Property Record
305 N JUDGEMENT ST
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Dr. George W. Lee House |
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| Other Name: | Tower House |
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| Reference Number: | 75019 |
| Location (Address): | 305 N JUDGEMENT ST |
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| County: | Lafayette |
| City: | Shullsburg |
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| Unincorporated Community: | |
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| Year Built: | 1854 |
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| Additions: | C. 1885 |
| Survey Date: | 1982 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Greek Revival |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Brick |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| Additional Information: | 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, State Historic Preservation Office. A brick two-story house with sloping roof and the gable end facing the street, that has an extension to the south and an addition to the north. The two-story addition is actually the remains of a four-story, square, castellated tower that had a round arched entrance, now obliterated. The two stories of the tower along with the stables and servants quarters were removed in the 1940s. A classical detailed two-sided porch has been recently restored. The structure has a side-lighted entrance door with a stone lintel while the windows have brick lintels. The house originally had a Greek Revival cornice and cornice returns. This structure did have architectual significance as an old architectural site in Shullsburg. However, the architectural integrity of the building has suffered through the years making its significance as an example of an architectural style questionable. The tower house is important for its association with Mrs. Kate Richmond who was somewhat of a free-lance land agent. The house gained importance later in the 1880s when Kate Richmond lived there. Mrs. Richmond was touted as a Shakespearean actress from Boston. The Pick and Gad newspaper advertised her appearances at the Opera House in 1884. Her importance to the development of the region is that she arranged to sell mining land to eastern capitalists during the 1880s. She sold Moses Strong's mining properties near Shullsburg and New Diggings. The sale of the Phoenix Mine lands to an eastern mining syndicate were finalized in 1887 at a $10,000 gross profit for Strong. About a year later she sold the remaining property to a Chicago Company for $40,000.(C) Kate Richmond had the tower built during the 1880s. Local legend has it that she could view all of her mining property from the tower.(A) |
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| Bibliographic References: | A. Mrs. John Mueller in a letter to the State Historical Society of WI dated March 29, 1980. B. "Seq. History of Shullsburg, 1827-1977" (Shullsburg, WI: Historical Society. 1977), p. 74. C. K. Duckett, "Frontiersman of Fortune: Moses M. Strong of Mineral Point," 1955 p. 192. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |