Studio History
Walcott Studio
Today Walcott Studio continues its 50-plus year tradition of building family histories, creating new traditions and preserving treasured memories. With over 50 years of family portraits on file, Walcott Studio is committed to helping you create those new traditions, which will become the next generation's heirlooms.
The first Walcott Studio was operated by Frank B. Walcott in Berlin, Wisconsin in the eighteen hundreds. In 1951, Merton & Frances Walcott purchased a studio from Pratt and Emko above Topp's Dry Good's Store in downtown Columbus, Wisconsin. Before that, it was Miller Studio. Mert's first studio was in the middle of the Anzio Beachhead during WWII. Following the war he attended the New York Institute of Photography and apprenticed for over five years with Ed Block Studio in Beaver Dam. He later earned the Master of Photography and Photographic Craftsman Degrees. He was a national retouching and print judge and helped found the Photographic Artists Degree Program for the Professional Photographers of America.
Merton & Frances Walcott
In 1956, Merton and Frances purchased the Whitney House from Mrs. Albrecht. The studio is attached to a home, built in 1868 by Eli Whitney. He was the founder of the Columbus Canning Company and builder of the Whitney Hotel in Downtown Columbus at the four corners. Twice during the history of the home it served as a funeral parlor. The original architecture was Italianate and later modified to Victorian.
The current studio was designed by "Mert" and built onto the side of the house. It was designed to be handicap accessible.
In 1976, John with his wife Suzanne purchased the studio. Because of the beauty seen in the lighting of many Heirloom Photos the studio restores, they added a North light greenhouse studio adjacent to the camera room in the mid-1980's.