1855: William Seatoft immigrated to America from Denmark. In 1866, Seatoft became a partner in founding Island City Stone Works.
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1888: Seatoft Hardware opens at 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. The building was originally constructed to serve as this hardware company. William Seatoft runs the hardware store until his death in July 1912. J.F. Stroebel purchased the hardware store stock in October of 1912 from the estate administrator.
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January 1944: The building became Keil and Werner Electric Company. The company was owned by Walter R. Werner, who was also president of Werner Electrical Supply, Co. Keil and Werner Electrical Co. supplied electrical contracting and retailing. 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. remained Keil and Werner Electric Co. until 1965. The company changed names to W.R. Werner, Inc. The company also expanded to include appliance and TV sales.
1968: The building was purchased by Johnson Hills Inc to help with the expansion of the Jandrey's store. W.R. Werner Inc moved to a different building. In 1970, the building became a display department for the department store Jandrey's (located at 120 W. Wisconsin Ave.). Jandreys-A. Johnson Hill's Store. This store was managed at the time by Dennis Bump and primarily sold furniture. 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. stayed with Jandrey's until 1976.
1970's- Bill Paul purchased downtown buildings, including 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. Kimberly Clark leased the top part of the buildings for office space for 20 years. He invested in his property throughout the duration of his ownership. Paul renovated the property between 1998 and 1999 and refurbished 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. to increase its value by $18,000. In 2001, Paul wrote to the city of Neenah requesting to consolidate all of his parcels, which was granted. Eventually, he decided to limit his space a bit and sold 126 W. Wisconsin to Brian Pessman with "Downtown Neenah Properties".
1977: The building became Camera & Card Shop, owned by Francis (Frank) E. Priest. Eventually Camera & Card Shop would become Camera & Card, Inc. This shop sold photography equipment, camera supplies, greeting cards, and other similar novelties. Camera & Card, Inc. remained at 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. until 2005.
2006: 126 W. Wisconsin Ave. became home to Smile Creations SC, owned by Dr. James Eike. The dental practice was previously located on Commercial St. Smile Creations currently specializes in general dentistry, cosmetic dentistry, and Invisalign tooth alignment.
2009- John and Deb Skyrms purchased the building from foreclosure for their company Historic Neenah Properties, LLC. They then proceeded forward with some comprehensive renovations on the first and second floors of the building.
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Special Thanks to the City of Neenah Assessor's Office
Photographs courtesy of the Neenah Historical Society and Adelle Sturgell
Information gathered from the Neenah Public Library's collection of past City Directories:
"Neenah-Menasha, Wis. Community Directory" pub. Badger Directory Company, previous to 1946 "Neenah Menasha City Directory" pub. Johnson Publishing Co., Manitowoc, WI, 1950-1977 "Neenah-Menasha, Wisconsin City Directory", 1980-1990 "Fox Cities Wisconsin", 2000-present |