Nakoma Historic District
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Nakoma Historic District | |
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| Location | Roughly bounded by Odana Rd., Manitou Wy., Mohawk Dr., and Whenona Dr., Madison, Wisconsin |
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| Coordinates | 43°2′36″N 89°26′38″W / 43.04333°N 89.44389°W |
| Area | 226 acres (91 ha) |
| NRHP reference No. | 98000168[1] |
| Added to NRHP | February 26, 1998 |
The Nakoma Historic District is a historic neighborhood on the southwest side of Madison, Wisconsin near the Nakoma Country Club, including contributing houses built from 1915 to 1946. In 1998 the large district was added to the National Register of Historic Places,[2] primarily for having "the finest collection of Period Revival style buildings" in Madison.[3]
Native Americans long lived around the four lakes region, including near Lake Wingra just east of this district.[4] The settlement of Madison began in the 1830s with the early town taking shape on the isthmus around the capitol. Two miles to the southwest, the land that would eventually become the Nakoma district developed into farms in those early years.[3]
By 1854 the Madison-Monroe road led through these farms, heading toward Wisconsin's lead-mining region. Charles Morgan and James Gorham built a stagecoach stop there now called the Old Spring Tavern.[5] Two years later, in 1856, a rural school was built where the Thoreau School now stands. The area remained more or less rural like this until the 1910s.[3]
By this time the city was growing this way, with University Heights, Wingra Park, and other subdivisions. Some of these were served by streetcar lines which transported workers to the downtown each day. In 1914 and 1915 the Madison Realty Company bought farmlands along Verona Road and began plans to develop them into the subdivision that would be Nakoma.[3]
Chicago landscape gardener Ossian Cole Simonds and Leonard S. Smith laid out the general plan for the subdivision. It was later described by one of its promoters like this:
The rolling landscape facing south and east, with an unobstructed view of Lake Wingra, the Capitol, the University, and the city, seemed an ideal location for a large community of homes. Prov. L.S. Smith of the University designed and laid out the plat. The lots are large and the streets are broad and inviting as they follow the sweeping curves at the base of the hills. The general result was to leave the land as nature made it, unmarred by the cutting through of streets, so common in the conventional city plat.[6]
Some buyers needed convincing to move out of the city, and Madison Realty met that challenge. Automobiles were becoming more common, but not everyone had them. Instead of an expensive streetcar line, the developer provided a private bus service to help people commute into the city. The developer provided water, gas, electricity and sidewalks. Property taxes were promoted as lower than in the city. The suburb was promoted as family friendly, prohibiting saloons, and replacing the old grade school with a new Prairie School-styled building. The developer even paid for a neighborhood magazine called the Nakoma Tomahawk. "Nakoma" was said to be a Chippewa word meaning "I do as I promise."[3]
Growth was slow during WWI, with only twenty-three new buildings in the subdivision by 1920, but then things took off. At that time Madison Reality hired Paul E. Stark as sales manager. In the same year, the Nakoma Homes Company was formed - basically a homeowner association which new residents had to join. The Homes Company agreed to maintain the streets, keep vacant lots clean, and provide fire protection and police. The residents signed a covenant which specified setbacks of houses on the lots, prohibited businesses, prohibited multi-family homes, and required approval of exterior building plans by an architect who was approved by the Homes Company. The aim was to assure residents that their outside-the-city neighborhood would remain a desirable place for them to live.[3]
The Nakoma Country Club was established just to the east in 1921. "Country club suburbs" was a trend at the time and College Hills and Maple Bluff already had their own country clubs.[3]
Construction in Nakoma continued through the 1920s, but stopped in 1931 as the country sank into the Great Depression. Growth resumed in 1934. Additions were platted, and by 1945 most of the lots in what is now the Nakoma Historic District were occupied. Eventually the subdivision was annexed by the city of Madison.[3]
