1100 North Main Street (Racine, Wisconsin)

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**1100 North Main Street** is a building on the northwest corner of North Main Street and Dodge Street in Racine, Wisconsin. The property was the site of a lumberyard beginning in the 1870s. Kelley Lumber Company had its main offices at 1100 North Main Street from August 1919 to January 1966, when the lumberyard was closed. The current building was built in 1969 for a short-lived Dunkin' Donuts franchise, and was used as a real estate office from 1975 to 2018, first by N. Christensen & Son Real Estate, then by First Weber Realtors, which acquired N. Christensen & Son in 2006. Since 2018, the building has been the headquarters of Roots Residential Adult Family Homes, an assisted living facility operator, and Taylormade Wealth Management, a certified public accounting firm.

## History

Lumber shacks were built on the property that is now part of 1100 North Main Street in the 1870s. The J.R. Morris Wood Yard was located at the site as of 1887. In 1906, James E. Decker operated a saloon at 1100 North Main Street, a small building in the southeast corner of the wood yard property.

 File:Kelley Lumber, 1100 North Main Street, Racine, WI.png
Kelley Lumber Company, an established lumberyard in Racine, was based in downtown Racine until 1919. It also owned land at the northwest corner of North Main Street and Dodge Street, across the Root River from its main offices. In August 1919, the company applied for permission to construct two storage houses at 1100 North Main Street. On August 4, the Racine city council denied permission for the storage houses, because the location was within the city's fire limits. Within days, however, Kelley began advertising that it had moved its main offices to the North Main and Dodge lumberyard. In October 1919, the company was in the process of tearing down the 1870s-era lumber shacks to build modern brick sheds in their place, promising that the property would become "one of the most modern [lumberyards] in the state". In December 1920, Kelley Lumber Company added a window display illustrating the benefits of investing in homeownership to its main office building.

The Kelley Lumber Company continued to operate at the site until January 1966, when it was acquired by its longtime local competitor, Brannum Lumber Company. At the end of that month, the Kelley lumberyard closed and its employees moved to Brannum's facility at 1720 Taylor Avenue. The property was purchased by Eleven Hundred Corp. and the lumber facility was torn down by the end of 1967, when the Milwaukee Road received permission from the Wisconsin Public Service Commission to remove the freight railroad spur leading to the property.

Dunkin' Donuts announced in May 1969 that it was building two donut shops in Racine, at 2300 Lathrop Avenue and 1100 North Main Street. The North Main location held its grand opening on October 31, 1969. The location was not successful for Dunkin' Donuts, and as early as February 1973 the building was up for lease. N. Christensen & Son Real Estate purchased the building from Eleven Hundred Corp. on March 31, 1975, and in August of that year announced that the firm would move its residential real estate offices to the building from 1354 State Street.

N. Christensen & Son was acquired by First Weber Realtors in 2006. The building was sold to Roots Residential Adult Family Homes on March 23, 2018. Roots Residential planned to turn the building into Little Roots Child Care, a daycare center for the children of its assisted living staff members. In May 2018, Roots Residential applied to the city council for permission to use the building as a daycare center, but days later stated that it had changed its mind and was using the building as its headquarters instead. It also became the headquarters of a certified public accounting firm, Taylormade Wealth Management, which is co-owned by Roots Residential co-owner Jerodd Taylor.

## References

1. ↑ 1887 Racine Fire Insurance Map, Sanborn, p. 7.
2. ↑ Racine 1906 City Directory, p. 96-97.
3. ↑ 1908 Racine Fire Insurance Map, Sanborn, p. 67.
4. ↑ Fennell, George D. *Racine*, 2007, p. 41.
5. ↑ "Lumber Company's Request is Denied", Racine Journal-News, August 5, 1919, front page.
6. ↑ Advertisement, Racine Journal-News, August 14, 1919, page 10.
7. ↑ "Kelley Lumber Co. Builds New Sheds", Racine Journal-News, October 3, 1919, page fourteen.
8. ↑ "Advantages of a Home Portrayed", Racine Journal-News, December 30, 1920, page seven.
9. ↑ "Announcement" advertisement, Racine Journal Times, January 12, 1966, page 11A.
10. ↑ "OK Removal of Spur Track", Racine Journal Times, December 31, 1967, page 6A.
11. ↑ "Business News", Racine Journal Times, May 13, 1969, page 6B.
12. ↑ Advertisement, Racine Journal Times, October 30, 1969, page 4A.
13. ↑ Classified advertisement, Racine Journal Times, February 16, 1973, page 8D.
14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Transfers Data, 1100 N Main St, cityofracine.org
15. ↑ "Real estate offices to move", Racine Journal Times, August 17, 1975, page 1D.
16. ↑ "First Weber Realtors has deep local roots" (sponsored content), Racine Journal Times, March 25, 2018.
17. ↑ Lesk, Sari. "New day care center proposed on Main Street", Racine Journal Times, May 12, 2018.
18. ↑ Lesk, Sari. "Main Street day care center plans on hold in Racine", Racine Journal Times, May 15, 2018.

## External links

* 1100 North Main Street at OpenStreetMap