Photograph of Porter House Museum — Photograph by Jonathunder, CC BY-SA 3.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Ellsworth-Porter House

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1975.

From the record

“The Porter House Museum is a house and museum in Decorah, Iowa. It was the home of Adelbert Field Porter (1879-1968) and his wife, Grace Young Porter (1880-1964), as well as Grace's mother and father, until their deaths.”
Wikipedia article Porter House Museum, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 36 National Register listings published here for Winneshiek County · listed in 1975 · category: Building.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building as contributing to the listing.
Address. 401 W. Broadway, Decorah, 52101
When was it listed? August 1975
Category. building
Township. Decorah township
National Register reference number. 75000702 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.

Fires near this property

21 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 21 fires within 5 miles of Ellsworth-Porter House between 2006 and 2020, burning about 231 acres in total. None started naturally. None was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause	Fires
Debris and open burning	10
Missing data/not specified/undetermined	10
Equipment and vehicle use	1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

Date	Cause	Size	Reported by	Name on the report
26 September 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
10 September 2006	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
21 August 2012	Debris and open burning	32 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
2 August 2014	Debris and open burning	under an acre	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
6 July 2012	Missing data/not specified/undetermined	under an acre	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
20 May 2014	Equipment and vehicle use	1.0 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
13 May 2014	Debris and open burning	15 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named
9 April 2014	Debris and open burning	1.0 acres	Iowa Department of Natural Resources	not named

Every fire recorded in Winneshiek County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 22 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 22 workings within 5 miles of Ellsworth-Porter House: 14 past producers, 8 producers. 8 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Site	Commodity	Status
Carlson Pit & Plant	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Decorah Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Freeport Pit	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Producer
Unknown	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Unknown	Sand and Gravel, Construction	Past Producer
Borseth Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Broghammer Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Fulsaas Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Producer
Holthaus Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer
Hovey Quarry	Stone, Crushed/Broken	Past Producer

Every working recorded in Winneshiek County

Storms near this property

60 of 91 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Decorah, the town this property stands in, in 91 storm reports between 1994 and 2025: 40 thunderstorm wind, 38 hail, 3 flood, 3 flash flood. The reports record 2 injuries. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

When	Event	Place named	Harm	What the report says
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	2 hurt, $50,000	no account filed
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$100,000	no account filed
May 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$70,000	no account filed
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$50,000	no account filed
May 1996	Hail	Decorah	$50,000	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$50,000	no account filed
May 2020	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$30,000	A metal machine shed was blown down just south of Decorah.
July 2000	Flash Flood	Decorah	$30,000	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Decorah	$30,000	no account filed
May 1998	Hail	Decorah	$27,000	no account filed
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$25,000	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$25,000	no account filed
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$25,000	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$20,000	no account filed
May 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$20,000	no account filed
June 1998	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$17,000	no account filed
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$15,000	Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the central part of Winneshiek County, roughly from north of Decorah to Fort Atkinson.
August 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$15,000	no account filed
July 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$13,000	Trees and power lines were blown down in Decorah. A pickup sustained damage at a campground when a tree landed on it.
May 2002	Flash Flood	Decorah	$12,000	no account filed
July 2022	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$10,000	Trees and power lines were blown down in Decorah.
June 2014	Lightning	Decorah	$10,000	A lightning strike caused a minor house fire to occur in Decorah.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$10,000	A machine shed was blown down and across Twin Springs Road just southwest of Decorah.
May 1996	Hail	Decorah	$10,000	no account filed
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$9,000	no account filed
July 2004	Hail	Decorah	$8,000	no account filed
August 1996	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$7,000	no account filed
September 2005	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$5,500	no account filed
April 1994	Hail	Decorah	$5,000	Thunderstorms erupted over the north half of Iowa ahead of a warm front moving north into the state. For the most part, these storms were not severe. Two of them did produce severe weather. The first severe storm produced high winds in Carroll County. Two farms were affected. The first farm reported a barn door being ripped off and some minor damage to the farmhouse. The second, a neighboring farm, had shingle damage done to the farmhouse and eaves on the garage were ripped off. A trampoline was taken from the yard and blown three-quarters of a mile away. In addition, a power line was ripped out of the yard and a swing set was blown into the farm field.
July 2004	Hail	Decorah	$5,000	no account filed
July 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$5,000	no account filed
June 1998	Flash Flood	Decorah	$5,000	no account filed
April 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$5,000	no account filed
July 1994	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$5,000	no account filed
June 2018	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$3,000	Trees and power lines were blown down in Decorah and across other parts of Winneshiek County.
August 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$3,000	Several trees were blown down in Decorah.
July 1997	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$2,500	no account filed
June 2015	Lightning	Decorah	$2,000	A lightning strike took out the Decorah eagle web camera.
September 2011	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$2,000	Numerous branches and small trees were blown down in and near Decorah.
August 2007	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$2,000	Several trees were blown down.
July 2004	Hail	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
May 2002	Hail	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
June 2000	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
June 1998	Flood	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
July 1995	Hail	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
July 1995	Hail	Decorah	$2,000	no account filed
September 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$1,500	Trees were blown down in Decorah.
July 2004	Hail	Decorah	$1,500	no account filed
July 2002	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$1,000	no account filed
July 2006	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$800	no account filed
May 2002	Hail	Decorah	$750	no account filed
July 2016	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$500	A large tree branch was blown down in Decorah.
July 2012	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$500	A large tree was uprooted just north of Decorah.
July 1994	Tornado (F0)	Decorah	$500	no account filed
August 2010	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	$250	Trees were blown down in parts of Decorah.
July 2025	Thunderstorm Wind	Decorah	-	The public reported pine trees down near Decorah.
August 2016	Flood	Decorah	-	Runoff from heavy rain pushed the Upper Iowa River out of its banks in Decorah. The river crested around a foot and a half above the flood stage at 13.68 feet.
April 2014	Hail	Decorah	-	Quarter sized hail was reported in Decorah.
June 2013	Heavy Rain	Decorah	-	In Decorah, 3 inches of rain was reported.
May 2013	Funnel Cloud	Decorah	-	Funnel clouds were visible in Decorah.

Every storm recorded in Winneshiek County

Map coverage status

No historic map-sheet match is published for this property yet. That does not mean no map exists. This record needs a coordinate-quality review before it can be joined to a sheet boundary. Browse the county's mapped places while that work is pending.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Property	Distance	Listed
Steyer Opera House	0.4 miles	1980
Winnishiek County Courthouse	0.5 miles	2022
Decorah Woolen Mill	0.6 miles	2001
Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway Combination Depot	0.6 miles	2016
Decorah Commercial Historic District	0.6 miles	2017
Steyer Bridge	0.7 miles	1983

Sources for this property

National Archives record	The nomination case file for reference 75000702 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia article	Community-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Winneshiek County	All 36 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.