Historic buildings, new businesses: how Mineral Point is keeping their commerce close to home

MADISON, Wis. (WMTV) – This year was busy for downtown Mineral Point small businesses, with multiple new stores and cafes opened up in the city. Business owners said that keeping businesses small is staying authentic to the values of their town.

Maggie Payne, Owner of Blue Yonder Coffee House, opened her business in 2024. Through each cup of coffee she serves, she is keeping the heart of Mineral Point alive.

“That’s part of being small. Part of being small is being able to talk to your customers, is to being able to find out who they are and what they like,” said Payne.

She said that Mineral Point supports its local businesses, and the people who own the businesses.

“Mineral Point actually has resources that allow you to go have conversations with different individuals in the community to help find what you need, and I think that’s not typical,” Payne said.

Kristin Mitchell and Keith Burrows work together on the New Business Taskforce, that was created to help foster opportunities for new businesses to open in town. They both are also business owners in Mineral Point.

“There is a business task force now which kind of bridges the gap between our very robust chamber of commerce and our city council,” said Mitchell, who also serves on the Commerce Board.

Mineral Point is the third oldest city in the state of Wisconsin, and most of the buildings are original.

“The architecture down the main street looks pretty much the same way it did in the 1800s,” said Lisa Hay, owner of High Street Sweets.

The purpose of the task force is to keep filling historic buildings with new local businesses, keeping the authenticity of the town alive.

“There are a lot of beautiful small towns in Wisconsin, whose downtown hasn’t done very well over the last few decades, there’s empty buildings,” said Burrows.

He hopes this won’t be the case for Mineral Point as the city heads into next year.

“Since then we’ve had another 10-12 businesses that have come to our meetings that we have helped out in some kind of way,” said Burrows.

Mitchell said that to continue moving forward in the right direction, “we need to rethink and reevaluate how we do business these days.”

Payne said that remembering why keeping commerce close to home is what people should keep in mind while shopping.

“This is the heart and soul of our state,” said Payne. “This is what we were all built on in small towns and has urban areas have grown, we’ve kind of forgotten that.”

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