The Baird Law Office in

Green Bay, Wisconsin Green Bay is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The county seat of Brown County, it is at the head of Green Bay (known locally as "the bay of Green Bay"), a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It is above sea lev ...

was built in the 1830s in Greek Revival style, which was then popular as one of America's first architectural styles that explicitly rejected British practices. The small one-story building measures just 16 x in size and served historically as a professional building. A plaque from 1964 explains that it was built as a law office for Henry S. Baird ("Father of the Wisconsin Bar") in the early 1830s, then later used as a residence, and it was restored and moved to its then-current site in 1960. Other sources state that it was instead used first by owner

Samuel Beall Samuel Wootton Beall (June 16, 1807September 26, 1868) was an American land speculator, lawyer, and Wisconsin pioneer. He was the second lieutenant governor of Wisconsin (1850–1852) and lost his leg at the Battle of Shiloh, as a Union Ar ...

as a land office and his residence, and was purchased a few years later by Baird: ''"Henry S. Baird was an influential figure in local and state history. He found architecture befitting his stature when he purchased what became his namesake in 1841."'' The building was listed, for its architecture, on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1970. The listing is for a area with just the one

contributing building In the law regulating historic districts in the United States, a contributing property or contributing resource is any building, object, or structure which adds to the historical integrity or architectural qualities that make the historic distric ...

and no other structures. According to the National Register's database, the building was built in 1831. According to the historical park, the building was built in 1835. The Heritage Park states that the building was constructed by Samuel Beall, in 1835, ''"at the corner of Main and Monroe Streets", in Green Bay'' and "''used as a land office and Beall's residence."'' It was moved several times, in fact, before being moved to Heritage Hill, in Allouez, in 1975. It is now located within what is now

Heritage Hill State Park Heritage Hill State Historical Park, is a 56-acre open-air museum located in Allouez, Wisconsin near Green Bay, Wisconsin, in the United States. A Wisconsin state park, the site is operated by a non-profit organization called the Heritage Hill Co ...

. Also located in the park are several other NRHP-listed buildings. According to Nick Backhaus, a restoration supervisor at Heritage Hill, the 16 x building might have ''"survived because of its unique architecture, and people identified that it was unique."'' He noted that ''"The architecture is Greek Revival, a style popular in the 1800s, though often expressed on much larger buildings,"'' Backhaus said. ''"Many prosperous Americans believed that ancient Greece represented the spirit of democracy."'' Architectural details include a

portico A portico is a porch leading to the entrance of a building, or extended as a colonnade, with a roof structure over a walkway, supported by columns or enclosed by walls. This idea was widely used in ancient Greece and has influenced many cult ...

with four columns, the center two having Ionic capitals and being round fluted. The outer two, without capitals, are square. The

pediment Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape. Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds. A pedimen ...

has a cedar frieze board and

dentils A dentil (from Lat. ''dens'', a tooth) is a small block used as a repeating ornament in the bedmould of a cornice. Dentils are found in ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and also in later styles such as Neoclassical, Federal, Georgian Rev ...

References

External links

Past mayors site
includes photo of building in 1836 on original site {{National Register of Historic Places Office buildings on the National Register of Historic Places in Wisconsin Greek Revival architecture in Wisconsin Commercial buildings completed in 1831 Buildings and structures in Green Bay, Wisconsin National Register of Historic Places in Brown County, Wisconsin Law offices Legal history of Wisconsin 1831 establishments in Michigan Territory

See also

References

External links