Waupaca - Building History

Building History

On April 1, 1856, the United Stated Government deeded the land Main Street Marketplace is situated on to Waupaca County. In February of 1877, fire consumed the buildings that stood where Main Street Marketplace now stands. Henry and Hiram Beadleston, owners, were initially undecided about whether to rebuild or not. The February 22 Republican Waupaca County newspaper urged them to rebuild in the summer of 1877.

Later that month they made plans to rebuild. An interesting story in the same paper offered a reward for the return of the Masonic goat. The Masonic Lodge shared the buildings that burned. The story reads:

Five Dollar Reward

Broke from his quarters on Monday morning during the fire, the Masonic Goat. When last seen, he was turning the corner of the engine house about fifteen minutes after the fire started, running at full speed, with his tail over his back. It is thought he may have gone as far north as Dupont. The reward will be paid for delivery at this office. The Masons have had hard luck but we want to give them a little lift.

It was announced in that same paper that the Masons will put up a 48 foot front brick building on their lot (presently Strattons Drug Store). In the September 6, 1877 Republican, an article discussed the progress of Beadleston's new store. The base stones were being laid but they had some problems getting bricks. The staging was being taken down from the front of the matching Masonic Building (Strattons).

In the October 11, 1877 Republican, it was announced that Beadlestons will occupy the corner store, Stern Brothers Clothing will occupy the second store. Baily & Jeffer's Drug Store and H. Nordvi will occupy the third and fourth stores. To quote the Republican, "Beadleston's have, on the whole, about the pleasantest store room in town, It looks that way."

Over the years other stores to occupy Main Street Marketplace were

Simcock Hardware
E.C. Williams Hardware circa 1896
Pioneer Hardware
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company circa 1934
A & P Foods
National Foods circa 1941
Badger Paint Store
Hardware Hank
Broadway Optical

We are working on developing this history with more detail. We appreciate any
information you can offer

Following is a reprint of an article that details more on the life of the Beadleston Brothers:

Reprinted from the Waupaca County Post

January 28, 1993

When Then was Now

By Wayne Guyant

This the story about two brothers, Henry and Hiram C. Beadleston, who left their native state of New York to make a new life in Waupaca..

Henry Beadleston was born November 23, 1833 at Lake George - Warren County, N.Y. and came to Waupaca in the early years of the 1850s.

Hiram C. Beadleston was born December 30, 1835 at Glen Falls, also in Warren County, on the Hudson River, 45 miles north of Albany, the capital of the state. It is believed that Hiram came to Waupaca about 1857.

In April of 1862, the two brothers entered into a grocery store business in a small wooden frame structure on the northwest corner of West Fulton and North Main streets. In one of the old Waupaca newspapers dated July 23, 1913, there was a picture of the original Beadleston store.

From their beginning in 1862, up to 1875, they carried almost exclusively groceries. In 1875, they added a fine line of drugs and medicines to their grocery line.

Warranty deed volume 18, page 540, dated January 13, 1863, indicated that H.C. Beadleston purchased lot number five, block H, of the original plat of Waupaca, from Eliza L and her husband Syrenus Belden.

There were three big fires in Waupaca in the 1870s that destroyed most all of the wooden frame buildings in that block. The big fire of February 19, 1877, burned to the ground the Beadleston store, along with several other structures in that block.

Prior to these big fires, each wooden structure stood independently of each other. In other words, animals could go between buildings or trash could have been thrown in there, so when the new brick buildings were erected they had to share existing outside walls, leaving no empty areas between buildings.

Now, "party wall" agreements came into effect. These were agreements between adjoining parties whereby they agreed to share the cost of using the party wall, as in the case where a party wanted to build between two existing buildings, they would not have to erect outside walls, but use them as their own walls. There was a cost involved in doing so.

When the Beadleston Bros. rebuilt, so did the Waupaca Lodge No. 123, Free and Accepted Masons, whose lot was adjacent on the north. There was a party wall agreement made between the two on May 19, 1877.

A quit claim deed was issued to the Beadlestons for all of lot five and the south four and one-half feet of lot four. It was at this time that an error, undetected in the original deed, dated January 13, 1863, when Henry Beadlestons’s name had been omitted on the original deed, was discovered.

The Beadleston Bros. Built their new brick building that stands today on the corner of West Fulton and Main Streets. According to the history of northern Wisconsin, the building when built was 65 feet by 44 feet, with a store room 38 by 44 feet. Waupaca Lodge 123 Free and Accepted Masons building that is adjacent on the north, also has the date of 1877.

It seems as if in the early 1980’s, that Henry and Hiram Beadleston sold out their business to the firm of Hudson and Jeffers, but retained ownership of the building. Hudson and Jeffers in turn sold out their general merchandise business to J.A. Versen, who came to Waupaca from Marshfield in 1894.