Property Record
414 E SPRING ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | JOSEPH GEORGE HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | Ley White Oak Farms |
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| Reference Number: | 50352 |
| Location (Address): | 414 E SPRING ST |
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| County: | Iowa |
| City: | Dodgeville |
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| Year Built: | 1860 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1984 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Two Story Cube |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
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| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | THIS TWO-STORY HOUSE FEATURES A SQUARE-SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A LIMESTONE EXTERIOR AND A TRUNCATED HIP ROOF. THE ENCLOSED FRONT VERANDA IS A MODERN ADDITION. A CORNICE RUNS ALONG THE UNDERSIDE OF THE ROOF OVERHANG. THIS C. 1860 RESIDENCE (SEE BIB. REF. B), HISTORICALLY KNOWN AS THE JOSEPH GEORGE HOUSE (SEE BIB. REF. A), IS CONSIDERED TO BE IN EXCELLENT CONDITION. ALSO LOCATED ON THE SITE IS A BARN (50/33); THERE IS NO INTENSIVE SURVEY DESCRIBING THIS STRUCTURE, HOWEVER. JOSEPH GEORGE WAS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS HOUSE FROM C. 1860 TO AN UNKNOWN DATE. (SEE BIB. REF. B) EDWARD BERRYMAN WAS NEXT TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE HOUSE FROM C. 1885 TO AN UNKNOWN DATE. (SEE BIB. REF. C). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND: IN 1850, JOSEPH GEORGE, IN PARTNERSHIP WITH JOHN ROGERS, JAMES COCKING, AND JAMES PERKINS, PURCHASED THE "RICH MINERAL LEAD" ORIGINALLY DISCOVERED EAST OF DODGEVILLE IN 1843. EIGHT YEARS LATER, A SMELTER WAS BUILT AND IN OPERATION UNTIL 1860, WHEN A NEW FACILITY WAS CONSTRUCTED BY THE COMPANY WHICH AT THAT TIME WAS COMPOSED OF GEORGE, JAMES PERKINS, JOSEPH BENNETT, AND JAMES ROBERTS. BY 1868, AFTER THE RETIREMENTS OF ROBERTS AND PERKINS, THE FIRM WAS KNOWN AS BENNETT & GEORGE. A YEAR LATER, THESE INDIVIDUALS MERGED WITH CHOLVIN & HOSKINS (C. CHOLVIN AND SAMUEL HOSKINS), ANOTHER DODGEVILLE AREA SMELTING FIRM. IN THE NEXT DECADE BOTH CHOLVIN AND GEORGE RETIRED (IN 1874 AND 1879, RESPECTIVELY), LEAVING THE FIRM AS BENNETT & HOSKINS. ALSO DURING THIS TIME (1876) A SLAG FURNACE (C.403 E. SPRING STREET, 48/34) WAS CONSTRUCTED NEAR THE COMPANY'S SMELTER (SEE ABOVE) WHICH STOOD ACROSS THE STREET FROM THIS RESIDENCE BUILT BY GEORGE IN C. 1860. (SEE BIB. REF. B). A LATER OWNER OF THE GEORGE HOME WAS EDWARD BERRYMAN, BORN IN LAFAYETTE COUNTY IN 1856. DURING HIS YOUTH AND EARLY ADULT YEARS, BERRYMAN WORKED ON HIS PARENTS' FARM IN JO DAVIESS COUNTY, ILLINOIS. HE SUBSEQUENTLY RENTED HIS OWN FARM NEARBY WHERE HE REMAINED FOR ONE YEAR BEFORE FINDING MORE PRODUCTIVE ACREAGE. HE WORKED ON THE SECOND FARM FOR FIVE YEARS BEFORE COMING TO DODGEVILLE (IN C. 1885) AND RENTING THE FORMER GOERGE HOME AND SURROUNDING LAND. IN C. 1895, BERRYMAN PURCHASED ONE HALF OF THE 200 ACRE FARMSTEAD, WHICH BY 1900 WAS FULLY OWNED BY THE PROSPERUS AGRICULTURIST. ORIGINALLY, THE FARM WAS OPERATED ENTIRELY AS A DAIRY FARM, BUT BERRYMAN LATER CHANGED TO THE "CULTIVATION OF GENERAL FARM PRODUCTS." (SEE BIB. REF. C). A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Historic Preservation-Public History. |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. DODGEVILLE REPUBLIC, 2 JULY 1927. B. THE ESTIMATED CONSTRUCTION DATE OF 1860 IS BASED ON JOSEPH GEORGE'S CAREER IN DODGEVILLE. ACCORDING TO THE COUNTY HISTORY, GEORGE WAS FIRST INVOLVED IN MINING AND SMELTING IN 1850; HE RETIRED IN 1879. (HISTORY OF IOWA COUNTY, WISCONSIN (CHICAGO: WESTERN HISTORICAL CO., 1881), P. 777). C. GEORGE AND ROBERT M. CRAWFORD, EDS., MEMOIRS OF IOWA COUNTY, WISCONSIN, 2 VOLS. (CHICAGO: NORTHWESTERN HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION, 1913), 2:4-5. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |