Frost Woods: Wisconsin’s Next National Register Historic District

Nestled in the gently rolling terrain along the east edge of Wiicawak Bay, the Frost Woods neighborhood began as a cluster of modernist houses for University of Wisconsin faculty in the 1930s and exploded in the 1950s during a post-WWII population boom. Guided for decades by a homeowners’ association, the neighborhood contains a wealth of midcentury architecture, along with the earliest and finest concentration of the International Style in Wisconsin.

The story of Frost Woods stretches back millennia, however, from Late Woodland effigy mounds to Ho-Chunk seasonal camps to a 19th-century white settler who spared an oak forest. Today, careful stewardship preserves this layered landscape of archaeology, architecture, and community planning.

The neighborhood is in the process of being listed in the National Register of Historic Places. This presentation will highlight the history and architecture of the neighborhood and will explore what makes Frost Woods a unique place and worthy of preservation.

Speaker Justin Miller is an architectural historian at UW-Milwaukee Cultural Resource Management, a research center specializing in historic preservation and archaeological consulting. Justin served as the primary author of the Frost Woods National Register nomination, a collaborative process that brought together the Frost Woods Homes Association, the Monona Landmarks Commission, and the State Historic Preservation Office.

Thursday August 27, 6-8pm
Madison Public Library, Central Library
Free, but registration is required

This event is organized by the Madison Trust for Historic Preservation.