When the merchant Joseph Gundry built his big home on an eleven-acre hilltop in the heart of Mineral Point, guests in horse-drawn carriages were welcomed on the broad front porch of the mansion.

That was 1868.

In the hot summer of 2012, the driveway at Orchard Lawn, now the home of the Mineral Point Historical Society, said “welcome” to drivers of the sporting vehicles of the Rockford Car Club.

The guests spent a pleasant Sunday afternoon in the shade of the porch, and a local guide gave them a walk-about tour, providing a glimpse of nineteenth century life at one of the city’s major landmarks.