The featured building this month is the one with the red roof. It portrays architecture that is no comparison with the adjacent old stone Hilgen and Schroeder mill that that was built in 1855, but it too has a significant history. Well known Milwaukee architect Alexander Eschweiler, known for his period revival styles, fashioned the structure after a Japanese Tea House. It features a distinctive pagoda roof, highlighted by a cupola at the ridge. The flared eaves of the cupola echo the shape of the main roof. At least 30 of these structures were built as filling stations by the Wadhams Oil and Grease Company of Milwaukee.
The prototype was built in 1917 at 5th and Wisconsin Avenue in downtown
Milwaukee, and is now long gone. This one in Cedarburg was built in
1926. It is believed that the original occupant was William Schnable. It
later became a Texaco filling station that was operated by Albert
Eidenberger. Currently, the building is occupied as a jewelry store.
This is just one of 2 such buildings still in existence.