Cook Street, East - Residence of Rector of St. Mary's Church

This photographic print, taken sometime between 1900 and 1910 by local photographer, Edward L. Memhard, features the dwelling of the Rector of St. Mary's Church. This complex was once located on East Cook Street and housed the rector(s) of the neighboring Catholic Church, St. Mary of the Immaculate Conception. The annotation on the front of the object, located on the bottom left-hand corner of the matting, states the dwelling to be inhabited by the Rector of St. Mary's Church in 1952. On the back of the object, there is a stamp that indicates this photograph was a production of the E.L. Memhard Studio. Edward L. Memhard was a Portage photographer that succeeded I.A. Ridgway and proceeded Kleist. According to census information (1905), Edward L. Memhard was an active photographer in Portage sometime before 1904 until sometime in the 1910s. Sources: History of Columbia County 1880, 1914; Tales of Old Portage, Portage Daily Register; McKay, Intensive Architectural Survey; Wisconsin Arc