BlockFrom the record
One of 238 National Register listings published here for Dane County · listed in 2019 · category: District.
Sources: the National Register database, National Park Service
Sun Prairie Downtown Historic District
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 26 buildingss as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 100-245 E. Main St., Sun Prairie, 53590
- When was it listed? May 2019
- Category. district
- City. Sun Prairie city
- National Register reference number. 100003955 - assigned by the National Park Service when the property was listed.
The ground it stands on
11,997 wordsThe chapter on Sun Prairie City in History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and of the Constitution of the United States, published 1880 names Sun Prairie. This is what it says, exactly as the scans read.
Alexander Botkin was born in Kentucky, in 1801. At an early age he removed to Ohio, and from thence to Alton, 111., in 1832. He was a Justice of the Peace at the time of the Lovejoy riots, and took an active part to preserve law and order. He came to Madison, Wis., in 1841, as Assistant Secretary of State under the Territory, and was for awhile a law partner of Alexander P. Field. He was a member of the Territorial House of Representatives of 1847-48 ; was a State Senator in 1849-50, and a member of the Assembly in 1852. He was a candidate for the First Constitutional Convention of 1846, but was defeated by John Y. Smith, and was voted for by the Whigs in 1849, for United States Senator, against Isaac P. Walker. He died suddenly at Sun Prairie, March 5, 1857, aged fifty-six years.
Passage source: History of Dane County, Wisconsin ... Preceded by a History of Wisconsin, Statistics of the State, and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution and of the Constitution of the United States, published 1880.
Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.
Read the whole chapter on Sun Prairie City - 11,997 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Fires near this property
11 since 2018Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Sun Prairie Downtown Historic District between 2018 and 2020, burning about 6 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 |
|---|---|
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 7 |
| Debris and open burning | 2 |
| Smoking | 1 |
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 31 July 2020 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 955 |
| 10 July 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 965 |
| 25 June 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 228245 |
| 9 May 2020 | Smoking | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 691 |
| 4 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 669 |
| 21 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 759 |
| 15 May 2020 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 1.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 732 |
| 18 April 2020 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 2009151 |
Mines and quarries near this property
5 within 5 milesRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Sun Prairie Downtown Historic District: 4 producers, 1 unknown. 4 still produce. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Stone, Crushed/Broken. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bird Street Quarry | Stone | Unknown | ||
| Ziegler Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Madison Sand and Gravel | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Mccarthy Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer | ||
| Token Creek Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
60 of 62 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Sun Prairie, the town this property stands in, in 62 storm reports between 1995 and 2026: 32 hail, 21 thunderstorm wind, 3 flash flood, 2 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $50,000 | Powerful thunderstorm wind gusts to 53 knots (61 mph) toppled many trees and damaged several power-lines. |
| June 2009 | Flash Flood | Sun Prairie | $25,000 | Heavy rainfalls of 1 to 3 inches (estimate based on radar and reports) in the Madison to Sun Prairie area resulted in flash flooding. Many streets and roads were flooded to a depth of 1 to 3 feet. Several gravel shoulder washouts were reported. |
| July 2007 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $20,000 | Powerful downburst thundestorm winds gusting to around 56 knots (65 mph) toppled several large trees. Several power-lines came down with tree debris. |
| June 2006 | Flash Flood | Sun Prairie | $20,000 | Heavy rains of 3 to 5 inches (radar estimated) in a short period of time resulted in flash flooding. Gravel shoulder washouts occurred on a couple roads, and there was some basement flooding. |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $10,000 | Trees and power lines down. Blown transformers. |
| August 2001 | Lightning | Sun Prairie | $10,000 | A home about 3 miles southwest of Sun Prairie sustained fire damage to its roof and attic. |
| April 1997 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $8,000 | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $5,000 | Large branches down on a roof. |
| September 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $5,000 | The public reported trees were blown down by damaging thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 56 knots (65 mph) 2 miles west of Sun Prairie. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $4,000 | Scattered trees and power lines down including one power pole. |
| May 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $4,000 | Numerous branches down in Sun Prairie. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $3,000 | Several branches and trees down in Sun Prairie. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $3,000 | A trained spotter reported thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 60 mph (52 knots) in Sun Prairie. |
| July 2016 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $2,000 | Small trees snapped near the base of the tree. |
| June 2024 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | $1,500 | A few trees down. |
| June 1997 | Lightning | Sun Prairie | $200 | LIghtning splintered 2 trees with debris damaging a nearby home's porch lattice, front door, and patio door window. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Trained spotter reports 1 inch diameter hail near Sun Prairie. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Public report of 1 inch diameter hail near Sun Prairie. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Public report of 1.25 inch diameter hail east of Sun Prairie. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Trained spotter reports 2 inch diameter hail near Sun Prairie. |
| April 2026 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Public report of 1.25 inch diameter hail near Sun Prairie. |
| June 2024 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Picture provided. |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Winds estimated at 65 mph. |
| August 2020 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Estimated wind gust around 60 mph. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | An estimated wind gust of 60 mph. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Straight line winds measured by a home weather station. |
| July 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Straight line winds estimated. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Law enforcement officers reported large hail, estimated to be 1 inch in diameter, fell in Sun Prairie. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | A trained spotter reported large hail, measured to be 1 inch in diameter, that fell 1 mile northwest of Sun Prairie. |
| May 2011 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | Ham radio operators reported severe thunderstorms dropped hail up to 1.75 inches in diameter in a 4-mile wide swath from 2 miles west of Sun Prairie to around 4 miles south-southwest of Columbus. |
| June 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Powerful thunderstorm winds pushed over several large trees, and a flag pole was pushed down. |
| June 2010 | Funnel Cloud | Sun Prairie | - | Law enforcement, along with spotters and the general public, saw a funnel cloud form, dissipate, and reform from a thunderstorm as it moved northeast through the Sun Prairie area. |
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Sun Prairie | - | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding as water reached depths of 3 feet or more and several cars stalled. This was the first of 6 flash floods in Dane County on 3 different days. The first one occurred on June 7th, the next two on June 8th, and the last three on June 12th. In all six cases, damage to homes, businesses, and crops was noted. It was nearly impossible to break down the damages by flash flood event. Therefore, the collective breakdown is provided in the last June 12th flash flood StormData entry for Dane County. |
| May 2007 | Funnel Cloud | Sun Prairie | - | Brief cold-air funnel cloud observed. |
| July 2006 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | Trees down. |
| May 2025 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2024 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2024 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| November 2022 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2022 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| February 2017 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| April 2014 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2011 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2011 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| August 2007 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| March 2007 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| April 2006 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2006 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| October 2006 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| March 2005 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Heavy Rain | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 2004 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Thunderstorm Wind | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Hail | Sun Prairie | - | no account filed |
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
5 within 8 milesOther 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.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Fuhremann Canning Company Factory | 0.1 miles | 2004 |
 | Dr. Charles G. Crosse House | 0.2 miles | 1993 |
 | Chase Grain Elevator | 0.2 miles | 2010 |
 | Sun Prairie Water Tower | 0.4 miles | 2000 |
 | Adam and Mary Smith House | 2.9 miles | 1998 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 100003955 in Record Group 79. |
| Dane County | All 238 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.