Message-ID: <SNT104-W23F19C85B5D95FC4C97489A1960@phx.gbl> From: Destinee Udelhoven <destineekae@hotmail.com> Subject: Portage Historic Preservation Month Event Date: Mon, 25 Apr 2011 17:14:41 -0500
As a lover of history, and a member of Portage's Historic Preservation Co
mmission,
I highly recommend the following FREE event:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Erin Foley, 608-742-1400 OR Wolffoley5@frontier.com
DID YOUR HOUSE COME BY MAIL?
EULBERG TO DISCUSS CATALOG HOMES
Portage, WI, April 25 – Architectural historian Judy Eulberg will kic
k off this year’s National Preservation Month on Tuesday, May 3, at 7
p.m., with her illustrated talk on “Mail-Ordered Houses.” The publi
c is welcome to attend this free event at the Portage Public Library. Refr
eshments will be served after the talk.
Thousands of mail-order homes were built between 1906 and 1940, using pla
ns designed and built by companies such as Sears, Gordon Van Tyne, and
Aladdin. Although these homes could be built with locally obtained materia
ls, many people opted to purchase the building materials with the plans.
An average catalog home arrived in 30,000 pieces packed into two rail fr
eight cars. The order included everything from the doorknobs to the shingl
es, and included 700 lbs. of nails and 27 gallons of paint and varnish.
Eulberg’s knowledge of mail-order houses comes from her graduate work in
Historic Preservation at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, supplemente
d by her career as a preservation consultant. She has discovered a number
of Portage homes that were ordered from catalogs, and will feature severa
l of them in her talk.
National Preservation Month is an event promoted by the National Trust for
Historic Preservation. This year’s theme is “Celebrating America’s T
reasures,” a reminder to communities to protect the places that tell th
e nation’s story, create jobs, and spur economic development in our M
ain Streets. For more information about National Preservation Month, ple
ase visit http://www.preservationnation.org/take-action/preservation-month/
.
Eulberg’s talk is sponsored by Portage’s Historic Preservation Commissi
on, a group of community members appointed by the Mayor, to recognize
, educate, and preserve the historic and cultural resources within the
City of Portage. The Historic Preservation Commission normally meets on the
third Tuesday of each month at 6 p.m. in the Municipal Building.
___________________________________________________________________________
___________________________
Destinee K. Udelhoven
Executive Director
Historic Indian Agency House
Portage, Wisconsin
(608) 742 - 6362
Don't be afraid to give up the good to go for the great.
~John D. Rockefeller