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It was mealtime on Mineral Point’s Shakerag Street, and I couldn’t help but think of a history lesson many Wisconsin kids learned in grade school. According to legend, the Cornish women who lived in this old mining town in the 1830s waved rags in the air so their husbands knew it was time for dinner. No rags waved as I headed downtown, but delicious food, gorgeous art, beautiful buildings, and fascinating local characters awaited. As I would soon discover, there’s no place in the world quite like Mineral Point, Wisconsin.

When you arrive in Mineral Point, you might think you’ve descended into an old European village.
Ben Jones / OIYS
You wouldn’t be too far off. The city of 2,600 people was settled by miners from Cornwall, England. It’s filled with small but sturdy stone buildings built in the 1800s when this was a lead mining boomtown.
Today Mineral Point booms with creativity, drawing artists and art lovers from around the world - you can’t walk more than a few steps down High Street without passing an art gallery or bumping into an accomplished potter or renowned painter.
Ben Jones / OIYS
It begs the question: how did this little town become such an art Mecca?
To learn about the past, it helps to make a friend who’s been around for a while. I found one, sweeping the front of the Mineral Point Railroad Museum, which is housed in a long-retired 1856 train depot.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Joe Vanmatre, 91, is a museum volunteer, and the great-great grandson of an original miner who settled here in the 1820s. He can point out where Italian immigrants once lived and where a Civil War-era mining tower peeks out from the trees.
He also remembers when miners pulled the last bits of zinc from the ground around here, extracted from a rough cinder-like material he said was called “blackjack.” In those days, the little town boasted seven grocery stores and eight taverns. But how many art galleries did the Mineral Point have back then?
Ben Jones / OIYS
"Zero," Vanmatre said, with a laugh. "Nobody had ever heard of them."
So what happened? A short stroll away, I found someone who filled in some more details.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Sara Lomasz Flesch, executive director of Shake Rag Alley Center for the Arts, said that mining declined over the years and ultimately disappeared from the area. "1849, the Gold Rush, was the beginning of the end," she said. "There was a mass exodus from Mineral Point to California."
In the 1930s, Robert Neal and Edgar Hellum began to save many of the aging and vacant Cornish buildings from destruction and created the preserved enclave called Pendarvis.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"That's when the historic preservation started here," Lomasz Flesch said. Artists began visiting and eventually residing in the town, inspired by Mineral Point’s beauty.
Today, the nearby arts center is one of the places where creativity thrives in Mineral Point. It holds high-quality workshops and retreats on a campus filled with some incredible historic buildings. The public is also welcome to stroll the center’s grounds.
Ben Jones / OIYS
This cabin was built in 1830 and was originally a territorial Wisconsin schoolhouse.
Thanks to the patient and encouraging artist Carol Spelić, who teaches weaving, I was able to experience a bit of what it’s like to actually operate a loom. Weaving classes are popular and they often sell out.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"My students show up and they can weave a rug in a day," Spelić said.
After a short and fun weaving lesson, Spelić showed me some of her paintings in her gallery up on High Street, Green Lantern Studios.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Spelić moved here from New York and operates the gallery with her partner, Richard Moninski. Her story is similar to other artists I met who came here from big cities. Compared to her tiny New York accommodations, the 1875 Italianate building seemed palatial – she decided to buy the building as soon as she walked inside.
During my visit, I discovered that Mineral Point has lodging that’s as comfortable as it is historic.
Ben Jones / OIYS
I stayed in Heartsong Cottage, a home built a century ago on Shake Rag Street. It's practically new by Mineral Point’s standards!
Shake Rag Street is tranquil and quiet – the biggest commotion during my stay at HeartSong was a passing farm tractor. In the woods, just above the cottage, deer wandered through as I made some coffee. Just beyond, I could see some old ruins in the trees.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Etienne, the home’s owner, explained that it was an old miner’s home. The miners dug structures into the hills, like badger dens – that’s why Wisconsin is called the Badger State!
A trip to Mineral Point is not complete without a stop at the Red Rooster Cafe. When I stepped inside, it was Tammi Busse’s first day as the third-generation owner. It was a long time coming. She began helping out in the kitchen here 35 years ago, at age seven.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"It was always a dream," she said, resting on one of the counter stools. "I just always loved it here and I still do. I still get excited to come to work, every day. My customers here are like family – this is my life."
The restaurant was founded in 1972 and became known for its authentic Cornish pasties – savory pies once favored by miners – and not much has changed over the years. Tammi intends to keep it that way.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"I don’t know what I would change it to," she said. "My grandma and my aunt Patty and I are the only ones to make pasty in this restaurant. I take a lot of pride in that and it’s something that I want to continue."

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Tammi has made thousands of pasties over the years but don’t bother asking for the recipe. She simply adds a little bit of this a little bit of that and never measures a thing.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"We don’t do ounces here," she said, laughing. "We do handfuls."
It was a little early for pasty, but I tried one of the Rooster’s excellent skillets.
Ben Jones / OIYS
At the next stool, Bruce Tunis sat down and ordered pancakes – Tunis was an accomplished muralist in Los Angeles and back in California, you’ll find his work in landmark buildings like El Capitan Theater on Hollywood Boulevard.
Tunis moved to Mineral Point after hearing about the town’s reputation and today he paints on canvas and operates Buster & Bruno's Studio/Gallery. Like many of the business on High Street, it’s part working studio and part gallery.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Like all of the buildings, there’s a backstory. "It was so many things," Tunis said. "A shoe store. A blacksmith shop. An appliance store. A dental office. A flower shop."
In Mineral Point’s galleries, you don’t just see beautiful art in historic buildings, you often are greeted by the artist. They are happy to share details of their craft.
Ben Jones / OIYS
It was a warm day when I visited, so the doors were wide open at The Mulberry Pottery. As soft jazz music played, a warm breeze filtered past shelves filled with beautiful wood-fired stoneware and porcelain. Potter Frank Polizzi has been working here for 45 years. "The rural atmosphere here is so conducive to work - it’s very stimulating and we are surrounded by beauty and nature," he said.
Polizzi shows gallery visitors how they can tell if porcelain is real (hint: it involves light).
Ben Jones / OIYS
"Most people don’t realize they can verify that personally in three seconds," he said.
Up the road, Diana Johnston worked on a piece in her studio, a space that was once the bottling room in an 1850s brewery.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"People are welcome to just wander in while we are working and get a feeling for the building," she said.
She operates Brewery Pottery Studio with her husband Tom and daughter Claire.
Ben Jones / OIYS
The old limestone brewery is an incredible fortress-like building and inside, the gallery showcases the Johnston’s pottery as well pieces from 250 artists who work in a variety of other mediums, like blown glass.
I found it's easy to work up a big hunger and thirst logging steps up and down the steep hill on High Street. You can refuel nearby with delicious small plates and inventive craft beer at Commerce Street Brewery & Hotel.
Ben Jones / OIYS
While the building was built in 1854, as a mining warehouse, today, it has five luxurious guest rooms and some wonderful house beers.
The brewpub and inn was purchased by Mike Zupke, who told me he wanted to launch a venture in beer tourism.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Zupke said it’s exciting to be a business owner in Mineral Point. "We’re on the incline here," Zupke said. "The next five years are going to be so cool."
As I walked back up High Street as the sun fell. I saw an unearthly glow emitting from the windows an old bank building. The owner saw me walking and invited me inside. What awaited was incredible.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Ben Biddick has transformed this old bank into Get Up Nation Farms, a place where racks and racks of tiny sprouts are lined up, in the same spot where bank tellers once cashed checks. "When it’s snowing outside and frigid and freezing outside, we’re still growing flowers, herbs, micro-greens and lettuce," Biddick said.
Just steps from sunflower and cabbage sprouts, is the building’s massive steel bank vault door, hanging ajar. But somehow this unlikely setup works, and like everywhere in Mineral Point, there’s even a bit of art to be found - Biddick said that in the quiet of this bank, he sees a natural artistry in his tiny plants.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"What happens to these seeds, as they come up, is like magic," he said.
The residents of Mineral Point have lives with almost as many fascinating chapters as the buildings they inhabit. Over dinner at the Commerce Street Hotel, I chatted with Ben Brummerhop and his husband Clay Stewart, owners of The Mineral Point Gallery, which showcases a range of folk and fine art.
Ben Jones / OIYS
Ben is one of those people that everyone in town knows - and likes - so I had already heard bits of his story by the time we met. Brummerhop moved to Mineral Point as a methamphetamine addict. Out of his recovery he created an acclaimed series of paintings called A New Use for Syringes. Today Brummerhop produces large scale abstract painting - it's deeply personal commission work for clients who are often facing their own demons.
When the galley became available, Brummerhop and Stewart jumped on it.
Ben Jones / OIYS
"I healed here and I became supported and loved in a way that I never had (before)," Brummerhop said. "We decided Mineral Point is where we wanted to be."
It's possible to experience a lot with even a short visit to Mineral Point. But to really explore this place, you'll want to take your time, to discover the beauty of the art, history, and meet the friendly and interesting people who call this little town home.
Ben Jones / OIYS
I'm already planning my return trip!

Learn more about Mineral Point’s artists and attraction on the Mineral Point Chamber of Commerce website.

To discover more incredible boots-on-the-ground adventures across America from our team of local travel experts, check out all of the articles in OnlyInYourState’s Everyday Explorers series. What destinations would you like to see featured next? Tell us where we should go on our nominations page.

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Mineral Point, WI 53565, USA