East side, west side and downtown, too. Madison-area residents and visitors are invited to discover the buildings, landscapes, people and events that have shaped our city since immigrant settlers came to Madison in the 1830s.
June 4 through Sept. 24 the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation will offer historic architecture tours at 11 a.m. Saturdays and 6 p.m. Thursdays. Knowledgeable volunteer docents will lead seven walking tours and one bike tour.
“These tours take you to a Madison that you may have whizzed past in your car or walked by a multitude of times,” said Jeri Grogg, chair of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation Tour Committee. “For instance, if you look up at a particular storefront as you walk down State Street you can see a tiny architectural detail designed by none other than Frank Lloyd Wright.
“Madison Trust tours bring a fresh perspective to our understanding and appreciation of our community’s economic, social and cultural history,” she added.
Neighborhoods included in this year’s walking tour schedule are:
Bascom Hill: Traditional Meets Modern
University of Wisconsin-Madison buildings from the 1850s to modernist structures
Mansion Hill East: First Historic District
Fine sandstone houses of the late 1800s for Madison’s wealthy and elite
Mansion Hill West: Sandstone and Prairie
Early sandstone mansions plus houses by local Prairie Style architects Claude & Starck
Orton Park: A Lakeside Neighborhood
Late 19th- and early 20th-century houses in a middle-class, east-side neighborhood that was part of James Doty’s 1836 plat of Madison’s isthmus
State Street: Everyone’s Street
Historic buildings and stories of the people who lived and worked between the state Capitol and the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus
Sunset Hills: Mid-Century Modernism
1950’s west-side Madison subdivision comprised of high-quality, architect-designed homes of “Modern” design
University Heights: World-Famous Architects
Homes by Frank Lloyd Wright, Louis Sullivan and local architects Claude & Starck and Alvan Small in an early west-side suburb
The bike tour of the Historic East Isthmus covers Madison’s near east-side neighborhoods, revitalized industrial buildings and a Native American effigy mound.
Go to www.madisonpreservation.org and click on “Tours and Programs” for more details about content, dates, times, length and the meeting place for each tour. Purchase tickets at the tour meeting place shortly before the start of each tour. The cost is $10 for adults, $5 for students and free for Madison Trust members (become a member by going to the Madison Trust website and clicking on “Support Us”).
Madison Trust for Historic Preservation tours are made possible in part by the Madison Gas and Electric Foundation and TDS Custom Construction.
The Madison Trust for Historic Preservation is dedicated to the conservation of Madison’s historic places through advocacy and education. A volunteer board of trustees guides the independent, nonprofit, community-supported organization. Madison Trust works with the Madison Landmarks Commission and other municipal agencies as well as Historic Madison Inc., the Wisconsin Historical Society, and the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation. Madison Trust is a Local Partner of the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
For more information about the work of the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation:
Phone: 608-441-8864
Email: info@madisonpreservation.org
Facebook: Madison Trust for Historic Preservation
Twitter: MSNpreservation