Built in 1846 (Greek Revival architecture). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.
One of 141 National Register listings published here for Rock County · listed in 1982 · category: Building · built in 1846, Greek Revival architecture.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
This property stands in Plymouth Town. History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute, published 1856 gives that township a chapter of its own.
The chapter covers the township.
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 Plymouth Town - 1,489 words on its settlement, mills, schools and churches.
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 11 fires within 5 miles of Samuel Smiley House between 1995 and 2020, burning about 56 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 | 5 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 3 |
| Smoking | 2 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 May 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 1805092 |
| 6 April 2000 | Smoking | 44 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 29 April 2018 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 82 |
| 11 April 1998 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | not named |
| 7 March 2019 | Debris and open burning | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 52 |
| 30 March 2018 | Debris and open burning | 8.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 61 |
| 27 March 2019 | Debris and open burning | 3.0 acres | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 60 |
| 21 March 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources | 45 |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 5 workings within 5 miles of Samuel Smiley House: 4 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. 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.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hanover Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Past Producer | ||
| Alseths Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| C. Johnson Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Haugen Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer | ||
| Rock County Highway Department | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Past Producer |
Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Orfordville, the town this property stands in, in 41 storm reports between 1998 and 2023: 23 thunderstorm wind, 10 hail, 5 lightning, 2 funnel cloud. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| June 2008 | Flash Flood | Orfordville | $462,160 | Heavy rains resulted in flash flooding across much of the northwest half of the county. Water depths on road surfaces reached 3 feet or more and there were gravel washouts. Two hundred thirty-nine homes had minor damage, 9 homes had major damage, and 26 were destroyed (total of $7.46 million for all home property losses). Fifty-four businesses had minor damage, and 24 had major damage (total business losses were about $810 thousand. Crops losses were estimated at $15 million). Public sector damage was about $10.3 million. There were several roads and bridges that sustained damage. |
| July 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $300,000 | no account filed |
| July 2011 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $125,000 | Law enforcement officials in Rock County reported trees and power lines down in a 23-mile wide swath from west northwest of Orfordville to northeast of Clinton due to damaging thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 65 knots (75 mph). Corn crops, valued at $700,000, were also flattened. A home in downtown Janesville had a bedroom addition crushed when a tree fell on it. The winds also blew down a barn on Creek Road where it crosses Turtle Creek, as well as a giant 22-foot, 2,000 pound fiberglass pumpkin off of a 65-foot tall silo at Meyer's Farm Market north of Janesville. |
| June 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $50,000 | Widespread tree damage was reported across southern Rock county. In northern Beloit, a 12 inch branch was snapped off of a tree. |
| August 2000 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $50,000 | no account filed |
| May 1998 | Lightning | Orfordville | $40,000 | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $30,000 | Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees and power-lines in southwestern Rock County, mainly southwest of STH 213. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $25,000 | Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down many large trees and some power-lines. |
| August 2001 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $25,000 | no account filed |
| June 2014 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $20,000 | A swath of straight line wind damage, mainly to trees. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $20,000 | Rock County Highway Department workers reported the intersection of State Highway 11 and State Highway 213 in Orfordville was closed due to trees and power lines downed by powerful thunderstorm winds that gusted to an estimated 75 mph (65 knots). |
| July 2022 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $15,000 | A swath of tree damage from Orfordville to the Town of Newark. An area of flattened corn just northwest of Orfordville. Wind driven hail was likely. |
| June 1998 | Lightning | Orfordville | $15,000 | no account filed |
| June 2010 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $10,000 | Public reported trees and power-lines down. |
| August 2009 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $10,000 | A trained spotter reported toppled large trees and and power lines down in the village of Orfordville due to thunderstorm winds. |
| July 2005 | Lightning | Orfordville | $8,000 | Lightning caused a storage shed to start on fire. |
| July 2012 | Hail | Orfordville | $6,000 | Hail up to 2 inches in diameter damaged the roof on a farm house 4 miles north of the town of Orfordville. |
| May 2013 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $5,000 | Law enforcement officials reported a few trees and power lines blown down by thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 65 mph (56 knots) 5 miles west of Orfordville. |
| July 2012 | Lightning | Orfordville | $3,000 | Law enforcement officials reported a telephone pole caught fire after being struck by lightning northwest of Orfordville. |
| June 2019 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $2,000 | Several branches and trees down. |
| June 1999 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $2,000 | no account filed |
| March 2017 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $1,000 | A tree down in Spring Valley Township. |
| November 2015 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $1,000 | Sporadic tree damage across central Rock County. |
| July 2005 | Lightning | Orfordville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| March 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | $1,000 | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Orfordville | - | A couple reports of 1 inch hail in Orfordville during this time. |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | - | A trained spotter reported many large tree branches blown down by damaging thunderstorm winds estimated to be 58 mph (50 knots). |
| July 2012 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | - | A trained spotter reported trees and power lines blown down by severe thunderstorm wind gusts estimated at 65 mph (56 knots). |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | - | Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down large trees. Several reports were received from this area from law enforcement officials and other trained spotters. |
| June 2008 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | - | Powerful thunderstorms winds knocked down several large tree branches while pea-size hail fell. |
| April 2023 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| July 2022 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| March 2012 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| June 2008 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| April 2007 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| October 2004 | Thunderstorm Wind | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| July 2003 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| October 2001 | Hail | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| August 2000 | Funnel Cloud | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
| June 1999 | Funnel Cloud | Orfordville | - | no account filed |
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.
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.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Orfordville Depot | 3.2 miles | 1988 |
 | Risum Round Barn | 4.4 miles | 1979 |
 | Footville Condensery | 4.6 miles | 1982 |
 | Footville State Bank | 4.8 miles | 1982 |
 | William J. Owen Store | 4.8 miles | 1982 |
 | Soloman J. Strang House | 5.1 miles | 1982 |
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 82001849 in Record Group 79. |
| Rock County | All 141 listed properties in this county. |
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