National Register of Historic Places listings in Grant County, Wisconsin facts for kids

Map showing Grant County in Wisconsin

Welcome to Grant County, Wisconsin! This article is a special list of amazing places and buildings in Grant County that are super important to history. They are all part of something called the National Register of Historic Places. Think of it like a special hall of fame for old buildings and sites across the United States!

There are 36 different places in Grant County that have made it onto this important list. Each one has a unique story to tell about the past. Let's explore some of them!

Historic Buildings and Sites in Grant County

Platteville's Historic School Buildings

• Agriculture and Manual Arts Building (now Ullrich Hall): This cool building was finished in 1916. It was designed in a fancy style called Neoclassical. Back then, it had special rooms for things like blacksmithing, farm carpentry, and even a dairy lab! It was a big step forward for teaching practical skills in Wisconsin's schools. Today, it's the oldest school building still standing at UW-Platteville.
• Rountree Hall: Built in 1853, this building has a classic Greek Revival style. It was one of Wisconsin's very first schools, called the Platteville Academy. Later, in 1866, it became the state's first "normal school," which was a place to train teachers. It's also now part of UW-Platteville.

Amazing Homes with Stories

• L. J. Arthur House: This beautiful two-story red brick house was built in 1880 in Lancaster. It was first owned by L. J. Arthur, who was a lawyer. Later, a local merchant named Charles Basford bought it.
• James Ballantine House: You can find this brick Italianate-style house in Bloomington. It was built in 1877 and has two cool two-story bay windows. James Ballantine was a person who lent money and also raised plants and animals. His house looks almost exactly the same as it did back then because it was empty for many years!
• Beebe House: This two-story Victorian Gothic home in Platteville was built in 1870 using local bricks. Captain William Beebe, who lived here, was a lawyer, a mayor, and even an inventor! In 1877, he had an electric telephone connecting Platteville and Lancaster. That was only a year after Alexander Graham Bell's first long-distance phone call!
• Jonathan H. Evans House: This home from 1870 in Platteville mixes Italianate and Queen Anne styles. Jonathan Evans was a teacher, store owner, and a leader in his town. He also helped shape Wisconsin's early teacher training schools.
• Patrick and Margaret Kinney House: This unique house in Lancaster was built between 1951 and 1953. It was designed by the famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright for Patrick Kinney, a successful lawyer, and his family.
• Mitchell-Rountree House: This old cottage in Platteville was built for Reverend Samuel Mitchell. It's made of carefully fitted dolomite stone and looks like homes from his home state of Virginia. John Rountree, who founded Platteville, married Mitchell's daughter and likely built the house. The Rountree family lived there for many years.
• J. H. Rountree Mansion: This two-story brick mansion in Platteville was built in 1854 in the Greek Revival style. It has a large two-story porch that gives it a southern feel. John H. Rountree was a very important person in the area. He came to Wisconsin in 1827 looking for lead, opened the first store, and helped create the town of Platteville. This mansion is now owned by UW-Platteville.
• John Young House: Located in Muscoda, this 2.5-story Queen Anne-style house was built in 1900. It was built for John Young, who was an immigrant from Germany, a veteran of the Civil War, and a lumber dealer in Muscoda.

