Shullsburg is a city in Lafayette County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States. The population was 1,226 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to the Town of Shullsburg. Founded in 1827 it is one of the oldest settlements in Wisconsin. There are 34 buildings listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

on its historic Water Street Commercial District. It is located within the Midwestern

Driftless Area The Driftless Area, a topographical and cultural region in the American Midwest, comprises southwestern Wisconsin, southeastern Minnesota, northeastern Iowa, and the extreme northwestern corner of Illinois. Never covered by ice during the last ...

and is known for its history of

lead mining Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cut, l ...

and its cheese industry. Buildings on Water Street

History

Shullsburg was founded during the 1820s in parts by Jason Shull and

Henry Gratiot Colonel Henry Gratiot (April 25, 1789 – April 27, 1836) was a French-American pioneer, farmer, and mill owner. During the Winnebago and Black Hawk Wars, he acted as both an intermediary and early U.S. Indian agent to the Winnebagos throug ...

and due to their ventures into lead mining. Following the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans led by Black Hawk, a Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of Sauks, Meskwakis (Fox), and Kickapoos, known as the "British Band", crosse ...

conflict Gratiot's Grove (Wisconsin) and other small settlements consolidated into Shullsburg. In 1841 Missionary Priest

Samuel Mazzuchelli Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli, O.P. (November 4, 1806 – February 23, 1864) was a pioneer Italian Dominican friar and Catholic missionary priest who helped bring the church to the Iowa-Illinois-Wisconsin tri-state area. He founded several parishes ...

platted the Northeast section of town and named the streets after the virtues of life. After arrival of railroad in the 1880s the Water Street Commercial District saw the construction of its many brick and limestone buildings. The Shullsburg High School was built in 1900 designed by the town physician Dr. C.C. Gratiot. The 8-Acre Badger Park, designed by Phelps Wyman, was completed in 1942 by the

Works Progress Administration The Works Progress Administration (WPA; renamed in 1939 as the Work Projects Administration) was an American New Deal agency that employed millions of jobseekers (mostly men who were not formally educated) to carry out public works projects, i ...

and lights were installed at its baseball park in 1948. In February 1943, a collapse at the Mulcahy mine killed two miners, then a second collapse killed six of the rescuers who were trying to dig the first two miners out. In 1974 the Emily Franz Scholarship Fund was formed to help high school students pay for college and is today worth 1.8 million dollars. The last working lead mine in the Upper Midwest Lead District closed at Shullsburg in 1979 and the town fell on hard times. During the 1990s and 2000s the restoration of buildings became important to building preservationists. In 2001 a new library and community center was built with private funds only. In 2016 it was named a Wisconsin Main Street Community.

St. Matthew's Catholic Church and Parish

Founded in 1835 by

, St. Matthew's is one of the oldest Catholic parishes in Wisconsin. In 1852 construction of the current church began and was completed and dedicated on

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

1861. The

Greek Revival architecture The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

of the church stands on the towns highest point. It is built of limestone quarried from the local Rennick Quarry. During the 1890s an "impoverished artist" was hired to paint the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Way of Sorrows or the Via Crucis, refers to a series of images depicting Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and accompanying prayers. The station ...

and are known today for the beautiful depictions. In 1907 the steeple was felled in a storm and was replaced the following year along with the placement of the stained glass windows. Today the sextagonal steeple stands at 135 feet tall with a 12 foot cross. In 1918 an adjoining parochial school was built and staffed by

Sisters of Mercy The Sisters of Mercy is a religious institute of Catholic women founded in 1831 in Dublin, Ireland, by Catherine McAuley. As of 2019, the institute had about 6200 sisters worldwide, organized into a number of independent congregations. They a ...

and it served students until 1969. In 2010 the parish celebrated its 175th anniversary with a mass led by Bishop

Robert C. Morlino Robert Charles Morlino S.J. (December 31, 1946 – November 24, 2018) was an American prelate of the Roman Catholic Church who served as bishop of Diocese of Madison in Wisconsin from 2003 until his death. He was the bishop of Diocese of Helena ...

Shullsburg School

The Shullsburg K-12 School is a Romanesque structure built in 1900. It is highlighted by arched windows and three arched door openings that form arcades across the buildings facade. The building was designed by school board member C.C. Gratiot. Gratiot designed many homes and commercial buildings in Shullsburg. In 1949 a gymnasium was built of matching limestone with crews provided by the Motherland

. Another gym addition occurred in 1996. Today (2019) the K-12 school serves the community of Shullsburg and 360 students.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the city has a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2010, there were 1,226 people, 534 households, and 324 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 1,106 people per square mile. There were 549 housing units at an average density of 499 per square mile. The racial makeup of the city was 99.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 0.2%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, and 0.2% from two or more races. There were 534 households, of which 60.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 47.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.3% were non-families. 35.4% of all households were made up of individuals. The average household size was 2.3 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.4% under the age of 18, 7.9% from 18 to 24, 21.5% from 25 to 44, 29.8% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.

Notable people

*Shullsburg was the boyhood home of

Lou Blonger Lou Blonger (May 13, 1849 – April 20, 1924), born Louis Herbert Belonger, was a Wild West saloonkeeper, gambling-house owner, and mine speculator, but is best known as the kingpin of an extensive ring of confidence tricksters that operated f ...

, the "Bunco King" of

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of t ...

. Blonger lived in Shullsburg from 1853, when he was four, until 1864, when he enlisted in the

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union (American Civil War), Union of the collective U.S. st ...

as a fifer.Lou Blonger's military pension file
filed 1887-11-05, retrieved 2009-07-10. *Shullsburg was the birthplace of

George Safford Parker George Safford Parker (November 1, 1863 – July 19, 1937) was an American inventor and industrialist. Parker was a telegraphy instructor in Janesville, Wisconsin, and had a sideline repairing and selling fountain pens. Dismayed by the unrelia ...

, founder of

Parker Pen Company The Parker Pen Company is a French manufacturer of luxury writing pens, founded in 1888 by George Safford Parker in Janesville, Wisconsin, United States. In 2011 the Parker factory at Newhaven, East Sussex, England, was closed, and its producti ...

. *

U.S. Representative The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they c ...

Henry S. Magoon Henry Sterling Magoon (January 31, 1832March 3, 1889) was an American lawyer and Republican politician. He served one term in the United States House of Representatives, representing Wisconsin's 3rd congressional district. Biography Born in M ...

practiced law in Shullsburg. *U.S. Senator from

Missouri Missouri is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee ...

William Warner was born in Shullsburg. *Minnesota State Represent Patrick Roger Vail was born in Shullsburg *Wisconsin State Representative Joseph E. Tregoning was born in Shullsburg. *Actor

Howard Kyle Howard Kyle (April 22, 1861 – December 1, 1950) was an American stage and screen actor and lecturer active for over 50 years. He was a founding member and one-time recording-secretary of Actors' Equity and a sixty-year member of The Players (N ...

(née Vandergrift) was born in Shullsburg. Father was the first commander of the Shullsburg Light Guard *Baseball player

Johnny Gerlach John Glenn Gerlach (May 11, 1917 – August 28, 1999) was a shortstop in Major League Baseball. He played for the Chicago White Sox The Chicago White Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The White Sox compete in ...

was born in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Senator

James Earnest James Harrison Earnest (January 11, 1818June 12, 1900) was an American Democratic politician and Wisconsin pioneer. He served four years in the Wisconsin State Senate and six years in the Assembly, representing Lafayette County. Background J ...

lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Representative James H. Knowlton lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Senator Philemon Simpson lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Representative Calvert Spensley lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Representative John K. Williams lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Representative James W. Freeman lived in Shullsburg. *Wisconsin State Representative

A. A. Townsend Absalom Austin Townsend (December 7, 1810April 28, 1888) was an Americans, American miner and prospector. He was a pioneer of the Wisconsin lead-mining region and the California California Gold Rush, gold rush. Early years Townsend, third son of ...

lived in Shullsburg and was also the founder of Rough and Ready, California during the California Gold Rush in 1849. *Wisconsin State Representative E. C. Townsend lived in Shullsburg. *

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

and Nauvoo Dissenter

William Law (Latter Day Saints) William Law (September 8, 1809 – January 19, 1892) was an important figure in the early history of the Latter Day Saint movement, holding a position in the church's First Presidency under Joseph Smith. Law was later excommunicated for apostasy ...

is buried in Shullsburg File:Marcasite (Shullsburg, Wisconsin, USA).jpg,

Marcasite The mineral marcasite, sometimes called “white iron pyrite”, is iron sulfide (FeS2) with orthorhombic crystal structure. It is physically and crystallographically distinct from pyrite, which is iron sulfide with cubic crystal structure. Both ...

from Shullsburg File:Calcite-41092.jpg,

Calcite Calcite is a Carbonate minerals, carbonate mineral and the most stable Polymorphism (materials science), polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on ...

from the Blackstone Mine, Shullsburg

References

External links

* *Sanborn fire insurance maps
1894190019081915
{{authority control Cities in Wisconsin Cities in Lafayette County, Wisconsin