2003 Preservation Awards
Dowling Apartment Building
[photo: Zane Williams]
445–447 W. Wilson Street
Edna Wetternach, owner
Award: Long-Term Care
The Preservation Awards again recognize someone for long-term care of a significant historic property. This year’s winner is Edna Wetternach of Verona, who 17 years ago inherited the job of caring for the Dowling Apartments from her late husband Theodore. Since then she has given loving attention to both the building and her tenants.
Designed by architect Philip Dean in 1922, the Dowling Apartment Building at 445 W. Wilson Street is influenced by the Neo-Classical Revival and Craftsman styles. It was built for William and Margaret Dowling. After retiring from railroad work, William ran a shoe store on the Capitol Square. He also represented the Fourth Ward on the Common Council for seven years in the 1910s and 1920s.
The building is considered historically significant also because of Margaret Dowling. Born Margaret Graham, she operated the M.L. Graham Hat Shop in Madison from 1904 to 1917, when she married William and sold the shop. A devout Catholic, Mrs. Dowling was very active in Catholic and public charity work. In the 1930s, she was appointed by two governors to statewide committees reviewing highway safety, housing and conditions in state institutions.
During the Depression, Madison Mayor James Law named Mrs. Dowling chair of the Madison clothes depot. She also sat on the Madison Public Welfare Board and was an active member of the Dane County Democratic Club and the National Woman’s party. When she died in 1962, Mrs. Dowling left her estate to the Catholic church. Bishop O’Conner, a friend of Mrs. Dowling’s, arranged for the estate to sell the building. In 1963, Theodore Wetternach bought it for $90,000.
We are recognizing Edna Wetternach, the second owner of the building, for her excellent maintenance, including sensitively rebuilding a screen porch addition in 1992 after it was vandalized. Additional work has included tuckpointing, interior woodwork refinishing, and window replacement.
We are not the only ones who are taking notice. In 2002, the City of Madison officially designated the Dowling Apartments a Madison landmark.
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Other 2003 Award Winners
Dowling Apartment Building
