Enlarge

Solomon and Josette Juneau House in the Town of Theresa, Dodge County, Wisconsin

March 4, 2020

Town of Theresa, Wisconsin - The Wisconsin Historical Society placed the Solomon and Josette Juneau House (Town of Theresa, Dodge County) in the State Register of Historic Places on Feb. 14, 2020.

The Juneau House is significant for numerous historical associations.  Constructed in 1847, the house is among the best preserved examples of a modest Greek Revival style wood frame house dating from the 1840s in Dodge County.  The gabled roof, cornice, and frieze-band windows immediately identify the house as Greek Revival style.   Additionally, the house is significant for its associations with early exploration and settlement in Wisconsin as the home of Solomon and Josette Vieau Juneau.

Josette Juneau’s mastery of three languages including Menominee, Potawatomi, and French, and familial connections to a well-established fur trading family and both the Menominee and Potawatomi tribes, provided the critical link for Euro-American explorers and fur traders – like her husband Solomon – to travel the Great Lakes region, establish relationships with tribal communities, and conduct the exploration of the area that eventually led to greater settlement and statehood.  Her influence is notable and demonstrative of explorers’ relationships with tribal and Metis women; relationships that were one of the foundations of the wider exploration and development of the state.  Solomon Juneau: fur trader, elected official and businessman is recognized as one of the founders of Milwaukee but he is also the founder of Theresa, Wisconsin.  Solomon is significant for his expansive exploration, and his commodities and fur trading in the areas now known as Milwaukee and Green Bay, Wisconsin.  His influence in establishing thriving trade networks and his pioneering exploration of the region was a direct stimulus for growth and establishment of Wisconsin as a state in 1848.

The Fuldner Heritage Fund paid for the preparation of this nomination.  This endowed fund, created through a generous donation by the Jeffris Family Foundation and administered by the Wisconsin Historical Society, supports the nomination of historically and architecturally significant rural and small town properties.  The State Register is Wisconsin's official list of state properties determined to be significant to Wisconsin's heritage. The State Historic Preservation Office at the Wisconsin Historical Society administers both the State Register and National Register in Wisconsin.