. Owner Alfred Johnson provided an unusual combination of businesses, combining undertaking and funeral services with furniture sales. The funeral home was accessed through the door on the left (227). Following Johnson’s death in 1909, his wife Millie rented the building to Ed Krebs who continued the funeral home and furniture business.Given its curious utilization over the last century, it’s no surprise that occupants have since reported odd “experiences” in the building. Strange whiffs of pipe tobacco smoke coming from under the stairs to the basement; heavy furniture chairs that seemingly rock a bit on their own and unusual noises that disturb resident’s pets. In 2019, the building was the subject of an investigation and video released by “Paranormal of Wisconsin.” The Ghost Hunters feel that the main spirts in the building are that of a little girl who seems to like Christmas and that of an older gentleman. The hunters found both to of the friendly, “social” type, merely interested in what’s happening in the building, so nothing to fear in shopping at the current commercial establishments.[1]At nearly 150 years old, the Maloney Building (note name on upper cornice; 223/225 E. Main St.) is the senior member of Sun Prairie’s downtown district. George Maloney had this structure built to house a general store which he had owned since 1865. Continue walking west back to the Sun Prairie Historical Library and Museum to complete the tour circuit.
This Tour is a Walking Tour.
Get a QR Code for this tour
The Sun Prairie Downtown Historic District, spanning 100 to 245 East Main Street, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2019 and includes buildings constructed between 1862 and 1958. As you tour the downtown, look closely at upper facades, as many retain their original architectural features.
