History
The Whitney School
215 N. Webster Avenue
Green Bay, Wisconsin 54301
Whitney School was built in 1918 by Green Bay architects Foeller and Schober, known for building many other schools in northeast Wisconsin in the early part of the 20th century. The Wisconsin Historical Society notes that the structure replaced an earlier Whitney School on site, named for Daniel Whitney, who had owned the property.
The building is of a neo-classical revival style, constructed with load-bearing bricks and limestone accents. Special cornice panels portray youth with a book and an owl perched atop the building. The school features special interior aspects such as terrazzo-lined tile corridors, and is one of only three surviving Green Bay schools from the early 20th century effort to build new schools.
The Green Bay School District closed Whitney School in 1979, and it was purchased by Bellin Health system in 1983, and later purchased by the late Harry Macco, a Green Bay business owner who recognized the historic value of the structure and had hoped to preserve it.
When Milwaukee View purchased the property from the Macco family in 2017, the company removed modern interior hallways and walls that Bellin had constructed to make its office space, exposing the wide original hallways and historic fabric of the building. Only after exposing the original elements of Whitney School was it added to the Wisconsin State Historic Registry and the National Register of Historic Places.
“It’s a passion for us to bring life back into historic buildings like this,” said Lindsey Bovinet, managing partner. “It’s difficult to find properties that offer the potential for beautiful, vintage, loft-style apartments like these.”
Daniel Whitney
An entrepreneur in the Wisconsin territory founding the town of Navarino, now Green Bay. His businesses were responsible for much of the early development of Navarino between the War of 1812 and Wisconsin’s statehood.
- Born September 3, 1795
- Died November 4, 1862
- He was the first “Yankee” to settle in Green Bay. The majority of people were of French-Canadian decent.
- Privately founded Navarino township
- Established a number of businesses that Wisconsin is now known for- such as the first lead shot tower and the first saw mill on the Wisconsin River
- Built the first hotel in the Green Bay area
- Whitney is sometimes called “The Father of Green Bay”
