Category: Our Kenosha History

German born Wendell Dagenbach moved to Kenosha in 1885 at the age of 32 and became a successful cigarmaker in Downtown Kenosha. Dagenbach also had an eye for real estate and scooped up properties on the west side of what was then Milwaukee Avenue (now Seventh Ave) and north of Middle Street (50th St). The properties he would oversee construction of in the late 1890’s included four structures along Milwaukee Ave; the corner lot, which we now call the Dagenbach building at the corner of 50th and Seventh (and the focus of today’s story), two buildings that are now gone to the north, and what is now The Coffee Pot. The Dagenbach building opened in 1898 as two storefronts, one on the south side with the entry in the corner near the current doorway, and a 20’x70’ storefront on the north side of the building. Wendell Dagenbach and his family... More