In the early 1830s, skilled miners began arriving from Cornwall, England to a small southwestern town in Wisconsin called Mineral Point, which was an important lead and zinc mining center during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Half of the town’s population had Cornish ancestry and some of the original dwellings of these early Cornish immigrants have been restored at the Pendarvis Historic Site found on Shakerag Street. The street was supposedly named for the practice of the wives waving dishrags towards the hill were the Merry Christmas Mine was located to let their husbands know that their dinner was ready.
The Wisconsin Historical Society has tours, with costumed interpreters, through the different restored houses, cabins and even a pub. The Polperro House is in the foreground, with the Pendarvis and Trelawny houses seen just up the street to the right.
Pendarvis Historic Site
