Architect's footprint in Delavan likely deeper than Allyn Mansion
If you go
What: Traveling exhibit of the work of E. Townsend Mix, former Wisconsin state architect who designed businesses, churches and homes across Wisconsin and the Midwest.
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Sundays until May 17. Other times by appointment.
Where: The Latimer House, 513 Walworth Ave., Delavan.
Cost: Free
Details: Mix worked as the Wisconsin state architect from 1864 to 1867, and his work stretched from New York to Nebraska. The traveling exhibit will include drawings and pictures of Mix' work with an emphasis on his work in Delavan. Mix designed Delavan's Allyn Mansion and did design work for the Wisconsin School for the Deaf, which also is located in Delavan. The Delavan Historical Society recently discovered evidence of a "new" Mix-designed home in the city.
In addition: From 1 to 3 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays while the Mix exhibit is open in Delavan, visitors also may tour the Allyn House, which is next door to the Latimer House. The $5 Allyn Mansion tour will benefit the Delavan Historical Society.
For more information: Call Patti Marsicano at (262) 745-9473.
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Townsend E. Mix
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The Allyn Mansion of Delavan is an E. Townsend Mix home.
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A newly identified E. Townsend Mix home at Washington and 6th in Delavan.
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A table with postcards of famous E Townsend Mix buildings on display at Latimer House in Delevan.
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Photographs of famous E. Townsend Mix architecture are on display at the Latimer House in Delavan.
DELAVAN — You can't change history or add to what happened.
But once in a while you can discover a tiny bit of history that's been hidden.
The Delavan Historical Society recently turned up documents that suggest Edward Townsend Mix designed more of Delavan's history than the Allyn Mansion, 511 E. Walworth St.
The discovery took place weeks before the society opened the doors to host a traveling exhibit of Mix's work at the Latimer House, which is next door to the Allyn Mansion, President Patti Marsicano said.
The society suspected the house at the corner of 6th and Washington streets was "a Mix," Marsicano said. They had included photos of the house on a chart of style comparisons, she said.
Then Marsicano discovered a tiny scrap of an old newspaper stating the house on 6th and Washington was a Mix-designed home of the Allyn family before they moved into the mansion in 1885.
Marsicano also recently learned that Mix designed the original façade of the Citizens Bank building on Walworth Avenue in 1880. After an explosion, the bank was rebuilt.
The façade we see today is not Mix's work, Marsicano said.
The traveling exhibit will be on display until May 17. The display is free.
The society added some local information to the display, including some of Mix's original drawings of the Allyn Mansion and some rare drawings of outbuildings Mix designed for the Wisconsin School for the Deaf in Delavan.
The buildings are no longer standing.
"They're special in their own right," Marsicano said.
A personal history of Edward Townsend Mix
Name: Edward Townsend Mix
Job: Architect in both the public and private sector. Mix operated a private practice and later a partnership in Milwaukee and worked as the Wisconsin state architect from 1864-67.
Why he's famous: Mix-designed homes, businesses and churches are scattered from New York to Nebraska. The popular architect designed many of the most prominent buildings in Milwaukee including the Music Hall (1865), the Iron Block (1860), Plankinton House (1868), the Mitchell building (1878), the Chamber of Commerce building (1880), and the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul depot (1886).
Local ties: Locally, the most famous Mix building is the Allyn Mansion, 511 E. Walworth Ave., Delavan. Mix designed the ornate home for Alexander Allyn family. The Delavan Historical Society recently uncovered documents that suggest Mix designed the Delavan house the Allyns lived in before they moved into the mansion in 1885. The home has served as a nursing home and a bed and breakfast. A restoration project earned the owners the Grand Prize from the National Trust in its 1992 Great American Home Awards.
Born: New Haven, Conn., in 1831.
Died: Mix died of tuberculosis in Minneapolis, Minn., in 1890.
Apr 8, 2009 at 5:44 p.m.
Suggest removal
Cool turning up something like this about local history, on the verge of being lost forever.
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