South Broadway Historic District 

Date of Construction: 1882-1888.

Architectural Style: Commercial Vernacular.

On April 23, 1882, a fire leveled a total of thirty-six commercial buildings located on both sides of the 100 and 200 blocks of Broadway; most were of wood construction. As a result, the city required that all new buildings built to replace those in the “burned district” be of brick or masonry construction. Rebuilding began within mere weeks and five of the buildings in the 100 block of Broadway were complete or nearly complete by the end of the year. Despite the 2013 demolition of the southernmost building in the district, the South Broadway Historic District continues to be the most intact concentration of nineteenth century commercial buildings on the east side of the river.

The district remains a visually coherent and architecturally distinct collection of historic commercial buildings in the city of De Pere. Renewed interest in historic preservation has spurred restoration of several of these buildings over the past few years including the 2021 renovation of 101 S Broadway and the 2022 ongoing renovation of 107 S Broadway.

A large public art mural “Bull Smelling Flowers” has been painted on the rear of 101 S. Broadway. It was completed in 2020 by artist Andrew Linskens as part of Definitely De Pere’s mural and public art project that began in 2018.