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Photograph of Mrs. Richard Polson House
Photograph by Purcell & Elmslie, Public domain. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Mrs. Richard Polson House

Built in 1917 (Beaux-Arts). Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

From the record

“Richard Polson House located on Route 2 near Spooner, Wisconsin, United States, was built in 1917. It was designed by Prairie School architects Purcell & Elmslie in Beaux Arts style.”

Wikipedia article Mrs. Richard Polson House, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 3 National Register listings published here for Washburn County · listed in 1984 · category: Building · built in 1917, Beaux-Arts, by Purcell & Elmslie.

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.
  • Listed as. Polson, Mrs. Richard, House - the National Register files a house under its owner's surname.
  • Address. N of Spooner, Spooner, 54801
  • When was it listed? February 1984
  • Category. building
  • City. Spooner city
  • When was it built? 1917
  • Architectural style. Beaux-Arts, American Craftsman
  • Architect. Purcell & Elmslie
  • National Register reference number. 84003798 - 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

142 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 142 fires within 5 miles of Mrs. Richard Polson House between 1992 and 2020, burning about 74 acres in total. 5 started naturally. 7 were 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
Equipment and vehicle use39
Debris and open burning34
Missing data/not specified/undetermined24
Railroad operations and maintenance11
Arson/incendiarism7
Natural5
Fireworks5
Recreation and ceremony5
Power generation/transmission/distribution4
Other causes3
Misuse of fire by a minor3
Smoking2

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

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
6 September 2009Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesLABOR DAY
5 September 2002Naturalunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resourcesnot named
12 September 2012Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesTREGO TROUBLE
31 August 2013Fireworksunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesLUTHER AND PERRY
28 August 2010Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesPIZZA TRAIN 2
28 August 2010Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesPIZZA TRAIN 1
19 August 2013Railroad operations and maintenanceunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesOAK HILL
17 August 2011Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesCTH A FUSE

Every fire recorded in Washburn County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 12 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 12 workings within 5 miles of Mrs. Richard Polson House: 8 occurrences, 3 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: 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 SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Douglas M. Strunk Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Eugene R. Kasten Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Hannah Doyne Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Joseph Andrea Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Karl Lemke Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Osterman Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Paffell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
S. Lombard Gravel DepositSand and Gravel, ConstructionOccurrence
Spooner Lake Gravel PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Spooner PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Washburn County

Storms near this property

54 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Spooner, the town this property stands in, in 54 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 33 hail, 19 thunderstorm wind, 1 tornado, 1 flash flood. 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.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
May 2011HailSpooner$4,000no account filed
July 2010Thunderstorm WindSpooner$500A large tree limb was blown down on a cabin.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSpooner-An 18 inch diameter pine tree was snapped six feet off the ground based on a photo.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Multiple trees were down in Spooner. It is unknown if they were snapped or uprooted as most of the images show that fallen trees had already begun to be cut up. However, one image appears to show a tree that was snapped close to the base.
July 2025Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Photos were received of maple, oak, ash, and aspen trees that were down due to strong thunderstorm winds. Trees were snapped off or tipped. A large super canopy white pine had snapped off. It may have been more than a couple dozen trees that came down though it was difficult to tell since most trees were in the woods. There was also one tree that blocked Beaverbrook Avenue.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindSpooner-A few trees were reported down in the Spooner area.
May 2022Thunderstorm WindSpooner-A few tree limbs around 3 inches in diameter were broken by the storm.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSpooner-An aspen tree was downed across Perch Lake Road near the intersection with Dock Lake Road near Spooner.
July 2021Thunderstorm WindSpooner-A large oak tree was downed across County Highway A near Dock Lake Road outside of Spooner.
September 2021Flash FloodSpooner-Flash flooding was occurring on US Highway 63 in front of a gas station with the water up to the grills on cars.
May 2017HailSpooner-The hail ranged in size from peas to quarters.
May 2017HailSpooner-There multiple reports of pea to nickel sized hail in Spooner.
June 2017Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Numerous trees and branches were blown down, with the largest tree being one foot in diameter.
July 2014Thunderstorm WindSpooner-A 3 foot diameter tree was uprooted.
July 2006Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Numerous trees and power lines were blown down across the county.
June 2005HailSpooner-There were multiple reports of quarter-sized hail.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Trees were blown down.
June 2005Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Eight to 10 inch diameter trees were snapped.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Buildings were destroyed and power lines were blown down. The wind speed is estimated.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindSpooner-The strong winds caused widespread tree damage.
June 2001Thunderstorm WindSpooner-Trees were blown down over a large area of southern Washburn County.
June 2001Tornado (F2)Spooner-The tornado, which began near Grantsburg in Burnett County, entered Washburn County at 851 pm local daylight time, 7 miles west of Spooner, and traveled to a point about 3 miles west of Spooner, dissipating around 900 pm. The tornado was in the dissipating stage as it entered Washburn County, but the tree and structural damage that was reported was still classified as F-2. Several homes had windows blown in, roofs torn off, or were damaged by falling trees.
July 1995HailSpooner-The hail broke at least one windshield. Strong winds also toppled trees and blew down power lines across the county. Price County 8 NE Phillips,14,1820CST,,,0,0,0,0,Hail (1.75) 7 E Fifield,14,1820CST,,,0,0,0,0,Thunderstorm Winds Ten-inch diameter trees were blown down.
July 1995Thunderstorm WindSpooner-A tree and several large branches were blown down. A large severe thunderstorm complex moved out of northeast Minnesota into northwest Wisconsin during the morning. The severity of the storms decreased considerably after moving into Wisconsin, but still produced winds capable of knocking down trees.
August 2023HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2022HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2021HailSpooner-no account filed
April 2020HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2018HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2017HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2017HailSpooner-no account filed
July 2017HailSpooner-no account filed
September 2014HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2011HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2011HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2009HailSpooner-no account filed
May 2008HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2007HailSpooner-no account filed
April 2004HailSpooner-no account filed
April 2004HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2001HailSpooner-no account filed
June 2001HailSpooner-no account filed
August 2000HailSpooner-no account filed
July 2000HailSpooner-no account filed
August 2000HailSpooner-no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindSpooner-no account filed
June 1999Thunderstorm WindSpooner-no account filed
June 1998HailSpooner-no account filed
June 1998HailSpooner-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Washburn 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

1 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.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
George V. Siegner House1.1 miles1982

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 84003798 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Washburn CountyAll 3 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.