The Department Company, the Hyland Block and Dr. F. B. Hyland

Dr. F. B. Hyland along with business partner K.G. Olsen erected the Hyland Block.  “Built in 1897, this large Neo-Classical (Classical Revival) building was designed by Milwaukee Architect Jay Knapp and constructed by local contractors George Becker and Fred Hill."   “It housed Stoughton’s first and finest department store – the Department Company Store, the first telephone exchange, and bank, offices, and meeting halls for fraternal organizations.”    
    Rebecca Sample Bernstein for the City of Stoughton Landmarks Commission and Downtown Revitalization Association, Historic Main Street:  An Architectural & Historical Guide to Downtown Stoughton, 1991.    

Francis Bryant Hyland (Doctor Hyland)   Born in 1845, Dr. Hyland after serving an apprenticeship at the cigarmarker’s trade in Fulton, Rock County he engaged in the manufacturing of cigars at Osage, Iowa where he also conducted a magnetic-healing establishment.  He then engaged in the same line of business in Oshkosh, Wisconsin before moving with family to Stoughton in 1891.  He was considered a physician de facto, very successful in his practice and it said he had patients from every state in the Union. 

Knudt Guldhaug (K. G.) Olsen, president of the Department Company from 1898 to 1918 when it was discontinued.  He held position of secretary-treasurer initially in 1897.   Born in Valdres, Norway in 1850 and came to America with his parents in 1866.  

A blacksmith shop was removed for construction of the Hyland Block.
Erected in the Spring of 1848 by Mr. Colton and Mr. Westcott and purchased two years later by Mr. Amos Flyte.
1892 Sanborn Perris Insurance Map

To see the former Hyland home on the NW corner of Page and Main Streets, click here.  
This house was originally built by the James Hutson family, owners of the Hutson House and was torn down before 1961.