Property Record
20 COMMERCE ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | JACKA AND BENNETT BUILDING |
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| Other Name: | Chesterfield Inn; Mineral Spirits Saloon |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 56149 |
| Location (Address): | 20 COMMERCE ST |
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| County: | Iowa |
| City: | Mineral Point |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1857 |
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| Additions: | 1858 |
| Survey Date: | 19821993 |
| Historic Use: | inn |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Limestone |
| Architect: | |
| 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: | THIS TWO STORY, SIDE GABLED HOUSE FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A STONE EXTERIOR, A STONE TRIM AND A SHINGLED, GABLE ROOF. STONE LINTELS APPEAR ON THE WINDOWS AND DOORS. PROMINENT SILLS ARE ALSO PRESENT ON THE WINDOWS. SIX-OVER-SIX PANES DECORATE THE LOWER STORY WINDOWS, AND FIVE-OVER-TWO PANES ON THE UPPER STORY. THIS HOTEL/RESTAURANT, WHICH WAS BUILT BETWEEN 1857 AND 1858 (SEE BIB. REF. A), WAS RECENTLY REHABILITATED. IT IS PRESENTLY IN GOOD CONDITION. LOCATED BEHIND THE BUILDING IS A CORNISH MINER'S dugout. NO FURTHER DESCRIPTION WAS GIVEN FOR THIS PARTICULAR STRUCTURE IN THE INTENSIVE SURVEY. INDIVIDUALS HISTORICALLY ASSOCIATED WITH THIS BUILDING AND THE DATES OF THEIR ASSOCIATION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: JACK AND BENNETT, FROM 1856 TO 1866; AND JOHN CHESTERFIELD, an Englishman, FROM 1866 TO THE 20TH CENTURY. (SEE BIB. REF. B, C). THE BUILDING WAS HISTORICALLY KNOWN AS THE JACK AND BENNETT BUILDING, (SEE BIB. REF. B), THE JOHN CHESTFIELD BUILDING, (SEE BIB. REF. C), AND AS THE UNION HOTEL. THE ORIGINAL FUNCTION OF THE STRUCTURE WAS AS A HOTEL. (SEE BIB. REF. A). THE DATES IT WAS USED AS A HOTEL SPAN FROM 1871 TO 1929. (SEE BIB. REF. A, D). IT IS CURRENTLY KNOWN AS THE CHETSTERFIELD INN AND RESTAURANT. THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNATED LOCALLY, BECOMING PART OF THE MINERAL POINT LANDMARK DISTRICT IN 1972. 2012- "The date of construction and builder are unclear but tax records indicate that Cornishmen Jacka and Bennett owned the property from 1856 until it was purchased by John Chesterfield in 1866. Chesterfield operated the Union Hotel here. Although seriously deteriorated, an original miners' "badger hole" is in the bluff behind the building. Wisconsin is known as the Badger State because of the miners' practice of riding out the winter in these crude shelters. Other businesses at this site were the Mineral Point House; the Mineral Point Lumberyard; the Chesterfield Inn; the Ovens of Brittany; the Mineral Spirits Saloon; and Cafe 4." -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, 1847-1900; SANBORN MAP, CITY OF MINERAL POINT, WI (NEW YORK: SANBORN MAP CO.M 1884-1929). * (JOHN CHESTERFIELD PURCHASED PROPERTY 15 MAY 1866). B. MINERAL POINT, TAX RECORDS, 1847-1866. C. MINERAL POINT, TAX RECORDS, 1866-1900; SANBORN MAP, CITY OF MINERAL POINT, WI. (NEW YORK: SANBORN MAP CO., 1884-1929; NATIONAL DEMOCRAT, 29 MAY 1872). D. IOWA COUNTY MAP, 1871. Historic Mineral Point Architectural Walking Tour brochure, 2000. Mineral Point Chamber/Main Street & The Mineral Point Historical Society, Historic Mineral Point Architectural Walking Tours, not dated. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |