Simeon Mills House

Simeon Mills House
	Simeon Mills House
	U.S. National Register of Historic Places
	Simeon Mills House
Location	2709 Sommers Ave., Madison, Wisconsin
Coordinates	43°05′34″N89°20′39″W / 43.09278°N 89.34417°W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1863, 1937
Architectural style	Italianate
NRHP reference No.	87001386
Added to NRHP	August 13, 1987

Last updated April 21, 2024

The Simeon Mills House is an Italianate-style farmhouse-mansion built in 1863 on the east side of Madison, Wisconsin for Mills, an early settler, businessman and prominent civic leader. In 1987 this, his country house, was added to the National Register of Historic Places.^[2]

History

Simeon Mills was born in 1810 in Connecticut, and grew up in Ohio. In 1835 the young man came to the frontier that would become Wisconsin and was at Belmont in 1836 for the establishment of Wisconsin Territory. In 1837, he built a log cabin and opened a small grocery store in what would become Madison,^[3] years before Madison was incorporated as even a village.

That grocery store was the first of many business ventures for Mills. He was an early speculator in real estate, and successful. He was the first president of the Bank of Madison and of Madison Mutual Insurance Company. He served on the board of Madison Gas, Light & Coke Co. He was a partner in the Argus, Madison's first newspaper. He was president of the Madison and Portage Railroad and director of the Beloit and Madison Railroad.^[3]

Simeon Mills SimeonMills.png — Simeon Mills

Through these years he also served the public in various roles. He was the first mail carrier between Madison and Milwaukee, making that trip twice a week from 1837 to 1842. He was also the first justice of the peace. He served as village trustee, village treasurer, and on Madison's first Board of Education. He was one of Dane County's first county commissioners, and Dane County's first State Senator. In that role, he played a key role in founding the University of Wisconsin, and he served as one of the UW's first regents. During the Civil War, Governor Randall put Mills in charge of recruiting volunteers across Wisconsin for the Union Army.^[3]

Mills had four homes around Madison over the years. By 1863, the family was living in a city home at the corner of Main and Monona Ave. Mills also owned 180 acres two miles away on the northeast end of the isthmus. He decided to build a country estate in the then-rural area. The house stands two stories, clad in brown sandstone. The style is Italianate which was fashionable at the time. Hallmarks of the style are the low-pitched roof with wide eaves, the double brackets supporting the eaves, and the protruding mouldings sheltering the windows. First-story windows are rectangular and the second are round-topped. This particular example has eaves that are heavier than most.^[3]

Mills called the house Elmside, but local wags dubbed it "Mills Folly," because it was far from his interests downtown. Indeed, the mills family lived there only five years. Later occupants were J.W. Hudson, an industrialist and real estate promoter, and Sam Miller, an opera and theater promoter.^[3]

The house was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1987 and on the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.^[4]

Related Research Articles

The Merchants Avenue Historic District in a residential neighborhood southeast of the downtown in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, composed of 33 mostly large homes on large lots within six city blocks around Merchants Avenue. It was placed on the United States National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

Washington Avenue Historic District is the historic center of Cedarburg, Wisconsin, the location of the early industry and commerce that was key to the community's development. The historic district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) in 1986.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Simeon Mills</span> American politician (1810–1895)

Simeon Mills was a Democratic member of the Wisconsin State Senate from Dane County in the 1st Wisconsin Legislature. He introduced the bill which became the charter for the University of Wisconsin.

The Church Hill Historic District is a mid-to-upper-class residential area north of Portage's downtown. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1997 for its significance in architecture and social history.

The James B. Bowen House is an early Italianate-styled house clad in cut sandstone, built in 1855 on what was then a farm on the outskirts of Madison, Wisconsin. In 1982 it was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Mansion Hill Historic District encompasses a part of the Mansion Hill neighborhood northwest of the capitol square in Madison, Wisconsin. In the 19th century the district was home to much of Madison's upper class, and held the largest concentration of large, ornate residences in the city, but in the 20th century it shifted to student housing. In 1997 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The John George Ott House is an ornate Italianate-styled home built in 1873 in Madison, Wisconsin for Swiss immigrant Ott. In 1982 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Historic Sixth Street Business District is a set of largely intact two and three-story shops along the main road coming into Racine, Wisconsin from the west. Most of the buildings were constructed from the 1850s to the 1950s. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1988.

