Property Record
N5509 State Trunk Highway 120
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | DR. ANSEL HEMENWAY HOUSE |
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| Other Name: | HEMENWAY ANTIQUES |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 9934 |
| Location (Address): | N5509 State Trunk Highway 120 |
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| County: | Walworth |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Spring Prairie |
| Unincorporated Community: | Spring Prairie |
| Town: | 3 |
| Range: | 18 |
| Direction: | E |
| Section: | 30 |
| Quarter Section: | NE |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SE |
| Year Built: | 1845 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 20062023 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Two Story Cube |
| 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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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | FIELDSTONE PORCHES ARE EARLY TWENTIETH CENTURY REPLACEMENTS FOR THE ORIGINALS. BUILDING USED FOR A TIME AS A STAGE STOP [Date Cnst:CA]. ALL ORIGINAL WINDOWS HAVE NOW BEEN REPLACED WITH LATER, BUT NOT MODERN, ONE-OVER-ONE-LIGHT WINDOWS. This building was built as a hotel in 1845 for Dr. Ansel Hemenway, and it was operated as a stage coach stop for at least the next twenty years. This was the second building that Hemenway built at this location for this purpose, the first having been a two-story log building built in 1837 that the current building replaced. In addition, a building belonging to A. Hemingway is shown at this approximate location on an 1842 map of Walworth County and a 1857 map of the County shows a hotel at this site. Hemenway was one of the earliest settlers in the Town of Spring Prairie, and he was the Town's first doctor, its first postmaster, and its first hotelkeeper. Abigail is credited with naming the area Spring Prairie. Once source mentions the house as a "transfer station" on the Underground Railroad. Another source said that Dr. Hemenway, although claiming no religious belief, knew not the word intolerance and that he was known for his charitable friendliness- his home always open and his hand outstretched. 2023: This two-story former hotel was constructed in 1845 and has brick cladding. Most of the building is obscured by heavy vegetation, but previous survey photos show that the house has a square plan and features a simple cornice and a centrally located brick chimney. Entrances are centrally located on the south and east elevations within modified fieldstone porches. One-over-one windows are evenly spaced across the visible elevations. The property also features a prefabricated metal outbuilding (AHI No. 245944) located on the southwest corner of the property. The 1974 survey image shows a driveway extended across the southeast corner of the property and a gas pump was present at that time, when it operated as an antique store. According to the WHPD record, the subject building replaced a two-story log structure built in 1837. Dr. Ansel Hemenway was responsible for both structures. He was the first hotel keeper in the county, as well as the first doctor and postmaster, and operated the subject building as a stagecoach stop for at least 20 years. Also according to the WHPD record, an uncited source references this as a station in the Underground Railroad; however, this claim was not substantiated and no additional references were found in available research materials. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Bur Spur of Wisconsin's Underground Railroad. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |