| Additional Information: | DESIGNED IN THE OTHER VERNACULAR AND SIDE GABLED STYLES, THIS TWO STORY RETAIL BUILDING WAS CONSTRUCTED IN 1841. (SEE BIB. REF. A). IT FEATURES AN L-SHAPED PLAN CONFIGURATION, A STONE FOUNDATION, A BRICK EXTERIOR, A WOOD TRIM AND A SHINGLED, GABLE AND HIP ROOF. THERE IS A SMALL, ONE-OVER-ONE WINDOW IN THE EARLY 1841 SECTION ON THE WEST SIDE. AN ADDITION WITH THREE EAST BAYS WAS BUILT BETWEEN THE 1840'S AND 1860. (SEE BIB. REF G). A REAR FRAME SECTION WAS ADDED BEFORE 1884. ALTERATIONS OCCURRED TO THE ORIGINAL GABLE ROOF ON THE EAST END. THIS BUILDING REPORTEDLY HAD A DATE STONE INSCRIBED "1841;" THE STONE WAS IN EXISTANCE AS LATE AS 1891. (SEE BIB. REF. E). THIS STRUCTURE IS IN GOOD CONDITION.
THIS BUILDING HAD THE FOLLOWING HISTORIC NAMES: READ-BENNETT BUILDING (SEE BIB. REF. A); BENNET AND READ GENERAL STORE (SEE BIB. REF. B); FREDERICK MOELLER BIER HALLE AND RESTAURANT [1871] (SEE BIB. REF. C); MINERAL POINT POST OFFICE (SEE BIB. REF. D); MINERAL POINT CITY LIBRARY (SEE BIB. REF. F); AND THE JEUCK SALOON AND BIER GARDEN [1871] (SEE BIB. REF. H).
THE READ-BENNETT BUILDING SERVED AS BOTH A COMMERCIAL VENUE AND A RESIDENCE FROM 1841 TO 1929. (SEE BIB. REF. A). THE POST OFFICE, WHICH EXISTED AT THIS SITE FROM 1854 TO 1864 (SEE BIB. REF. C), AND THE CITY LIBRARY, WHICH WAS LOCATED HERE FROM C. 1900 TO 1915 (SEE BIB. REF. F), WERE TWO GOVERNEMENT ENTITIES INVOLVED HISTORICALLY WITH THIS STRUCTURE. SOME OF THE VARIOUS BUSINESSES VENTURES THAT WERE PART OF THIS BUILDING'S HISTORY INCLUDED A SALOON IN 1884, A HARNES AND WAGON SHOP IN 1894, AND THE OFFICE AND RESIDENCE OF DR. BROWN IN 1917. ALSO, HENRY KIEFFER AND MILLIE HORN WERE INDIVIDUALS ASSOCIATED WITH THE BUILDING IN 1924.
THE BUILDING WAS DESIGNATED LOCALLY, BECOMING PART OF THE MINERAL POINT LANDMARK DISTRICT IN 1972. |
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| 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, 1840-1900; SANBORN MAP, CITY OF MINERAL POINT, WI., (NEW YORK: SANBORN MAP CO., 1884-1929); "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 1 MAY 1891, 12 FEBRUARY 1942.
**THE "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 1 MAY 1891, 12 FEBRUARY 1942, CLAIMS THIS BUILDING WAS BUILT IN 1841. A LINE INDICATING THE JOINING OF BRICK BETWEEN THE TWO WEST WINDOW BAYS AND THE THREE EAST WINDOW BAYS, AS WELL AS THE STYLE OF THE WEST HALF INDICATE IT WAS BUILT FIRST IN 1841, WHILE THE EAST PART WAS BUILT LATER. HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPHS IN THE HISTORY ROOM OF THE MINERAL POINT LIBRARY CLEARLY SHOW TWO BUILDINGS WITH TWO DISTINCTLY SEPARATE STOREFRONTS (PHOTOGRAPHIC ARCHIVES, MINERAL POINT ROOM, MINERAL POINT, WI).
B. MINERAL POINT, TAX RECORDS, 1840-1900; "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 12 FEBRUARY 1942.
C. MINERAL POINT, TAX RECORDS, 1840-1900; "MINERAL POINT TRIBUNE," 3 AUGUST 1864, 27 NOVEMBER 1965; "NATIONAL DEMOCRAT," 1 SEPTEMBER 1866; TAYLOR AND WILLITS, MINERAL POINT, IOWA COUNTY [MAP] (CHICAGO: TAYLOR AND WILLITS, 1871).
D. POST OFFICE WAS HERE FROM 1854 ("MINERAL POINT TRIBUNE," 3 MARCH 1854), UNTIL 1864 WHEN IT WAS MOVED TO THE OLD COURTHOUSE, ("MINERAL POINT TRIBUNE," 29 JUNE 1864).
E. "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 1 MAY 1891; HISTORIC PHOTOGRAPH, PHOTOGRAPH FILES, MINERAL POINT ROOM, MINERAL POINT LIBRARY, MINERAL POINT, WI.
F. SANBORN MAP, CITY OF MINERAL POINT, WI., (NEW YORK: SANBORN MAP CO., 1884-1929) [LIBRARY IN EAST ROOM]; "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 12 FEBRUARY 1942.
G. MINERAL POINT, TAX RECORDS, 1840-1900.
H. IBID, "NATIONAL DEMOCRAT," 1 SEPTEMBER 1866; "IOWA COUNTY DEMOCRAT," 12 FEBRUARY 1942. |
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