Lappin-Hayes Block, 1980s

Photographer

Gruver, Lowell "Bud"

Date

• ca. 1981

Summary

• This photo of the Hayes Block from the early 1980s includes the Dewey and Brandt Silverware and China store (16 East Milwaukee Street) and McLean's Jewelry (22 East Milwaukee Street). The Hayes Block is located on the southwest corner of Main and Milwaukee. It was also called the Lappin-Hayes Block. It is one of the city's most historic commercial buildings, having been home to many early newspapers, law offices, doctors' offices, and architects, as well as several retail businesses. It was originally built in 1855, remodeled to its current appearance in 1899, and restored in the mid-1980s. One book states that it "is the only building that still represents the nineteenth-century business blocks that once dominated the city's commercial district." It is listed in the National Register of Historic Buildings. Rock County's first elevator was installed in this building in 1899. A plaque commorating Henry Janes is inserted in the wall near the McLeans' Jewelry entrance.