Neillsville Downtown Historic District
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Neillsville Downtown Historic District
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| Location | 500 Block Hewett St. and 118 W. Sixth St., Neillsville, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 44°33′38″N 90°35′46″W / 44.56056°N 90.59611°WCoordinates: 44°33′38″N 90°35′46″W / 44.56056°N 90.59611°W |
| Area | 2 acres (0.81 ha) |
| Architectural style | Late Victorian, Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, et al. |
| NRHP Reference # | 00000701 |
| Added to NRHP | June 15, 2000 |
Neillsville Downtown Historic District is a section of the historic old downtown of Neillsville, Wisconsin, with buildings as old as 1872. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.
The settlement of Neillsville began when James O'Neill and his companions cut a road up through the forest from Black River Falls in June 1845. They built a sawmill on the bank of O'Neill Creek and began cutting pine and floating it downstream to their mill. The loggers prospered, more settlers came, and by 1860 the population approached 250. Businesses developed along Main Street, which is now called Hewett Street. The earliest were wood frame buildings.
The first brick structure in town (and in Clark County) was built in 1872, and is in the district - the Hewett and Woods General Store at 502 Hewett Street - the blue building on the left in the photo. Its brick is probably the "soft brick" produced locally by King and Vine. Though it is early and simple, its style shows some Italianate influence. This first brick building was called "the Brick Store" for years.
Continuing up the west side of Hewett street, and to the right in the photo:
Around the corner behind the Neillsville Bank, at 118 W 6th Street is the Varieties Store, built in 1886. It has simple Commercial Italianate details and a coal chute on the front.
Returning back up the east side of Hewett Street:
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