Important Public Buildings

• Boscobel Grand Army of the Republic Hall: This building in Boscobel was first a Baptist church built in 1879. In 1896, a group called the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), which was for Civil War veterans, bought it and turned it into a meeting hall. It's still used today as a meeting place and a museum!
• Boscobel High School (now Rock School): This three-story building in Boscobel was designed in the Romanesque Revival style and built in 1898. It's made of local limestone and has a tall four-story tower. Today, it's known as "Rock School."
• Central House Hotel: This three-story hotel in Boscobel was built from 1865 to 1873 using limestone. It's famous because in 1898, two businessmen staying in room 19 came up with the idea for The Gideons International, a group that places Bibles in hotel rooms around the world.
• Denniston House: This brick hotel in Cassville was built in 1836. People hoped Cassville would become the capital of the Wisconsin Territory. Nelson Dewey, who was Wisconsin's first governor, lived here and passed away in 1889.
• Grant County Courthouse: This impressive three-story courthouse in Lancaster was built in 1902. It has a beautiful glass and copper dome and was designed in the Neoclassical style.
• Hazel Green Town Hall: This building in Hazel Green was built in 1891. It originally held the Town Clerk's office and a big auditorium. This auditorium was a busy place, hosting dances, church events, shows, movies, and even had a jail!
• Lancaster Municipal Building: This brick building in Lancaster was built in 1923. It was designed in the Prairie School style. When it was new, it had city offices, the fire department, and a large theater that could seat 800 people!
• Lancaster Post Office: Built in 1938, this post office in Lancaster has a simpler Art Moderne style. Inside, you can see a mural called "Farm Yard," which was painted in 1940 as part of a New Deal art project.
• Dwight T. Parker Public Library: This library building in Fennimore was a gift from local banker Dwight T. Parker and was built in 1923. It combines different architectural styles, including Prairie Style, Neoclassical, and Mediterranean Revival.
• First Congregational Church: This red-brick church in Platteville was built in 1869 in the Romanesque Revival style. It was later made bigger in 1895 by the local Congregational church members.

Historic Districts and Areas

• Bayley Avenue Historic District: This area in Platteville has many historic homes. J.H. Rountree, who founded Platteville, built his Greek Revival home here in 1853. After he passed away in 1890, his family divided the land, and many homes were built quickly. These include Queen Anne, American Foursquare, Craftsman, and Georgian Revival styles.
• Courthouse Square Historic District: This is a well-preserved historic downtown area in Lancaster, centered around the courthouse. It includes buildings from the 1800s and early 1900s, like the Wright House Hotel, the Italianate Showalter Building, the Romanesque Revival Reed Opera House, and the Neoclassical First National Bank.
• Division Street Historic District: This is a smaller neighborhood in Platteville with historic homes. You can see different styles here, like Gabled Ell, Queen Anne, and American Foursquare houses, built around the turn of the 20th century.
• Main Street Commercial Historic District: This district covers the old business areas of Platteville. It was planned like an English village with narrow streets and a village green. It includes buildings from the 1800s and 1900s, such as the Federal-style Parnell Building, Italianate shops, a Queen Anne house, a Tudor Revival Carnegie Library, and an Art Deco Municipal Building.
• West Main Street Historic District: This is an old residential area in Platteville. It features homes in various styles, including Greek Revival, Second Empire, Italianate, Queen Anne, Arts and Crafts, and Dutch Colonial Revival, built from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s.

Ancient Sites and Mines

• Bass Site (47Gt25): This is an important archaeological site near Lancaster. It's where very early people, from the Early Archaic period, dug for a type of stone called chert. They used this stone to make tools and arrowheads.
• Bode-Wad-Mi Rockshelter: This is another important archaeological site, a rockshelter, located near Castle Rock.
• Eagle Valley Mound District: This district near Glen Haven contains ancient mounds.
• Hog Hollow Site: This is an archaeological site located near Potosi.
• Potosi Badger Huts Site: This site near Potosi is from at least 1833 and shows where people mined for lead. It has the remains of two structures, over 100 test pits, and possibly an old mine entrance. It might be the only site of its kind left from that time!
• St. John Mine: This is a natural cave near Potosi where Native Americans and French people dug for lead as early as 1700. Later, in the 1800s, Willis St. John and then Nelson Dewey and Henry Massey mined here until the lead ran out in 1870.
• Wyalusing State Park Mounds Archeological District: Located in Bagley, this park has many ancient mounds built by Middle and Late Woodland people. These mounds are shaped like cones, lines, and even animals (effigy mounds). They are found on bluffs high above the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers.

Other Notable Places

• Potosi Brewery: This limestone brewing plant in Potosi was started in 1852. Over the years, it grew to be the fifth-largest brewery in Wisconsin! Today, it's a museum where you can learn about its history.
• Stonefield: This farm and estate near Cassville was started by Nelson Dewey in the 1860s, after he was Wisconsin's first governor. It has original Gothic Revival-style farm buildings. Now, it's a museum with an agricultural museum and a recreated old farming village.