College of Commerce

College of Commerce, Racine, Wis., northeast corner of College and 5th Street, postmarked September 9, 1910
Reverse of College of Commerce postcard, by Bishop Publishing, Racine. Postmarked September 9, 1910, sent from Adelaide in Racine to Carolyn Kline in Burlington, Wis.

College of Commerce

I originally read about the College of Commerce in a Racine High School yearbook advertising section. It appeared that many high schoolers went to various small business schools after college to learning accounting and other basic business skills. Dennis Tully did an excellent writeup of the College of Commerce on May 28, 2019, so I will reproduce it here with gratitude:

The building shown in this colorized postcard was on the northeast corner of 5th Street and College Avenue. It was built by Kenosha businessman Otis Trenary in 1907 as the College of Commerce. Its agenda was to train woman for the business world as stenographers and typists.

A few years later, the building was leased to the Racine School District as one of many extensions of the then over-crowded Racine High School.

In the 1930’s the building was used by the Knights of Columbus as their clubhouse and later in the 1950’s it was rented out for parties and receptions. For many years, the building was owned by George and Lawrence Brill who had their real estate office there.

Prior to being razed it was known as the “Catholic Center”.

This photo from the late 1930s shows the area looking east along 5th Street. That building with the steep stairway adjacent to the “College” was used for many years as a rooming house. (Dennis Tully)