Property Record
18E SHAKE RAG ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | BERNARD KLAIS HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | POTTER'S HOUSE |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 29724 |
| Location (Address): | 18E SHAKE RAG ST |
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| County: | Iowa |
| City: | Mineral Point |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1850 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 19821993 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Mineral Point Historic District |
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| National Register Listing Date: | 7/30/1971 |
| State Register Listing Date: | 1/1/1989 |
| National Register Multiple Property Name: |
| Additional Information: | BUILT IN 1850 (SEE BIB. REF. A), THIS ONE-STORY SIDE GABLED HOUSE FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A BRICK EXTERIOR, A STONE TRIM, AND A SHINGLED GABLE ROOF. TWO BRICK END CHIMNEYS APPEAR AT THE OPEN GABLE ENDS. STONE LINTELS AND SILLS DISTINGUISH THE SIX-OVER-SIX WINDOWS, AS WELL AS THE CENTRAL ENTRANCE. THIS RESIDENCE IS IN GOOD CONDITION. BERNARD KLAIS WAS AN INDIVIDUAL ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DWELLING FROM C. 1865 TO 1900. (SEE BIB. REF. A). THE STRUCTURE, WHICH WAS USED AS A RESIDENCE FROM THE C. 1850S TO THE C. 1960S, IS CURRENTLY BEING USED AS RETAIL SPACE. THE BERNARD KLAIS HOUSE WAS DESIGNATED LOCALLY IN 1972 AND IS PART OF THE MINERAL POINT LANDMARK DISTRICT. 2012- "Built by Bernard Klais, a potter who came from Cologne, Germany, via Milwaukee, in 1845 with his wife and 3 children; five more children were born to them after they settled in Mineral Pint. Two of Bernard's sons, John and Michael, worked with him in the pottery. They dug locally for red and yellow clays and mixed glazes from lead mined in the area. The Klais pottery produced utilitarian earthenware such as flowerpots, food storage vessels and roofing tiles; their brick home was originally roofed with tiles made by them. Examples of Klais pottery can be seen at Pendarvis, the Wisconsin Historic Site at 114 Shake Rag Street. The pottery business was located in a large stone building close to the house; the stone portion of the shed now behind the house is probably the remnants of this building. The Klais house was used as a residence until the late 1960s when it became part of the arts and crafts complex orifinally known as Shake Rag Under the Hill and later as Shake Rag Valley and then Shake Rag Alley School of Arts and Crafts." -from "A Field Guide to Mineral Point" by Nancy Pfotenhauer of the Mineral Point Historical Society, 1st Edition, 2012, Little Creek Press. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “Architecture/History Survey: Reconstruct USH 151: Dodgeville To Belmont.” WHS project number 92-0510IA/LT. October 1993. Prepared by Great Lakes Archaeological Research Center (GLARC). A. MINERAL POINT TAX RECORDS, 1871-1910; "SHAKE RAG UNDER THE HILL" (SHAKE RAG ALLEY GUIDE) BROCHURE, N.D., N.P. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |