The Mineral Point Library Archives is an excellent place to find information on a house or building within Mineral Point. Whether for your building restoration plan or just out of curiosity, the MPLA may be able to give you documents or photographs that help to tell a building's story.
Begin by finding the current street address for the property you are researching. It is also helpful to have a property description - see your deed or mortgage papers. Then, the Archives staff will help you check the following:
- The City of Mineral Point property tax assessment rolls from 1847 to 2002. This will give you a timeline of the property owners and possibly the date when the building was constructed.
- The Photograph Database of scanned photographs sorted by street address as well as a search of the photographs yet to be scanned.
- The files of House & Building Histories are sorted by street name and address.
- The Intensive Survey of the Historic District done in 1982 includes numerous details on buildings and is sorted by street and address.
- The Sanborn Fire Insurance maps may give you a footprint of a building and its building material from 1884 through 1929.
- Plat maps for the City of Mineral Point and the Township of Mineral Point will outline the property borders.
- For commercial buildings on High Street or Commerce Street, The Field Guide to Mineral Point, by Nancy Pfotenhauer is an essential reference.
- The Mortar and Memories notebooks contains histories of commercial buildings in downtown Mineral Point.
- The Mineral Point Library Archives also has a non-circulating reference library that includes a number of titles pertaining to architectural history, local history and historic preservation.
Many of these sources may lead you to the names of people who built and/or used the building. A building's history often looks at the people associated with it. To pursue the biographical backgrounds of the people you may discover, go to our Family History page.
Contact the Mineral Point Library Archives with your questions or to arrange an appointment. We would be glad to assist you in your search.