The Courthouse Hill Historic District is a 30-block area on the east side of Janesville, Wisconsin, containing many historic structures built from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s in various styles, including homes of many of Janesville's influential leaders from that period. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1986.

The Near East Side Historic District is a neighborhood in Beloit, Wisconsin composed of stylish homes of prominent citizens from the 1800s and the buildings of Beloit College. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983.

The Maple Park Historic District is a historic neighborhood that lies northwest of the downtown of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, United States. Part of the original city plat for Lake Geneva, it was first home to early settlers before the town became known as a retreat for wealthy Chicagoans. The district was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2005.

Riverside is a historic estate at 30 Lily Pond Road in Lyndon, Vermont. Built in 1866 for the owner of a local lumber mill, it is a well-preserved example of Italianate architecture, including significant elements on the main house and the surviving outbuildings. The estate, now home to a private elementary day school, was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1993.

The Lucas Kuehn House is a historic house in Wabasha, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1878 for Lucas Kuehn (1834–?), the city's leading merchant of the 19th century. The house was the city's first to be designed in the Italianate style. It was also part of a unique trend among Wabasha's merchant class for houses constructed of brick. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its local significance in the themes of architecture and commerce. It was nominated for its associations with Kuehn and for its exemplary Italianate architecture.

The Marshfield Central Avenue Historic District is part of the old downtown of Marshfield, Wisconsin. The original wooden downtown burned in a huge fire in 1887. Some of the brick buildings built immediately after the fire still stand - especially near the railroad. Other buildings were added later, and the district includes some off Central, like the old city hall and the depot.

The East Wilson Street Historic District includes remnants of businesses that grew around two railroad depots a half mile east of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, starting in the 1860s. A cluster of the hotel and saloon buildings from this district are still fairly intact, in contrast to Madison's other railroad station on West Washington. In 1986 the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the State Register of Historic Places in 1989.

The Nathaniel W. Dean House is a simple brick Italianate-style home built about 1856 in Madison, Wisconsin for Dean, an early leader and developer in the area. In 1980 the house was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

The Jenifer-Spaight Historic District is a historic neighborhood a mile east of the capitol in Madison, Wisconsin, including houses built as early as 1854. In 2004 the district was added to the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP).

The Orton Park Historic District is a residential historic district on the near east side of Madison, Wisconsin. The district is centered on Orton Park, the first public park in Madison, and includes 56 houses facing or near to the park. The first houses in the area were built in the 1850s during a local housing boom; however, after the Panic of 1857 ended the boom, development in the area halted. When Orton Park was developed out of a former cemetery in the 1880s, more houses were built near the park; construction in the district continued through the 1950s. Many houses in the district were designed in the Queen Anne, Prairie School, and Craftsman styles, and local architects Claude and Starck designed at least seven houses in the district. The district also includes examples of Greek Revival, Italianate, and Colonial Revival architecture.

The South Main Street Historic District is a surviving collection of eleven commercial buildings built from 1877 to 1915 in the old downtown of Oregon, Wisconsin, plus the WWI memorial. It was added to the State and the National Register of Historic Places in 2000.

The West Hill Residential Historic District is a historic neighborhood on a bluff above the Chippewa River west of downtown Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. It includes 163 contributing properties in a variety of styles, ranging from mansions of lumber executives built in the 1870s to ranch houses of the 1950s. In 2021 the district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.
↑ "Simeon Mills House". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2023-05-06.
1 2 3 4 5 William Wright (1987-03-10), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Mills, Simeon, House, National Park Service , retrieved 2023-05-06 With four photos.
↑ "2709 Sommers Ave". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2018-05-26.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[nris-1] "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. November 2, 2013.

[2] "Simeon Mills House". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2023-05-06.

[nrhp-3] 1 2 3 4 5 William Wright (1987-03-10), National Register of Historic Places Registration Form: Mills, Simeon, House, National Park Service , retrieved 2023-05-06 With four photos.

[4] "2709 Sommers Ave". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2018-05-26.

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]