Property Record
51 JAIL ALLEY
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Samuel Meadows House |
|---|---|
| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 60406 |
| Location (Address): | 51 JAIL ALLEY |
|---|---|
| County: | Iowa |
| City: | Mineral Point |
| Township/Village: | |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | |
| Range: | |
| Direction: | |
| Section: | |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1849 |
|---|---|
| Additions: | 1867 |
| Survey Date: | 19821993 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Side Gabled |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Stone - Unspecified |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Mineral Point Historic District |
|---|---|
| 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 WAS BUILT FROM 1849 TO 1850. (SEE BIB. REF. A). IT FEATURES A RECTANGULAR SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A STONE EXTERIOR, A WOOD TRIM AND A SHINGLED, GABLE ROOF. TWO BRICK CHIMNEYS APPEAR ON THE MAIN ROOF. STONE LINTELS AND SILLS ADORN THE SIX-OVER-SIX WINDOWS THROUGHOUT THE STRUCTURE. WROUGHT IRON RAILINGS LEAD TO A REAR ENTRANCE. A WOOD SHINGLE AND CLAPBOARD ADDITION WAS MADE AT THE SIDE OF THE MAIN BUILDING. THE RESIDENCE IS IN GOOD CONDITION. INDIVIDUALS ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DWELLING AND THE DATES OF THEIR ASSOCIATION INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING: SAMUEL AND JAMES MEADOWS, FROM C. 1850 TO THE 1860s; AND NICK AND PETER KESSLER, FROM C. 1871 TO 1910. (SEE BIB. REF. A). Bob Neal, co-founder of Pendarvis with Edgar Hellum, lived here in the 1970s and 1980s. Neal is credited with starting the preservation movement in Mineral Point in the 1930s. [D] 2012- "Built by Abner Nichols in 1849. "Uncle" Ab Nichols was one of the first Cornishmen in Mineral Point arriving shortly after lead was first found, possibly as early as 1828. He patented (i.e., claimed from the federal government) several lots along Jail Alley in addition to several in the Commerce Street lots. Shortly after the house was built, Nichols sold it to James Meadows, from Pennsylvania. In 1850 Meadows was a butcher whose household included two young carpenters from Pennsylvania; in 1860 Meadows is listed as a cooper and his stepdaughter, Elizabeth Ubilden, as a dressmaker. By 1870, the house belonged to Nicholas Kessler, a tailor from Germany. The Kessler family owned the home until the 1950s when it wqas purchased by Robert Neal, one of the founders of Pendarvis, now a state historic site on Shake Rag Street. After Neal, the house was owned by George DeFore, a clockmaker. It has since been used as a private residence." -from "A Field Guide to Mineral Point" by Nancy Pfotenhauer of the Mineral Point Historical Society, 1st Edition, 2012, Little Creek Press. |
|---|---|
| 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, 1840-1910; SANBORN MAP, CITY OF MINERAL POINT, WI., (NEW YORK: SANBORN MAP CO., 1884-1929); TAYLOR AND WILLITS, CITY OF MINERAL POINT [MAP], (CHICAGO: TAYLOR AND WILLITS PUBLISHING CO., 1871). B. Take a Walk on Main Street: Historic Walking Tours in Wisconsin's Main Street Communities, Wisconsin Main Street Program, 1998. Historic Mineral Point Architectural Walking Tour brochure, 2000. C. From Mining to Farm Fields to Ethnic Communities: Buildings and Landscapes of Southwestern Wisconsin. Ed. Anna Vemer Andrzejewski , Arnold R. Alanen and Sarah Fayen Scarlett for “Nature + City: Vernacular Buildings and Landscapes of the Upper Midwest,” 2012 Meeting of the Vernacular Architecture Forum (VAF) in Madison, Wisconsin. D. 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 |