Main Avenue Historic District 

Date of Construction: 1883 to 1950.

Architectural Style: Queen Anne, Neoclassical Revival, Twentieth Century Commercial and Commercial vernacular.

What is known today as the west side of De Pere incorporated as the village of West De Pere in 1870, thus differentiating itself from the east side, which had incorporated as De Pere in 1857. It was not until 1889 that the two communities became one; however, by that time, they had each developed their own distinct commercial downtown. Although the west side’s Main Avenue began to develop shortly after the first bridge was built to connect the east and west sides, the first commercial buildings were largely of wood frame construction. It was not until the 1880s that the first brick building was erected in the Main Avenue Historic District that you see today.

Of the eighteen buildings in the district, five were built by 1887; seven were built between 1900 and 1920, three were added between 1920 and 1950, while the remainder are post-1950s construction. The original businesses that operated out of these buildings included a saloon, millinery (women’s hat) shop, grocery store and meat market.

As is typical of older downtown commercial districts in Wisconsin cities, most of this district’s original first story storefronts have been lost to modernization; however, the upper stories of many of the building’s retain their brick-trimmed or stone accented cornices. The most intact façades in the district are located at 301 Main Avenue—the Frank Deboth Building (1887; originally operated as a saloon) where cast iron supports continue to frame the storefront, while the Neoclassical Revival-style façade of the former Bank of West De Pere (1920; 371 Main Avenue) remains largely intact.

To the east there were a total of five bridges built across the Fox River at this location to connect the west business district to De Pere’s east side. The first was built in 1851 and a total of three were lost to fires. Known as the Claude Allouez Bridge, the existing bridge was completed in 2007 at an approximate cost of $22 million.