114 Shake Rag St | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

National or State Registers Record

114 Shake Rag St

National or State Register of Historic Places
114 Shake Rag St | National or State Registers Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:Pendarvis
Reference Number:71000038
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):114 Shake Rag St
County:Iowa
City/Village:Mineral Point
Township:
SUMMARY
PENDARVIS
114 Shake Rag Street, Mineral Point, Iowa County
Architect: Unknown
Date of Construction: ca.1842-ca.1852

Mineral Point was founded by unemployed tin-miners who immigrated from Cornwall, England beginning in 1830. Skilled Cornish stonemasons soon began building cottages reminiscent of their homeland. Three restored Cornish houses are nestled on a hill along Shake Rag Street, facing the slope where miners once dug pits to obtain lead ore.

Built in 1845, "Pendarvis," a simple stone cottage, reflects the typical cottages of their Cornwall homeland. The front is faced with carefully fitted local limestone, so tightly fitted that even a knife blade cannot be forced in between them. The walls are 18" to 20" thick and the interiors are covered in plaster. The ca. 1842 "Trelawny" is a two-story, gable-roofed cottage with a "saltbox" profile and a rear lean-to built into the rock hillside. The roof continuously slopes from the two-story portion to the one-story rear wing and resembles the shape of an old salt storage box. The cottage is constructed of the same local limestone. The Polperro is a three and a half story building with a first story stone base surmounted by a two and a half story log structure. It has a stone lean-to addition set into the rocky hillside at the rear. Like the other two houses, this was also built in the mid-1840s, but, unlike the other two, the stone is laid without the careful fitting of the face stones on the front side. The less formal treatment easily ties in with the log construction of the upper floor walls.

A century later, Robert Neal, a Mineral Point native of Cornish ancestry, and Edgar Hellum, a visitor seeking to salvage building material, met and decided to save these exceptional immigrant buildings from ruin. Beginning with the restoration of Pendarvis, these pioneering Wisconsin preservationists soon acquired and restored two others in the first phase of their project.

In 1970, the Wisconsin Historical Society acquired the property and began operating the restored historic site interpreting the history of Cornish settlement and Wisconsin's lead-mining days.

Pendarvis is a pioneering example of a historic outdoor museum environment in the U.S.—albeit at a small scale—that cannot be separated from the efforts of its creators, Robert “Bob” Neal and Edgar Hellum. The concept of the outdoor museum was new in the 1930s, and the two men’s efforts to combine historic preservation with the creation of a tourism site celebrating Cornish heritage was unique. Bob and Edgar pursued a variety of interventions at Pendarvis—including restoration, rehabilitation, and reconstruction—all of which were tackled through experimentation in the absence of professional standards for such work, which were not established until after passage of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966. Their work was undertaken with an overriding desire for historical accuracy, based on hands-on observation, research, and consultation with professionals.

It is no exaggeration to state that the historic customs and recipes of the Cornish people in southwestern Wisconsin, and most of their extant stone houses on Shake Rag Street in Mineral Point, would likely be lost if not for Bob Neal and Edgar Hellum. These two men were able to reclaim the nearly forgotten songs, traditional foods, dwellings, mining tools, furniture and historic photographs of this enterprising immigrant group, and in the process, preserve their legacy as expert miners of lead, zinc and stone. Bob and Edgar also engaged in a remarkable array of educational and advocacy efforts during the 35-year period that they served as proprietors of Pendarvis (1935 to 1970), all aimed to recognize and celebrate the contributions of the Cornish people to the history and settlement of Territorial Wisconsin.

Pendarvisis open seasonally to the public, offering guided tours by costumed interpreters. Visitors are welcome to learn more at Pendarvis's web site.

PROPERTY FEATURES
Period of Significance:1825-1849
Period of Significance:1935-1970
Area of Significance:Architecture
Area of Significance:Social History
Area of Significance:Conservation
Applicable Criteria:Event
Applicable Criteria:Architecture/Engineering
Applicable Criteria:Person
Historic Use:Domestic: Single Dwelling
Historic Use:Commerce/Trade: Restaurant
Historic Use:Recreation And Culture: Museum
Architectural Style:No Style Listed
Architectural Style:Mid 19Th Century
Resource Type:Building
DESIGNATIONS
Historic Status:Listed in the National Register
Historic Status:Listed in the State Register
Historic Status:Additional Documentation
National Register Listing Date:01/25/1971
State Register Listing Date:01/01/1989
NUMBER OF RESOURCES WITHIN PROPERTY
Number of Contributing Buildings:11
Number of Contributing Sites:1
Number of Contributing Structures:0
Number of Contributing Objects:0
Number of Non-Contributing Sites:1
Number of Non-Contributing Structures:0
Number of Non-Contributing Objects:0
RECORD LOCATION
National Register and State Register of Historic Places, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

How to Cite

For the purposes of a bibliography entry or footnote, follow this model:

National Register of Historic Places Citation
National Register of Historic Places, "Historic Name", "Town", "County", "State", "Reference Number".

Have Questions?

If you didn't find the National Register listing you were looking for or have other questions about the National Register, please email us and we can help: