| Wisconsin (Adams County), Arkdale — East Arkdale Cemetery |
| | On July 11, 1859, Mr. Halvor Olson offered this 1/2 acre of his land to be used as a cemetery for the members of the Evangelical Lutheran Church (Hauge Synod) here in the Roche a Cree (Arkdale) settlement. People of the community outside the congregation could also use this cemetery as their burial place.
The cemetery was to be ready for use by April 14, 1860. The poor were to be buried without charge. A fee of $2.00 was asked for the burial of individuals who were not members of the . . . — Map (db m7368) |
| Wisconsin (Adams County), Arkdale — Lutheran Church of the Norwegian Synod |
| | On this site once stood a Lutheran Church of the Norwegian Synod, from the years 1887 to 1921. This church developed because of a disagreement on some doctrinal points with the United Lutheran Church which stood one half mile south of here.
Because of the merger of the three Norwegian churches in the area in 1919, this building was no longer needed. It was donated to a sister Lutheran congregation that had organized in the city of Adams. It was carefully dismantled and transported to Adams . . . — Map (db m4657) |
| Wisconsin (Adams County), Arkdale — Site of the First Norwegian Evangelical Lutheran Church of Roche-a-Cri |
| | In 1850, a group of Norwegian settlers from Koshkonong, the foremost Norwegian settlement colony in the United States at the time, left their southern Wisconsin home and migrated north, settling here in "Roch-a-Cree" or Roche-a-Cri. Imbued with pioneer spirit and a firm faith in Lutheranism, these settlers homesteaded and became successful farmers, growing potatoes as the their staple crop. In 1853, the Rev. H. A. Preus, a university-trained minister of the Norwegian state church, visited . . . — Map (db m7364) |
| Wisconsin (Adams County), Arkdale — West Church |
| | In 1853, Norwegian immigrants to this area, organized the Norwegian Evangelical Church of Roche-a-Cri, in 1860. A log church was constructed one mile south of this location. It was destroyed by fire in 1866. A frame church was then erected on this site in 1868 but was destroyed by a cyclone in 1872.
With faith undaunted, a larger church was built on this site in 1875, known as the "West Church," it served as the congregation spiritual home for 53 years, until it was struck by lightning and . . . — Map (db m4658) |
| Wisconsin (Adams County), Friendship — 260 — Roche-A-Cri State Park |
| | This prominent butte, perhaps the steepest hill in Wisconsin, was called La Roche-a-Cri by 17th and 18th century French voyageurs. Rising 300 feet above the surrounding plain, this landmark undoubtedly guided Indians and early pioneers. Indians of an undetermined cultural group left rock carvings, called petroglyphs, at places on Roche-a-Cri. Like many similar formations on Wisconsin's sandy Central Plain, this butte is composed of Cambrian sandstone about 500,000,000 years old. The flat plain . . . — Map (db m19822) |
| Wisconsin (Adams County), Monroe Center — Monroe Cemetery |
| | Ira and Ransom Gleason, father and uncle to Charlotte and Francis Marion Rous set aside the original acre of land for this cemetery, from the land they obtained through the Public Lands Act of 1820. This plaque in memory of Edna Rous Russell and Harry Rous. — Map (db m7534) |
| Wisconsin (Bayfield County), Cornucopia — 28 — Tragedy of The Siskiwit |
| | Once upon a time, according to an old Indian legend, the sand beach on the east side of this bay was a favorite camping ground. One spring a few lodges of Chippewa from La Pointe encamped here. When their chief, Bi-aus-wah, returned from the hunt, he found that a large party of Foxes had murdered all but two of his people. He trailed the enemy to their village and found them preparing to torture his young son. Chief Bi-aus-wah stepped proudly and boldly forward and offered his own life if the . . . — Map (db m30843) |
| Wisconsin (Bayfield County), Port Wing — 145 — School Consolidation |
| | As the 20th century began, logging operations were in full swing in this area and the small log schoolhouses could not handle the increasing number of students. Some classes were held in churches but additional facilities were needed.
T.N. Okerstrom and James C. Daly conceived the idea of consolidating the rural districts and establishing a larger school with free transportation. It was a new idea and there was resistance but after numerous meetings and much planning, a new school district . . . — Map (db m30845) |
| Wisconsin (Bayfield County), Washburn — 49 — Madeline Island |
| | To the east is Madeline Island, known to the Ojibway as Moning-wunakauning, “The Home of the Golden Breasted Woodpecker.” The French soldier Pierre le Sueur built his post there in 1693. In 1718 a fort was erected which remained France’s principal fur-trading post on Lake Superior until New France fell to England. In 1793 Michel Cadotte established a trading post and began permanent settlement. When Equaysayway, daughter of Chief White Crane and a member of the Ojibway aristocracy, . . . — Map (db m30844) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Allouez — 239 — Heritage Hill State Park |
| | This park, built to portray and preserve Wisconsin's beginnings, is located on a site that is itself a part of history. On this 40-acre site stood Camp Smith--a temporary location of Fort Howard--part of the pioneer settlement known as Shantytown, and Wisconsin's first courthouse. Through the site passed the military road linking Fort Howard with Fort Winnebago at Portage and Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien.
Many of the buildings at Heritage Hill are original structures that were saved . . . — Map (db m10544) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), De Pere — 189 — Marquette–Jolliet |
| | Here in June, 1673, an expedition headed by Jesuit priest Jacques Marquette and his companion Louis Jolliet departed from St. Francis Xavier Mission to find and explore the upper Mississippi River. In September they returned here to record their discoveries in their journals. The next spring Jolliet left for Quebec but the ailing Marquette remained at the mission until October. The mission stood on the bank of Fox River directly west of this spot. — Map (db m10393) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), De Pere — 266 — Rapides des Peres — Voyageur Park |
| | The rapids at De Pere were well known to all early travelers along the Fox and Wisconsin rivers, which provided the best access to the Mississippi. Despite Indian domination, the waterway served explorers, fur traders and voyageurs, missionaries, and soldiers -- principally from France and from Canada (New France).
Beginning in the late 1600s, the French sent various emissaries to maintain good relations with the Indians and to Christianize them; to seek a water route to the Pacific; and . . . — Map (db m11053) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), De Pere — 262 — White Pillars |
| | This building was erected in 1836 to serve as the office of the Fox River Hydraulic Company, which was chartered by Wisconsin's first Territorial Legislature to construct a dam at Rapides des Peres. Following the 1837 financial crisis, notes issued by the company circulated as currency, making it one of the first de facto banks in Wisconsin. In subsequent years the building served as a barber shop, newspaper office, cabinet shop, private school, church and residence. — Map (db m10887) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Denmark — 373 — Denmark |
| | In 1848, immigrants from Langeland, Denmark, seeking economic opportunity and plentiful farmland, settled in this vicinity. The Danes purchased land here and called their early settlement "Copenhagen," later changed to Denmark. In subsequent years, German, Irish and Czech immigrants joined the Danes, and Denmark grew to be a prosperous farming and trading community. After a railroad line reached Denmark in 1906, the area became an important center for Wisconsin cheese and dairy production. — Map (db m22453) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Green Bay — 11 — 1634 • 1909 |
| | Commemorating the discovery of Wisconsin in 1634 by Jean Nicolet, emissary of Governor Champlain of New France. In this vicinity Nicolet first met the Winnebago Indians.
Unveiled August 12, 1909, by members of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin and the Green Bay Historical Society. — Map (db m15786) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Green Bay — 493 — Cnesses Israel Synagogue |
| | Upon this site stood Cnesses Isreal Synagogue, the first Jewish congregation in Brown County dedicated September 4, 1904 (24 Elul 5664). Designed by local architect Henry A. Foeller, the synagogue was Moorish in design and had two octagonal towers flanking a central arched entry. — Map (db m32707) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Green Bay — Earl L. (Curly) Lambeau — Founder/V.P./Head Coach/Player 1919–49 |
| | Curly Lambeau founded the Green Bay Packers in 1919 and was a driving force in the team's early years, including the 1921 decision to join what is now the NFL. He served as head coach for the franchise's first 31 seasons, leading the Packers to six league championships (1929-30-31, 1936, 1939, 1944) and posting a 212-106-21 NFL record (.656). Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1963. City Stadium renamed in his honor two years later. Was an outstanding prep athlete at Green Bay East . . . — Map (db m10813) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Green Bay — 62 — Red Banks |
| | Many of the explorers who followed Columbus were more interested in finding an easy route to Asia than they were in exploring and settling this continent. In 1634 Jean Nicolet, emissary of Gov. Samuel de Champlain of New France, landed at Red Banks on the shore of Green Bay about a mile west of here. His mission was to arrange peace with the "People of the Sea" and to ally them with France. Nicolet half expected to meet Asiatics on his voyage and had with him an elaborate Oriental robe which he . . . — Map (db m22457) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Green Bay — Vincent T. (Vince) Lombardi — Head Coach/G.M. 1959-67; General Manager 1968 |
| | Vince Lombardi directed the Green Bay Packers to five NFL championships in seven years (1961-62, 1965-66-67) – a feat without parallel in pro football history. His 1966 and '67 teams also won the first two Super Bowls. Lombardi forged an impressive .758 winning percentage in Green Bay (98-30-4), including a remarkable 9-1 playoff mark, and never had a losing season. Inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1971, a year after the Super Bowl trophy was renamed in his honor. Played . . . — Map (db m10558) |
| Wisconsin (Brown County), Oneida — 501 — Revolutionary War Veteran |
| | James Powlis, whose Oneida name Tewakatelyλ·thale! means "I'm Worried", was born around 1750, probably in New York State. In 1777, after the disintegration of the Iroquois Confederacy's neutrality, Congress sought to offset the allegiance of four of the six Confederacy tribes to the British by winning the allegiance of the remaining two, the Oneida and Tuscarora.
Powlis, an Oneida Chief, enlisted in the Continental Army also in 1777. Congress preceded the offer of army commissions . . . — Map (db m11097) |
| Wisconsin (Buffalo County), Alma — 230 — Beef Slough |
| | The Beef Slough was a sluggish branch of the Chippewa River that provided an excellent storage pond for the logs floated downstream by numerous logging companies. Here loggers were employed to arrange the mixed-up logs into orderly rafts to be towed by steamboats to sawmills down the Mississippi.
The Chippewa Falls and Eau Claire sawmills felt threatened when the Beef Slough Manufacturing, Booming, Log Driving and Transportation Company was organized near here in 1867. Camp No. 1 built . . . — Map (db m10103) |
| Wisconsin (Buffalo County), Alma — Lock & Dam No. 4 |
| | Designed by and constructed under the direction of
The Corps of Engineers, United States Army
1932 – 1935
Contractor for lock – Ouilmette Construction & Engineering Co.
Contractor for dam – United Construction Co.
Contractor for electrical work – S. C. Sachs, Inc. — Map (db m17300) |
| Wisconsin (Calumet County), Brothertown — 425 — The Brothertown Indians of Wisconsin |
| | The Brothertown (Brotherton) are descendants of the Pequot and Mohegan (Algonquin-speaking) tribes in southern New England. They became a tribe in 1769 when seven Christian and English-speaking communities organized and moved to land in upstate New York. They cleared the land, planted fields and built houses while under intense pressure to again move west. The Brothertown joined their neighbors, the Oneida and the Stockbridge, and planned a move to Wisconsin. The Brothertown purchased land near . . . — Map (db m31792) |
| Wisconsin (Calumet County), New Holstein — H. C. Timm House — 1873 |
| | Built for Hermann Christian Timm and his wife, Augusta (Muenster) Timm, the house was erected in two sections. A frame, Greek Revival-influenced residence was built for the Timm family in 1873. In 1892, a large stick style house was constructed onto the front of the earlier house. August F. Neuman, a contractor from Kiel, built the new plan and carried out the remodeling of the original home. Herman C. Timm arrived in New Holstein in the summer of 1848, and in 1864 married Augusta Muenster. The . . . — Map (db m31977) |
| Wisconsin (Calumet County), Stockbridge — 416 — Stockbridge Harbor |
| | Around A.D. 1100, there was a large Native American village on the north side of Stockbridge Harbor. The pottery recovered from archaeological excavations at this site indicates that the villagers came from two formerly distinct cultural groups. Perhaps for protection from outsiders, people of the Effigy Mound tradition joined a group of Late Woodland agriculturalists. They surrounded their village with a palisade. By A.D. 1200, both Late Woodland societies were gone from the shores of Lake . . . — Map (db m31799) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Cadott — 121 — Cadotte Trading Post Site |
| | In 1787, Michel Cadotte, famous Madeline Island fur trader, had a trading post nearby on the Yellow River. Here Michel Jr. was born, and another son, Jean Baptiste, is said to be buried on the river's bank. Robert Marriner built a dam at "Cadotte Falls" in 1865 and later named the village Cadott to honor the French-Indian fur traders. — Map (db m31159) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Cadott — 73 — The Gravesite of Lansing A. Wilcox |
| | Lansing A. Wilcox, last surviving Wisconsin veteran of the Civil War, was born in Kenosha March 3, 1846. In February 1864 he enlisted from Chippewa County in F Company, Fourth Wisconsin Cavalry, returning to the Cadott community in 1866. A farmer, schoolteacher and postmaster, he retired in 1912. On September 29, 1951 Corporal Wilcox died at the age of 105 years, 6 months and 26 days. — Map (db m30758) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Chippewa Falls — 222 — Nation's First Cooperative Generating Station |
| | On Sunday, May 2, 1937, Wisconsin Power Cooperative was organized by an assembly of farmers for the purpose of developing a generating and transmission facility to provide low-cost electric service for the rural areas of Buffalo, Chippewa, Clark, Dunn, Pierce, St. Croix, Taylor, and Trempealeau counties.
Loans from the Rural Electrification Administration financed construction of the original station and transmission lines. Ground was broken on November 8, 1937, and on March 12, 1938, the . . . — Map (db m13798) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Chippewa Falls — 330 — Northern Wisconsin Center for the Developmentally Disabled |
| | Before the 19th-century social reform movement, developmentally disabled people were relegated to almshouses and county poor farms where the “indigent, insane, epileptic and “idiotic” were housed together without regard to individual condition. Reformists advocated more humane treatment of the socially-dependent and by the mid-19th century had demonstrated the educability of the “mentally deficient” and opened homes for their care and training. In 1895, Wisconsin . . . — Map (db m13297) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Chippewa Falls — 427 — Northern Wisconsin State Fair |
| | Primarily rural in the 19th century, Wisconsin promoted the state fair to advance better state farming practices. Since 1851 to the present, this fair has been held in southern Wisconsin. Recognizing the impracticality of entering or attending the Southern Wisconsin State Fair, Chippewa Falls area citizens drafted a charter to create the Northern Wisconsin State Fair. Enacted in 1897 by the State of Wisconsin, the fair was to "improve agriculture, horticulture and mechanical and household . . . — Map (db m13318) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Cobban — 278 — The Cobban Bridge |
| | The Cobban Bridge, constructed in 1908 by the Modern Steel Structural Company of Waukesha, is a two-span Pennsylvania overhead truss type bridge and is the oldest of its kind in Wisconsin. Originally it crossed the Chippewa River just upstream from its junction with the Yellow River. The bridge was dismantled during the construction of the Wissota Dam in 1916, and through the efforts of Oscar Anderson, a Cobban store owner, the bridge was acquired to be placed on land donated by S.C.F. Cobban. . . . — Map (db m12761) |
| Wisconsin (Chippewa County), Jim Falls — 14 — Old Abe, the War Eagle |
| | This wayside is part of the old McCann farm, childhood home of Old Abe, the War Eagle. In the Spring of 1861 a band of hungry Chippewa came to the McCann farm and traded a young eagle for corn. The eagle became a family pet. When Company C, Eighth Wisconsin was organized at Eau Claire for Civil War duty, the crippled Dan McCann offered his eagle’s services as mascot, feeling that “someone from the family ought to go.” On October 12, 1861, the Eagle Regiment started for the front. In . . . — Map (db m13984) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Colby — 161 — The Home of Colby Cheese |
| | At his father's cheese factory about one mile south and one mile west of here, Joseph F. Steinwand in 1885 developed a new and unique type of cheese. He named it for the township in which his father, Ambrose Steinwand, Sr., had built northern Clark County's first cheese factory three years before. The town had taken its name from Gardner Colby, whose company built the Wisconsin Central railroad through here.
Colby is a mild, soft, moist cheese. Its taste became known in the neighboring . . . — Map (db m9189) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Curtiss — History of The Big White Pine |
| | This tree was a landmark near the Iron-Ashland Co. line northeast of Glidden, Wis. The first section of 20 ft. is in Glidden. Les got the next cut of 12 ft.
The tree measured 6 ft. on the stump. The tree was 144 ft. high. The first limb was 65 ft. up. The age of the tree is over 400 years.
This tree was located in the area where the Les Bowen family and friends have hunted since 1939.
Dec. of 1985 — Map (db m22327) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Dorchester — S.S. Dorchester Memorial |
| | The Ship
Built 1926
Statistics:
Length overall · 368'
Beam · 52'
Draft · 19'
Gross tons · 5,649
Speed (knots) · 12
Radius (miles) · 5,500
Propulsion · Recip. eng.
Passengers · 788
Cargo (cu. ft.) · 187,250
Jan. 24, 1942 Became U.S. Warship USAT
Jan. 22, 1943 Departed N.Y. to Greenland (6th trip)
Feb. 3, 1943 Torpedoed in the North Atlantic (by U-223)
Lat. 59° 23' N Long. 48° 42' W
The Men
[number On Board, Saved, Lost] . . . — Map (db m29648) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Greenwood — 23 — Mormon Settlements |
| | The Mormons, Clark County's first loggers, came in 1844 and established camps between Wedge's Creek and Greenwood to cut timber for their Illinois city of Nauvoo. After the murder of their leader Joseph Smith at Carthage, Illinois in mid-1844, the Mormons soon left. The sole legacy of their Clark County settlements is Cunningham Creek, named for Jonathan Cunningham who drowned in it while running logs. — Map (db m21953) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Loyal — Castner–Mack Cemetery — Est. 1855 |
| |
1st Cemetery in the Loyal Township
Child of Daniel & Mary Mack 1858
Daniel Mack 1866
13th child of Erastus & Maria Mack 1860
Mary Benedict Mack 1874
Frank Castner 1877
Infant child of John & Lydia Castner 1880
Twin infants of John & Lydia Castner 1880
Mr. King 1880
An Indian Baby — Map (db m21947) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Loyal — Samuel Hartford — Soldier of 1812 — 1798 – 1884 |
| | When a lad of 14 he went as a substitute for his brother in law that his sister and her 7 little ones might not be deprived of a husband and father’s care.
Served as Private in N. Y. Militia.
Was in Battle of Niagara.
Honorably discharged Sept. 30, 1818. — Map (db m9691) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Neillsville — 42 — Clark County Moraines |
| | Most of the topographical features to be seen here can probably be attributed to deposits or moraines left when the glacier receded. The castellated hills or mounds northwest of Neillsville are of greater geological significance and interest, however. These are believed to be nunataks -- hills which projected through the ice sheet so that their tops were left untouched by the glacier. — Map (db m9851) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Neillsville — Fragments — Wisconsin Vietnam Veterans Memorial |
| | Honoring the men and women from Wisconsin who served in Vietnam.
We left pieces of ourselves in Vietnam. We brought parts of Vietnam home.
Each fragmented figure supports the others. A close inspection of the figure with the helmet reveals the long hair of a woman – the first depicted on a U.S. veterans memorial. Her poncho supports 1244 rods engraved with the names of those who didn't return.
Their chimes hang among the rod clusters allowing them to speak to us.
The rifle . . . — Map (db m25146) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Neillsville — Kilroy Was Here |
| | During World War II this was a symbol for the American serviceman. Any place in the world where one of them went he would see it. It was found in restrooms, on trucks, tanks, ships, bombed out walls, and almost any place it could be painted, penned, scratched, or chalked. Even during an invasion or battle, someone would leave this symbol where those following would see it. It was a symbol of courage, pride, encouragement, and very definitely a morale booster. That is why it was selected to . . . — Map (db m18637) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Neillsville — 41 — Major General Clarence L. Sturdevant — 1885 – 1958 |
| | General Sturdevant, chief architect and father of the Alcan Highway, was born in Neillsville and married Beth Youmans of this city. During forty years of devoted service General Sturdevant was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Bronze Star, and for his Alcan Highway feat, the Legion of Merit. Sturdevant was characterized by General Douglas MacArthur as "great soldier, great engineer, great American." — Map (db m30863) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Neillsville — National Native American Vietnam Veterans Memorial — "The Forgotten Warrior" |
| | This memorial statue was envisioned to serve as a touchstone where the quiet tears of unresolved grief from mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends could be shed in an honorific setting and be strengthened by the groundswell of pride that their departed loved ones stand in an elite company of Native American warriors who fought in America's longest and costliest undeclared war. "The Forgotten Warrior" stands forth symbolically to uphold an memorialize the honor of those . . . — Map (db m29599) |
| Wisconsin (Clark County), Stanley — The Worden Church of the Brethren |
| | Site of The Worden Church
of the Brethren
Erected in 1904
Destroyed by tornado in 1958
Dedicated Sept. 28, 1975
by members and friends — Map (db m22324) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Columbus — Columbus Public Library |
| | The Prairie Style Library was designed by Louis W. Claude (former associate of Louis Sullivan) and Edward F. Starck of Madison, Wisconsin, and built with funding from Andrew Carnegie and the Columbus Women's Club. The library was dedicated November 1, 1912. In 1990, it was placed on the National Register of Historic Places and became handicapped accessible with a new entrance. — Map (db m28344) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Columbus — 324 — Governor James Taylor Lewis / Governor Lewis: Civil War Era |
| |
Governor James Taylor Lewis · 1819 – 1904
Governor James T. Lewis, the ninth Governor of Wisconsin (1864-66), led the state through the tumultuous conclusion of the Civil War. He was born in New Your State and in 1845 settled in Columbus where he practiced law. In 1854-56 he built this house in the Italianate style of architecture. Lewis began his political career as a Democrat, serving in the Assembly, state Senate and as lieutenant governor. He joined the new Republican party . . . — Map (db m22918) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Columbus — Grand Army of the Republic Memorial |
| |
*
Erected by
H. M. Brown Post No. 146.
*
G. A. R.
—
In memory of our comrades
formerly residents of
Columbus, Otsego, Hampden,
York, Elba & Calamus,
who now fill unknown graves.
—
1861—1865 — Map (db m28289) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Merrimac — 187 — The Merrimac Ferry |
| | Merrimac’s first permanent settler, Chester Mattson, obtained a territorial charter in 1848 to provide ferry service across the Wisconsin River. The State Legislature of 1851 authorized a road, subsequently to become State Trunk Highway 113, to connect settlements at Madison and Baraboo via Matt’s Ferry. Today, the Merrimac Ferry is the lone survivor of upwards of 500 ferries chartered by territorial and state legislatures before the turn of the century.
The fee charged by early ferrymen . . . — Map (db m1932) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Pardeeville — Angie Williams Cox Public Library |
| |
Angie Williams Cox
Public Library
1934
is listed in the
State Register of
Historic Places — Map (db m22869) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Pardeeville — 423 — Historic Pardeeville / Belmont Hotel |
| |
Historic Pardeeville
In 1848, New York native and Milwaukee merchant, John S. Pardee hired agents to oversee his Fox River land holdings and to establish business operations from this location. Yates Ashley, the most notable of Pardee's agents, managed the on-site operations and surveyed and platted the town in 1850. Although railroad tracks were laid here 1857, real growth did not begin until after the 1870s. By 1899, Pardeeville boasted of two hotels, a flour mill, a grain elevator, . . . — Map (db m22896) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 61 — Fort Winnebago |
| | In the autumn of 1828 a permanent fort was built on this site by the First Regiment of the United States Infantry under the command of Maj. David E. Twiggs, later a general in the Confederate Army. The fort was constructed primarily to control the important Fox-Wisconsin portage and to protect American traders from interference by the Winnebago Indians. Lieut. Jefferson Davis, later president of the Confederacy, served here after graduating from West Point. The fort was garrisoned until 1845 . . . — Map (db m2364) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 317 — Frederick Jackson Turner — 1861 – 1932 |
| | Considered the most important historian of the United States in the twentieth century, Frederick Jackson Turner brought a new understanding to the meaning of the American experience. He was born in Portage; his father was Andrew Jackson Turner, a longtime local newspaper editor and activist. Young Turner left Portage to study at the University of Wisconsin in Madison (B.A. 1884, M.A. 1888) and John Hopkins University in Baltimore (Ph. D 1890). He taught at the University of Wisconsin . . . — Map (db m20029) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet |
| | This tablet marks the place near which Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet entered the Wisconsin River June 14, 1673
Erected by Wau-Bun Chapter D. A. R. 1905 — Map (db m2342) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 451 — Ketchum’s Point |
| | Ketchum’s Point, named for a local family, stands above the low, marshy Portage connecting the Fox River and Great Lakes with the Wisconsin and Mississippi rivers. This waterway served as a vital thoroughfare for supplies and furs during the fur trade era. Used in times of flooding, the fork in the portage trail began at this landmark. The trail ascended this bluff, following the Cook Street ridge to the Wisconsin River. The 1827 Ho-Chunk Uprising, begun by the rapid expansion of the lead . . . — Map (db m2407) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 63 — Marquette |
| | On June 14, 1673 Jacques Marquette and Louis Jolliet started the portage (1.28 miles) from here to the Wisconsin River, which led to their discovery of the Upper Mississippi June 17, 1673 at Prairie du Chien. The expedition, in two birch bark canoes, traveled south to the mouth of the Arkansas River and returned to St. Ignace, a trip of nearly 3000 miles. Thus a new era of exploration, settlement and commerce began for the Great Lakes region, the Mississippi Valley and the Far West. . . . — Map (db m2341) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 106 — Potters' Emigration Society |
| | Near here in 1849 Thomas Twiggs began a settlement of unemployed potters from Staffordshire, England. To help farmers on both sides of the Fox River reach his store and blacksmith shop at Twiggs' Landing, he operated Emancipation Ferry, named to express his hope that here they would find freedom from the poverty of the Old World. — Map (db m20084) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — Site of Fort Winnebago |
| | 1828 — 1845
Surrender of Red Bird
Noted Winnebago Chief
1827
Erected by Wau-Bun Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution 1924 — Map (db m4609) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 479 — Society Hill Historic District |
| | This 137 building district is bounded, in part, by Emmett, Cass, Wisconsin and MacFarlane streets. Most of the houses were constructed between 1870 and 1910 and are in the Italianate and Queen Anne architectural styles.
Society Hill reflects the wealth and prestige of Portage's early prominent families who lived here because of its convenience to the downtown and the railroad. Located just south of the large Chicago, Milwaukee, and St. Paul Railroad complex, the district housed many . . . — Map (db m20042) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Portage — 512 — Zona Gale |
| | Zona Gale was born August 26, 1874, in Portage. She graduated in 1899 from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a Masters in Literature. Gale then spent six years as a journalist in Milwaukee and New York.
Her visits to Portge proved a turning point, when Gale discovered that the people of her hometown were a source of literary material. She traveled frequently, returning to Portage and living with her parents in a home at 506 W. Edgewater that included a study of her own . . . — Map (db m20009) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Poynette — 29 — John Muir View |
| | John Muir (1838-1914), world famous naturalist and "father of the national park system," often stopped to rest and admire this view as he walked from his home in Marquette County to the University of Wisconsin. Muir loved the wilderness from which his parents carved a farm and home, first at Fountain Lake, later at Hickory Hill, about 20 miles north from here (south of Montello). When he left Hickory Hill to enroll at the University, Muir's love for nature was matched only by his genius for . . . — Map (db m20148) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Poynette — 259 — Rest Areas on the I-Roads |
| | Early roadside rest areas were rural school grounds and country churchyards with their two little houses in back.
In Wisconsin, by 1920, curves were built to eliminate sharp road corners. Local garden clubs, with the American Legion and Auxiliary, began to beautify many of the resulting triangles with flowers and shrubs. Motorists used these places to relax and picnic.
In 1931 the Wisconsin Legislature authorized highway beautification, and later the familiar waysides - small . . . — Map (db m22690) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Rio — Samuel & Chloe Leonard Doud — 1793 – 1860 · 1791 – 1874 |
| |
In memory of
Samuel & Chloe Leonard Doud
1793 – 1860 · 1791 – 1874
Donors of Ohio Cemetery
First burial their grandson
Winfield Doud 1848
– 1955 – — Map (db m25656) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — Bailey’s Eddy – Municipal Dock — Kilbourn Landmark |
| | This natural harbor is named for Gen. Joseph Bailey, original owner of the property. It has been the gateway to the magnificent dells of Wisconsin for millions of visitors for over 100 years. Sight-seeing boats have developed from spoon-oared rowboats of the 1850’s, through steamboats, wooden naptha, and gasoline launches to the present steel fleet. — Map (db m7757) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — Bailey's Landing — (A Landmark Store) |
| | This building was constructed on the home site of General Joseph Bailey Civil War hero and a founder of Kilbourn City (now Wisconsin Dells) in 1856. Bailey became a national Civil War hero in 1864 when Porter's Red River Fleet was stranded in low water. Using raftsmen's techniques learned in this area, Bailey freed the fleet, saving the Union two million dollars and shortening the war by two years.
This property was leased from Jack and Ben Olson by Arnold Borcher Co. in 1978, remodeled . . . — Map (db m7966) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — Belle Boyd — Kilbourn Landmark |
| |
Born May 9, 1844 in Martinsburg, VA.
Died June 11, 1900 at Kilbourn, WI.
On May 23, 1862 at the Battle of Front Royal, VA., Belle Boyd, then 18, ran across the battlefield between the firing lines with information for Gen. Stonewall Jackson on the disposition of Union troops. With this information Jackson broke through and captured Front Royal, Union forces under Gen. Banks were driven from the Shenandoah Valley.
"One God, One Flag, One People – Forever" – Belle Boyd — Map (db m8023) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — First Evangelical Lutheran Church |
| |
This marks the site of the
First Evangelical Lutheran Church
in Moe Settlement
1863 — 1892 — Map (db m8172) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — H. H. Bennett Studio — Kilbourn Landmark — America’s Oldest Photographic Studio · Established in 1865 |
| | This building was constructed in 1875 by Henry Hamilton Bennett, pioneer landscape photographer, nationally known for his artistry, technical excellence and inventive genius. His views of this area brought the earliest tourists to his beloved Dells of Wisconsin. Generations of Bennetts have continued his work. — Map (db m7851) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — Kilbourn City — Kilbourn Landmark |
| | The first bridge on this site, a wooden structure, was completed in 1857. Byron Kilbourn, land speculator and politician promoted the site. Through his influence the LaCrosse and Milwaukee Railroad crossed the river here instead of at Newport, 2 miles downstream. Newport quickly became a ghost town.
Not a modest man, Kilbourn had the city named after him. Kilbourn City retained that name until 1931 when the townspeople renamed it Wisconsin Dells, more in keeping with the scenic river . . . — Map (db m8047) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — 177 — Kingsley Bend Indian Mounds |
| | The mounds of this group are a fairly representative sample of those built by the people of the Effigy Mound Culture between A.D. 700-1000. It has been through excavation of other burial mounds quite similar to these that archeologists have learned most of what they know about the people who built them. These people lived by hunting, fishing and gathering wild vegetable foods. They practiced little if any agriculture.
There was usually only a single burial in mounds such as these, but in . . . — Map (db m7731) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wisconsin Dells — 447 — Stroud Bank |
| | Perry G. Stroud, a young attorney from New York, established this early bank in Kilbourn City, now Wisconsin Dells, in ca. 1870. Over his thirty-year career as the town's first attorney, Stroud preserved much of the city's early documentary history. Here, his bank still stands with its original brick front and vault. — Map (db m7850) |
| Wisconsin (Columbia County), Wyocena — 467 — Major Elbert Dickason / Dickason's "Hotel" |
| |
Major Elbert Dickason
Major Elbert Dickason founder of Wyocena, was born in Virginia in 1799. He moved to Illinois where he joined their militia during the Black Hawk War. Representing a Milwaukee land investor, he founded Columbus in 1839. When his ventures failed in 1843, he moved with his wife Obedience and family to Wyocena. He purchased land for $1.25 per acre, built a cabin, and surveyed, platted, and named the future settlement.
Dickason's "Hotel"
Major Elbert . . . — Map (db m22839) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Ferryville — Patrick Joseph Lucey — Governor of Wisconsin, 1971 – 1977 |
| | Patrick J. Lucey was born in La Crosse on March 21, 1918, to Ferryville parents, Gregory C. and Ella McNamara Lucey. He was educated at Campion Academy, College of St. Thomas, and the University of Wisconsin.
Lucey served in the U.S. Army during World War II and earned a bachelor's degree in 1946 from the University of Wisconsin. Lucey began his political career while managing his father's many businesses and agricultural interests in and around Ferryville. In 1947, Lucey was elected to . . . — Map (db m24271) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Gays Mills — 23 — Gays Mills Apple Orchards |
| | Farmers in this area learned early that the land on both sides of the Kickapoo River offered excellent conditions for apple-growing. In 1905 John Hays and Ben Twining collected apples from eight or ten farmers around Gays Mills for exhibit at the State Fair. The exhibit won first prize, then went on to capture first honors in a national apple show in New York. This experience prompted the Wisconsin State Horticultural Society to urge a project of "trial orchards" around the state to interest . . . — Map (db m31676) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Lynxville — 149 — Rafting on the Mississippi |
| | After 1837 the vast timber resources of northern Wisconsin were eagerly sought by settlers moving into the mid-Mississippi valley. By 1847 there were more than thirty saw-mills on the Wisconsin, Chippewa, and St. Croix river systems, cutting largely Wisconsin white pine.
During long winter months, logging crews felled and stacked logs on the frozen rivers. Spring thaws flushed the logs down the streams toward the Mississippi River. Here logs were caught, sorted, scaled and rafted. Between . . . — Map (db m23456) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Prairie du Chien — 473 — Villa Louis |
| | This hilltop mansion commands a sweeping view of a landscape steeped in history. Descendants of pioneer fur trader Hercules Dousman built the house in 1870 atop a mound overlooking the Mississippi River, which drew European explores to this spot in the 17th century. By the beginning of the Revolutionary War, fur traders and native tribes met here to trade goods. The fur trade sparked a clash of armies on this site in the only battle of the War of 1812 fought on Wisconsin soil. It also brought . . . — Map (db m23586) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Prairie du Chien — 10 — Villa Louis |
| | On the site of old Fort Crawford, Col. Hercules Louis Dousman, important agent in John J. Astor's fur company, built his "house on the mound" in 1843. Later it was named Villa Louis. Today this luxurious mansion appears much as it did in the days when it was a brilliant center of social activity, even while the pioneer lived side by side with the Indians. — Map (db m23589) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Prairie du Chien — 142 — War of 1812 |
| | Although Prairie du Chien belonged to the United States after the American Revolution, its pioneer residents were tied by trade, tradition and family to the French-British community at Mackinac and to the St. Lawrence River ports.
During the War of 1812, Gov. William Clark of Missouri recognized the strategic importance of Prairie du Chien's location, and sent about 150 soldiers to build a fort here. When it was dedicated June 19, 1814, the American flag was raised for the first time over . . . — Map (db m23591) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Rising Sun — 10 CVP — Black Hawk Trail |
| |
700 Sac Indians July 31,
1200 Soldiers Aug. 1, 1832
followed this ridge west
into Vernon County over this
ground.
_____________________
Two human skeletons were
found at a spring west of
Wilder's Hotel, Rising
Sun in 1852.
Nancy Wilber authority
1892
No. 10 1930 C. V. P. — Map (db m32003) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Rolling Ground — Beauford T. Anderson |
| | Technical Sergeant, U.S. Army, 381st Infantry, 96th Infantry Division, was born at Eagle, WI. on July 6th, 1922. He entered the service at Soldiers Grove, WI. in October, 1942. While serving his country in Okinawa, Japan, Beauford T. Anderson displayed conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the call of duty. When a powerfully conducted predawn Japanese counterattack struck his units flank, he ordered his men to take cover in an old tomb, and then, . . . — Map (db m32769) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Soldiers Grove — 112 — James Davidson |
| | Product of a small American community, James 0. Davidson's life illustrates the romance of citizenship in a democracy. Born 1854 in Norway, where he received little formal education, he emigrated in 1872 and was a farmer and tailor before coming in 1877 to Soldiers Grove. A leading merchant here for twenty-three years, "Yim" was village president, village treasurer, assemblyman, state treasurer and lieutenant-governor before he attained the governorship, 1906-1911. As governor, he introduced . . . — Map (db m31671) |
| Wisconsin (Crawford County), Soldiers Grove — 405 — Soldiers Grove Origin |
| | In late July, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Sac Indian leader Black Hawk led his starving followers through this area in their escape from the General Henry Atkinson and his military forces. After Black Hawk's brilliant delaying tactics at the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, he fled with his band towards the Mississippi River. On August 1st, in their pursuit of Black Hawk, about 1,300 United States army and militia, including notable future leaders, Col. Zachary Taylor, Col. Henry Dodge and . . . — Map (db m31659) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Black Earth — Vermont Creek |
| | This once clear tributary to the Wisconsin River now carries tons of soil from croplands on ridges and slopes. Silver maples, willows and box elders grow on the soil deposited by erosion. The low peaty meadows on both sides of the creek serve as a sponge by trapping silt and providing a steady supply of cleaner water to the creek, enabling some trout to survive.
Springtime brings a gala display as the yellow marsh marigold and blue flags bloom to a chorus of frogs and toads amid the humps . . . — Map (db m31832) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Blue Mounds — Blue Mounds Fort |
| | The onset of the Black Hawk War in northwestern Illinois in April, 1832 triggered panic in southwestern Wisconsin's lead mining region, prompting erection of over a dozen stockades. On an open prairie knoll 3/4 mile south of this marker, area miners and settlers who became part of Col. Henry Dodge's militia built Blue Mounds Fort. Here the Hall sisters, survivors of the Indian Creek massacre, were released for ransom through Winnebago intercession. W.G. Aubrey, George Force and Emerson Green . . . — Map (db m32073) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Blue Mounds — Brigham Park |
| | Ebenezer Brigham (1789-1861), first permanent white settler of Dane County, came here as a prospector in 1828. The inn he built for his miners became popular with travelers on the old Military Road, and Blue Mounds became a well-known landmark. Ebenezer Brigham was a colonel in the Black Hawk War and was prominent in Wisconsin's territorial affairs and early statehood. Charles Brigham came to Blue Mounds in 1886. He became a leader in dairying and soil conservation, and in the religious, . . . — Map (db m32105) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Blue Mounds — Brigham Park |
| | You are looking north from the Military Ridge toward Mazomanie, which lies in the Wisconsin River Valley. Beyond the Wisconsin River bluffs, on a clear day, the higher Baraboo Hills can be seen 35 miles away. These hills, with some of the oldest rock on the continent, are fronted by the younger river bluffs of even height. Capped by the hard Prairie du Chien dolomite rock, the bluffs are the remains of an old "peneplain", a land worn flat by many years of erosion. The contour strip farming . . . — Map (db m32113) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Cross Plains — Festge Park |
| | You are looking across a deep preglacial valley. Once glacial meltwaters drained west to the Wisconsin River, depositing sand and gravel brought south to Middleton by the giant ice sheets. Today, winding through this unglaciated outwash plain is Black Earth Creek -- Dane County's most productive trout stream.
Although aided by fish stocking and habitat improvement, the creek's greatest asset is the abundant flow of cold spring water filtering through the gravel. This rapid flow turns high . . . — Map (db m31830) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Cross Plains — 15 — Haney's Tavern |
| | In 1838 at the foot of this bluff Berry Haney, a migrant from Cross Plains, Tennessee, established the Cross Plains Post Office in a log house. Early Cross Plains was the site of important military road crossings and Haney became the pioneer village's best known settler. One mile east stands Haney's Tavern, one of Dane County's oldest existing buildings, later used as a farm home. The tavern, built from native stone, was erected for Haney in 1840 by the Birds, builders also of Madison's first . . . — Map (db m32617) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Fitchburg — Dogtown - Fish Hatchery School — District No. 9 — 1860-1919 |
| | Originally at the NW corner of Fish Hatchery and Lacy Roads, the Dogtown School was later relocated ½ mile north and called the Fish Hatchery School. The Gorman Family relocated and restored the one room schoolhouse on this site in 1989. — Map (db m26762) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Fitchburg — Dogtown - Fish Hatchery School — District No. 9 — 1860-1962 |
| | Originally at the NW corner of Fish Hatchery and Lacy Roads, the Dogtown School was later relocated ½ mile north and called the Fish Hatchery School. In 1919 a new building was built at the original site. This building burned in 1937. A third building was constructed after the fire. The original school was moved to Whalen Road in 1989. — Map (db m26765) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Fitchburg — 364 — The McCoy Farmhouse |
| | Located on one of Dane County's earliest and most successful tobacco farms, the cream-brick-Italianate McCoy Farmhouse was built by Benjamin Brown in 1861. Tobacco growing began here in 1853 and boomed during the Civil War when Southern tobacco became unavailable in the North. In 1949, microbiologist Elizabeth McCoy, renowned for her work in bacteria toxins, and botulism, purchased the property. After her death in 1978, the farmhouse was named in her honor and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. — Map (db m33682) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — "Let The Great Spirits Soar" |
| | This memorial, carved by Harry R. Whitehorse from a storm-damaged hackberry tree, honors his Indian ancestors and is a tribute to the Effigy Mound Builders. Sculpture funded by City of Madison Committee for the Arts Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission and neighbors Dedicated May 19, 1991 — Map (db m33497) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 84 — 9XM - WHA — "The Oldest Station in the Nation" |
| | On this campus pioneer research and experimentation in "wireless" led to successful transmissions of voice and music in 1917, and the beginning of broadcasting on a scheduled basis in 1919.
Experimental station 9XM transmitted telegraphic signals from Science Hall until 1917 when it was moved to Sterling Hall. In that year professor Earle M. Terry and students built and operated a "wireless telephone" transmitter.
In 1918, during World War I, when other stations were ordered silenced, . . . — Map (db m33629) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — A Grand Experiment — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | Fed up with the formalities of traditional education, Professor Alexander Meikeljohn decided in 1927 to try something new, converting a university residence hall into an "Experimental College." Students took no tests and received no grades, but instead participated in discussions, plays, performances and other activities that integrated learning into their daily lives. Although the college lasted only five years, it created a powerful legacy. Decades later, when universities across the nation . . . — Map (db m31986) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — A Stage for All — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | Not long after she was denied permission to perform in the D.A.R. Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., because she was African-American, famous singer Marian Anderson found welcome at the University of Wisconsin. She sang at the Memorial Union in 1939, headlining the inaugural season of performances in the Wisconsin Union Theater, the first cultural center to be opened in a university union. Over the years, the theater established itself as a showcase for great performers from all cultures, . . . — Map (db m32697) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Anton F. and Mary Kubicek Duplex |
| | Anton F. and Mary Kubicek Duplex
1926
is listed in the State Register of Historic Places — Map (db m23740) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 65 — B. B. Clarke House — Claude and Starck — 1899 |
| | One of Claude and Starck's earliest designs, this Queen Anne house has a Gothic theme, with pointed-arched windows and steeply pitched roofs. It was designed for B. B. Clarke, who earned a fortune in Indiana by manufacturing threshing machines before he moved to Madison in 1890. From 1898 to his death in 1929, Clarke published The American Thresherman, an influential international journal specializing in the development and use of farm machinery. — Map (db m32867) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 8 — Bashford House — 1856-7 |
| | This house is an example of the towered Italian Villa style executed in sandstone. Its square, hipped roof, three story tower, or campanile, is unique among old Madison residences. The house was first occupied by H. K. Lawrence, banker and secretary of the Madison and Watertown Railroad. Robert M. Bashford, elected Mayor of Madison in 1890, moved into the house in that year. — Map (db m32466) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Bear — Wah-Zhe-Dah |
| | Common type of ancient Indian mound - length 82 feet — Map (db m33425) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 94 — Bear and Lynx Effigy Mounds — 500-1000 A.D. |
| | These mounds were constructed by a people of a hunting and gathering culture who met periodically at ceremonial grounds like this one to bury their dead. — Map (db m33501) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 55 — Biederstaedt – Breitenbach Grocery — 1874 |
| | A store with a residence above was a common pattern in nineteenth century Madison. This brick structure was erected as a saloon and grocery for Charles Biederstaedt. Built in a high Victorian Italianate mode, it replaced an earlier structure. In 1891 Bavarian immigrant George C. Breitenbach took over the store. — Map (db m33233) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Bird Effigy |
| | Common type of Indian emblematic mound: Body 52½ feet, wingspread formerly about 133 feet — Map (db m33423) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 34 — Bird Effigy Mound — 500-1000 A.D. |
| | This mound was constructed by people of a hunting and gathering culture who met periodically at ceremonial grounds like this one to bury their dead. — Map (db m33532) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Black Hawk — Sauk Chief |
| | Black Hawk, Sauk chief, retreated through these grounds July 21, 1832 pursued by militia and U.S. regulars. — Map (db m32247) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Born in Madison, the Wisconsin Idea changed the nation — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | In the early 20th century, experts from around the country came to study Wisconsin’s “laboratory of democracy.” The state’s Progressive politicians, led by “Fighting Bob”—Governor Robert La Follette Sr.—were using government in creative new ways. Progressives sought to improve the quality of people’s lives and to limit the power of large corporations. Beginning in 1903, La Follette asked University of Wisconsin experts for help solving society’s problems. . . . — Map (db m32939) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Breese Stevens Field |
| | Madison's oldest sports park is named for Breese Stevens (1834-1903). A New York native, he came to Wisconsin in 1856 to look after family landed interests. Stevens became Mayor of Madison in 1884, UW Regent in 1891, and Doctor of Law in 1902. Until the mid-1960s, this was the only city park with lights. Almost all major outdoor events took place here, including major and minor league baseball, all Madison high school football games and midget car racing. The city purchased the land in 1923 . . . — Map (db m32639) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 49 — Brittingham Boat House — Ferry & Clas — 1910 |
| | The construction of this public boat house represents the spirit of municipal improvement that infused this city at the turn of the century. The parkland and its model facilities were created through the generosity of lumberman Thomas E. Brittingham and the hard work of a private group, The Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, headed by John M. Olin. George B. Ferry and Alfred C. Clas were distinguished Milwaukee architects known here for their design of the State Historical Society Building. — Map (db m32456) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 111 — Camp Randall |
| | From these historic grounds went forth Wisconsin's sons to fight for the preservation of the nation in the American Civil War -- 1861-1865. More than 70,000 men trained for service within the boundaries of this camp named after Alexander W. Randall, a wartime governor.
Originally comprising 53½ acres and owned by the estate of William D. Bruen, the tract was leased to the State Agricultural Society in 1859. When war came in April 1861, the land was turned over to the state as a . . . — Map (db m31743) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Capitol Square has long been the heart of the city — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | Even before Madison was founded, people met to exchange money and merchandise not far from this spot. Five hundred Ho-Chunk camped near the square in 1832 to swap furs for trader Oliver Armel’s goods. People began building businesses on Capitol Square in 1837. The first settlers lived on King Street, and downtown centered on the intersection of King, Main and Pinckney streets. The earliest hotels appeared on Pinckney Street, to host visiting legislators and government officials, and James . . . — Map (db m33482) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Ceramic Arts Studio of Madison |
| | Once located at this site on North Blount Street, the Ceramic Arts Studio of Madison operated from 1940 until its closing in 1956. Founded by Lawrence Rabbitt and Reuben Sand, the company was one of the largest manufacturers of figurines in the world and distributed up to 500,000 pieces annually. The vases, figurines, and salt and pepper sets, designed chiefly by Betty Harrington, were known nationally for their great originality and consistently high standards of manufacture. — Map (db m31833) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Chamberlin Rock |
| | This tablet commemorates the services to Wisconsin of Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, leader in science and education, State Geologist of Wisconsin, 1873-1882, President of the University, 1887-1892. As State Geologist he conducted a survey distinguished for high scientific and economic value. As President he made the spirit of research effective in the organization and life of the University. He first distinguished and named the drifts left in this region by successive ice advances. This . . . — Map (db m32249) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 86 — City Horse Barn — Built 1910-1914 |
| | This simple brick structure is a rare survivor of the horse-and-wagon era. Built as part of the old city yards, the barn housed up to nine draft horses whose job it was to pull maintenance and service vehicles. Each of the nine windows on the Dayton Street side provided light and air to a separate horse stall. Doors under the arches at each end led to the haymow. In the 1930s the barn was converted into offices. The Madison Mutual Housing Association renovated it into offices and two apartments in 1987. — Map (db m32640) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 50 — City Market — 1909 — Robert L. Wright |
| | The City Market reflects the active civic improvement work in Madison at the turn of the century. Like other public projects, the Market was intended to enhance the advantages of city life. The building design by Madison architect Robert L. Wright is a unique example of the Prairie School style. Set out on an I-plan, its horizontality is emphasized by wide roof overhangs and by cement stringcourses through bichrome brick walls. — Map (db m32638) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Conical Mound — 0 - 400 A.D. |
| | This mound was constructed by a people of a hunting and gathering culture who met periodically at ceremonial grounds like this one to bury their dead. — Map (db m33245) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 56 — Curtis-Kittleson House — 1901 |
| | William D. Curtis commissioned the architectural firm of J. O. Gordon and F. W. Paunack to design this imposing brick house with Queen Anne style. Hallmarks of the style include the complex shape, wide veranda and corner tower, highlighted by eclectic and finely-crafted details. Curtis was the manager of the local horse collar pad factory founded by his father, Dexter Curtis. He also served one term as the mayor (1904-1906). I. M. Kittleson, who served three terms as Madison's mayor from 1920 to 1925, bought the house in 1949. — Map (db m32670) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Discovering Vitamins and Trace Minerals — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | By feeding diets of single grains to sixteen dairy heifers, University of Wisconsin scientists under the direction of biochemist E.B. Hart in 1907 set the stage for the discovery of vitamins and essential trace minerals. These feeding experiments revealed that micro-components other than fats, proteins, carbohydrates, and salts were necessary for life and reproduction. These missing components were later shown to be vitamins and essential minerals such as iron, copper, and iodine. The . . . — Map (db m32356) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Disease-Resistant Plants — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | At the end of the 19th century, a fungal infection called cabbage yellows threatened the entire Wisconsin cabbage crop. University of Wisconsin plant pathologist John C. Walker solved the problem by developing strains of cabbage resistant to the fungus. This was the first of many successful research efforts that later developed disease resistance in onions, potatoes, beans, peas, and cucumbers. Fifty-two of his 101 years of life were devoted to studying plant diseases at the University of Wisconsin. — Map (db m32398) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 19 — Edgewood |
| | This marks the site of two structures that together spanned 114 years of Dane County history.
Overlooking Lake Wingra, Edgewood Villa was built in 1855 for New York lawyer, John Ashmead. In 1856, Samuel Marshall, co-founder of the Marshall and Ilsley banking firm, acquired the home and the surrounding 55 acres. Governor Cadwallader C. Washburn purchased the property in 1873, and the Villa served as the Executive Residence for the remainder of his term.
In 1881, Washburn deeded the . . . — Map (db m33519) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Edna Taylor Conservation Park |
| | Edna E.E. Taylor was a teacher, writer and, in her later years, a dairy farmer. A believer in "Sensible Ecology" she proposed to sell 37 of her 98 acres of land to the city of Madison. Added to 10 adjacent acres already held by the city and 11 acres purchased from other owners, the land, which includes a spring, a glacial drumlin, indian mounds, a marsh, and oak stands, would form a conservation park to be enjoyed by future generations. The city purchased the land in 1972, four months after Taylor's death. — Map (db m33322) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 38 — Fess Hotel — 1858, 1901 |
| | A hotel for the common man throughout its history, the nineteenth century facade of the Fess remains a reminder of the commercial character of the King Street and Doty Street area. George Fess, the original proprieter of the hotel, catered to travelers on the nearby railroad lines and to weekly boarders. After a remodeling in 1901 by architects J.O. Gordon and F. W. Paunack, the lodging was known for a decade as the Central Hotel, though it remained in the Fess family until recently. — Map (db m32944) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — First Reliable Test of Milk Quality — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | A milestone in modern dairying was the development of a simple and accurate measure of the butterfat content of milk. University of Wisconsin biochemist Stephen M. Babcock in 1890 developed the test that made him internationally famous and revolutionized milk production and marketing. The test provided a rational basis of milk evaluation, and prompted better breeding, feeding, and milk production practices. Babcock instructed dairy farmers in the use of the test, which led to the start of the nation's first dairy manufacturing short course. — Map (db m32385) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Forging Agrarian Democracy — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | The modern discipline of agricultural and applied economics owes much to University of Wisconsin scholars Henry C. Taylor and Benjamin H. Hibbard for their seminal work on the economic, political, and social meaning of land ownership. Agricultural economists Kenneth H. Parsons and Raymond J. Penn continued and deepened Wisconsin's commitment to the traditions of land and institutional economics, emphasizing land-use planning and resources policy, public interest in private land, and the role of . . . — Map (db m32806) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage / Frank J. Hess, Cooper — 1904 - 1966 / 1870 - 1958 |
| | Side A The Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage became Wisconsin's largest independent family-owned cooperage, manufacturing quarter-sawn white oak beer, wine, and whiskey barrels. The two factory buildings located near the railroad tracks were behind the family home, which stood at 1952 Atwood Avenue. At its peak, the Hess Cooperage could manufacture 40 barrels a day. When it closed in 1966, it was the last factory in America that manufactured white oak beer kegs. Side B
Frank . . . — Map (db m31788) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 23 — Gates of Heaven Synagogue — 1863 |
| | Gates of Heaven was designed for Madison's first Jewish congregation by local architect August Kutzbock in the German Romanesque style. Kutzbock also used this distinctive style for the Pierce and Keenan houses at Pinckney and Gilman. The building later served as the first Unitarian Society Meeting House, the Women's Christian Temperance Union, other churches and a funeral home. In 1971 it was saved from demolition through the efforts of local citizens and moved from its original location at 214 W. Washington Ave. — Map (db m32381) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Gay Liberation Sculpture |
| | In 1984, the George Segal sculpture, Gay Liberation, was placed on this site through the efforts of the gay and lesbian community and the New Harvest Foundation. In 1991, the sculpture was moved to its original intended home in New York City's Christopher Park. It is missed. This installation commemorates the sculpture and honors the ongoing liberation of lesbians and gay men. — Map (db m32943) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Genetically Superior Crops — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | University of Wisconsin geneticist R.A. Brink brought hybrid corn to Wisconsin, releasing the state's first hybrid for production in 1933. Eight years later ninety percent of Wisconsin corn was hybrid. Soon the yield per acre was tripled. Brink also developed a strain of alfalfa that could survive freezing weather. This strain, Vernal, soon became the leading variety in the nation. Throughout his career, Brink remained involved in basic research. His best-known efforts focused on transposable . . . — Map (db m32396) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 5 — Gilmore House — 1908 — Frank Lloyd Wright |
| | This residence, called the "Airplane House," illustrates the essence of the Prairie School style of architecture. The strong feeling of horizontally is given by sweeping eaves; banded, leaded casement windows; horizontal wood trim; and site placement. Wright, the most outspoken of the Prairie architects, designed this house for attorney Eugene A. Gilmore at a time when prevailing architectural forms were derived from historical styles. — Map (db m32504) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Global Vision — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | In 1961, more than 100 University of Wisconsin students and graduates applied to spend two years volunteering in some of the world's neediest countries as part of a new program known as the Peace Corps. Their participation began a long relationship between the University of Wisconsin and the Peace Corps, symbolic of the university's deep commitment to helping uncover and solve international problems. This university was one of the first to train these volunteers, and it has traditionally sent . . . — Map (db m31951) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Governor Leonard Farwell lived here, in his octagonal mansion — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | Madison was little more than a few buildings and a swamp in 1847 when Leonard Farwell bought large amounts of land here. Orphaned at 11, Farwell built a very successful hardware business in Milwaukee while still in his 20s. He would soon transform Madison and Wisconsin. Farwell built Williamson and Winnebago streets and East Washington Avenue, and straightened the Yahara River between lakes Mendota and Monona. He dammed Lake Mendota to harness power for the first mill. He supported and created . . . — Map (db m32953) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 45 — Grace Episcopal Church — 1855-58 — James Douglas |
| | Designed by Milwaukee architect James Douglas, and constructed of local sandstone, Grace Episcopal Church is a distinguished example of the Gothic Revival style. Inspired by early English models, the corner tower contains a full carillon of bells. An ecclesiastical landmark on the Capitol Square for over a century, this building houses the oldest parish in the City of Madison, founded in 1838. — Map (db m33076) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 28 — Greenbush |
| | Once a marshy area off the shores of Lake Monona, this triangular shaped neighborhood became a dream for Italian immigrants during the early 1900's. Greenbush developed into one of America's countless Little Italys, complemented with Jewish, Black and Irish families and other ethnic groups. Cattails were replaced with homes, gardens, fruit trees and grapevines. Businesses, schools and places of worship created a bond within borders of Park and Regent Streets and West Washington Avenue and . . . — Map (db m32636) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Harvey Hospital |
| | On this city block stood, during the Civil War, Harvey Hospital, and later the Wisconsin Soldiers' Orphans' Home, both established through the influence of Mrs. Cordelia P. Harvey, whose honored husband, Governor Louis R. Harvey, had, April 19, 1862, been accidentally drowned in Tennessee River, near Pittsburgh Landing, Tenn., where, after the Battle of Shiloh, he went with supplies for the comfort of sick and wounded Wisconsin soldiers. — Map (db m33010) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Here was Madison's first African-American neighborhood — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | John Hill first set eyes on Madison while visiting a relative who was attending the University of Wisconsin. He moved his family here from Atlanta in 1910 to join a modest community of about 140 African Americans. In 1917, Hill bought a house and attached grocery store at Dayton and Blount streets from Reverend Charles Thomas, pastor of St. Paul’s African Methodist Episcopal Church. Thomas had purchased the building, formerly used as a boarding house and meeting hall, from civic leader John . . . — Map (db m33612) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Heritage of the Hill |
| | Madison developers Delaplaine and Burdick erected the three-story Lakeside Water Cure here in 1854. This unsuccessful venture closed after three years and re-opened in 1866 as a summer resort hotel. Known as the "Newport of the West," it appealed to wealthy families from St. Louis and farther south. Fire destroyed it in 1877.
The Wisconsin Sunday School Assembly purchased the 28-acre parcel in 1881 to provide families with two weeks of entertainment and inspiration. Dozens of canvas tents . . . — Map (db m32955) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 40 — Hyer - Jaquish Hotel — 1854 |
| | Built in a vernacular that borrows both from Greek revival and Italianate sources, this brick structure was the front section of a larger Farmers’ and Railway hotel. Such hotels offered lodging to boarders and travelers in the nineteenth century. David Hyer came to the nascent village of Madison in 1837. In 1855 he sold the hotel to Henry C. Jaquish who operated it until a fire destroyed the rear portion of the building in 1874. — Map (db m32454) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Indian Mounds |
| | One of the several groups of prehistoric burial, linear and effigy mounds formerly located on the crest of the Monona-Wingra ridge, several of these were surveyed by Increase Lapham, in 1850. Village site was in the park below. Marked for the Wisconsin Archaeological Society by W.W. Warner, 1914. — Map (db m33504) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 90 — Italian Workmen's Club — 1922/1936 |
| | One of the few buildings remaining from the original Italian community in Greenbush, the Italian Workmen's Club was constructed by volunteer labor in 1922, with a major renovation in 1936. John Icke, local contractor and benefactor of the Italian community, assisted in the construction. The Club was founded in 1912 as a mutual benefit society for Madison's Italian families. The Club, still thriving, provides charitable benefits to its members, along with social activities such as the annual "Festa Italia." — Map (db m32642) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 24 — Jacobs House I — 1937 — Frank Lloyd Wright |
| | Built for Herbert Jacobs, Madison journalist, this L-plan structure is the first of Wright's Usonian houses designed for middle income families. The horizontal emphasis of the earlier Prairie School style is evident. Innovative construction techniques used in this house include a masonry core, pre-fabricated sandwich dry walls, elimination of basement and attic spaces, and heat conduits in a concrete slab floor. — Map (db m33500) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — John A. Johnson made Madison's Factory District Flourish — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | John A. Johnson made a bold move when he co-founded an agricultural implement company in Madison in 1880. Many civic leaders opposed manufacturing, fearing the workers would lower the city's moral and intellectual tone.
But Johnson proved his critics wrong. As president of Fuller and Johnson Manufacturing Company, he shared profits and decision-making with his employees, and provided them with affordable rental housing. Johnson's prosperous workers and impressive profits demonstrated that . . . — Map (db m32919) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 59 — John George Ott House — 1873 |
| | The Ott house is one of the finest High Victorian houses in Madison and the grandest remaining 19th century mansion in the Third Lake Ridge Historic District. German craftsmen probably executed the intricate woodwork on porches and bays, detailed brickwork and carved stone trim. Arriving here from Switzerland in 1850, Ott rose to prominence in business, ethnic, and civic affairs. He served his neighborhood as alderman and county supervisor and led the campaign to turn the old village cemetery into Orton Park. — Map (db m32699) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — John Nolen Causeway |
| | This causeway overlooking Lake Monona and downtown Madison is named after John Nolen (1869-1937). A nationally known landscape architect, Nolen was retained by the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association to study ways to make the city more functional and beautiful. In his book "Madison, A Model City" (1911), Nolen encouraged public action and support in park development, and made recommendations in the areas of housing, transportation, and land use controls. Over the course of several . . . — Map (db m32731) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 18 — Joseph Stoner House — 1858 |
| | This simple Italianate sandstone house, constructed in a masonry pattern peculiar to southern Wisconsin, was built for undersheriff, jailor, and horse dealer Andrew Bishop. It was later owned by W. B. Jarvis, lawyer and land speculator. In the period 1863 to 1867, local grocer Robert Nichols lived in the house. In 1868, Joseph Stoner, a picture salesman, bought the residence and lived here for more than a decade. — Map (db m32441) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 3 — Keenan House — 1858 |
| | Originally built in the early Romanesque Revival style, this house was altered in 1870 by the addition of a mansard roof. The Milwaukee cream brick structure was built for, but never occupied by, Napolean Bonaparte Van Slyke, first cashier of the Dane County Bank. James Robbins, Catfish River flouring mill operator, was its first owner-occupant in 1865. Dr. George Keenan, prominent Madison surgeon, lived in the house from 1900-1916. — Map (db m32383) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 10 — Kendall House — 1855 |
| | Pioneer banker J. E. Kendall built this two-and-one half story Italianate home in 1855. The mansard roof of the Second French Empire style was added between 1872 and 1879. This house stands as one of the four corner houses on Big Bug Hill, also called Aristocrat Hill, Yankee Hill, and Mansion Hill. It is one of many houses erected during the building mania of the middle years of the 1850's. — Map (db m32467) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 14 — Keystone House |
| | Squire William Pethrick, English barrister and gentleman farmer, used native stone and timber to build this house here in 1853 on 30 acres of land. Pethrick chose the site because he believed that Madison's State Street would eventually be extended to his home. Pethrick sold the property in 1876. Mrs. Freda Keys Winterble purchased it in 1943. She restored the home preserving its original architectural style and named it Keystone House. The Wis. Alumni Research Foundation purchased the . . . — Map (db m32470) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 52 — Kircher House — 1877 |
| | An example of a High Victorian Italianate style pattern book house design, this cream brick dwelling was built by John Kircher, a German carpenter and contractor, in 1892. After a decade of absentee ownership, the house was bought by Adolph Klose who built the cottage across the street and who was a tailor for Olson & Veerhusen Clothiers at that time. — Map (db m32730) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Lincoln Statue |
| | First Marker:
The original of this statue was provided by joint appropriations of the Congress of the United States and the State of Kentucky as a national memorial located in Hodgenville, Kentucky, Lincoln's native town. This, the only replica, was granted to this university through the courtesy and cordiality of the State of Kentucky in recognition of the living leadership of Lincoln's spirit to all of our sister states. The setting was provided by the State of Wisconsin . . . — Map (db m32091) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 93 — Lizard Effigy Mound — 500-1000 A.D. |
| | These mounds were constructed by a people of a hunting and gathering culture who met periodically at ceremonial grounds like this one to bury their dead. — Map (db m33503) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Lt. Gerald Stull USAF |
| | "On May 5, 1958, Lt. Gerald Stull USAF was returning to Truax Field from a training mission when his F-102A fighter jet faltered and headed toward the residential neighborhood along Hudson Park. Lt. Stull forced the jet back toward the lake, at which time he knew he would have to ditch the plane into the lake at a steep angle. He ejected upon impact and died as a result of injuries he sustained in the crash. His selfless heroism saved the lives of many and he is remembered and appreciated by everyone throughout this community." — Map (db m33246) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Madison is an Indian mound capital — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | At least 887 earthen Indian mounds once dotted the land around lakes Mendota, Monona, Wingra, Waubesa, and Kegonsa—so many that archaeologist Charles E. Brown once suggested Madison be renamed Mound City. Most southern Wisconsin mounds were constructed between 2,800 and 900 years ago. At first Indians shaped them into cones, and later into animal, spirit, and linear forms. Often built on high ground near water, the mounds were burial sites and probably served other ceremonial purposes. . . . — Map (db m32849) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Mass Production of Penicillin — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | During World War II countless lives were saved through the use of the antibiotic penicillin, a natural product of a mold. However, the drug became widely available only after a method was developed to mass-produce it from a selected and genetically altered strain of the mold. University of Wisconsin bacteriologist Kenneth B. Raper isolated a productive organism, botanist John F. Stauffer genetically modified it, and biochemists William H. Peterson and Marvin Johnson developed submerged . . . — Map (db m32572) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Nathan Dane |
| | Dane County was created by the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature in 1836. Judge James Doty had convinced the Legislature to select Madison as the Capital and name the surrounding county in honor of Nathan Dane, a compiler of the Ordinance of 1787, which established the Northwest Territory.
Doty told legislators, "Read the Ordinance of 1787 attentively -- it is the fundamental law of the country."
Dane was born in Massachusetts in 1752. He served in the Confederation Congress 1785-87. . . . — Map (db m31828) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 26 — Nathaniel Dean Farmhouse — 1856 |
| | A simple, flat-roofed brick structure with wood cornice and dentilation, this early Blooming Grove farmhouse was built for Nathaniel Dean, Madison dry goods merchant and real estate speculator. Dean, who lived in the house in the 1860's and the early 1870's, originally came to Madison in 1842. An active businessman and churchman, he also served as a regent of the University of Wisconsin. — Map (db m32457) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 202 — North Hall |
| | The first building erected by the University of Wisconsin-Madison was North Hall, opened as North Dormitory for men on September 17, 1851. It was built of Madison sandstone at a cost of $19,000. Initially, the first three floors housed from 50 to 65 students; the fourth floor was divided into six public rooms for lectures, recitations, and study.
The building was first heated by two hot-air furnaces. As an economy measure during the war (1865), stoves were placed in each room, and students . . . — Map (db m31583) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 7 — Old Governor's Mansion — 1855-56 |
| | Constructed of locally quarried sandstone and designed in the Italianate style, this house was originally built for Julius T. White, secretary of the Wisconsin Insurance Company. Governor Jeremiah Rusk acquired the house in 1883 and sold it to the state of Wisconsin two years later. It was the executive mansion for seventeen Wisconsin governors from 1885 to 1950. — Map (db m32459) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Old Spring Hotel — 1854 |
| | This Greek Revival house, also called Gorham’s Hotel, was a stagecoach stop on the Madison-Monroe Road for travelers to and from the western part of the state. The brick structure was built for Charles E. Morgan, Madison dry goods merchant. James W. Gorham bought the hotel shortly before the Civil War leaving his wife and children in the house when he went to battle. In later years the house achieved fame for its tollhouse cookies.
An earlier DAR plaque marks the same site (see picture . . . — Map (db m33617) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — On the Air — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | In 1919, a group of students and professors gathered in the basement of Sterling Hall to transmit some of the earliest educational programming over the airwaves. Their regular broadcasts became the foundation of WHA, one of the oldest radio stations in continuous operation in the United States. A pioneer in using this new medium to teach its listeners, the station aired lectures, lessons and the world's first on-air sing-along, led in 1922 by Edgar "Pop" Gordon. For decades, it brought the . . . — Map (db m31987) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 39 — Orton Park — 1887 |
| | Originally chosen as the site for the Village of Madison Cemetery in 1846, the fathers of the growing city decided to disinter the bodies buried here a decade later upon acquisition of the Forest Hill site. Named for Supreme Court Justice Harlow S. Orton, the park was the first municipal facility of its type. Official dedication occurred in 1887, being the culmination of a twelve-year effort by Sixth Warders led by John George Ott. — Map (db m32616) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Orton Park |
| | In 1887 this spot high over Lake Monona became the first Madison park. It is named in honor of Harlow S. Orton (1817-1895), Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice, Madison Mayor, Assemblyman, Circuit Court Judge, and University of Wisconsin Law School dean. As Madison Mayor and Common Council member, Orton cast the deciding vote that set aside this 3.5 acre area for park use. Formerly the Village of Madison Cemetery, by 1877 the burials had been moved to Forest Hill Cemetery. — Map (db m32646) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Outdoor markets are a Madison tradition — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | Located in one of the richest agricultural counties in the country, Madison has always been a market town. But the farming community was out of luck in 1872 when state officials banned the hitching of horses on the interior side of Capitol Square. Farmers had to find a new place to tie their horses when shopping downtown. They chose the first block of East Washington Avenue, and a popular farmers’ market soon developed there. The Madison Businessmen’s Club used the same site from 1890 to 1906 . . . — Map (db m33481) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Panther Mound |
| | To the native peoples who lived here, this water spirit represented the god of the underworld and has both spiritual and environmental significance. — Map (db m33514) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Paunack Park |
| | A.O. "Augie" Paunack (1879-1954) was a Madison native, the son of German immigrants. His business career began as a newspaper carrier and ended as the founder and president of the Commercial State Bank of Madison, a founder of radio station WIBA, and a builder of the old Capitol movie theater. The land was owned by his son, R.R. Paunack, who promoted the development and dedication of the property. — Map (db m31030) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 382 — Peck Cabin |
| | Once located here, Peck Cabin -- Madison's first residence, business and post office -- was built by entrepreneurs Ebenezer and Roseline Peck in 1837. Constructing their cabin with adjoining additions near the new territorial capitol site, the Pecks opened their building as a public house and provided food, drink and lodging to visitors and new arrivals. On July 4th, 1837, the Pecks hosted the capitol cornerstone-laying celebration. Robert Ream assumed the business in 1838, and the cabin . . . — Map (db m31701) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 2 — Pierce House — 1857 — Kutzbock & Donnel |
| | Built in the early Romanesque Revival style, this Prairie du Chien sandstone house exemplifies the ornate designs of local architects August Kutzbock and Samuel Donnel. In the 1850's and 60's, it was commissioned by Alexander A. McDonnell, contractor for the third State Capitol. Among later occupants of the house were Sarah Fairchild Dean Conover, a society dowager, and George Pierce, a power company executive. — Map (db m32384) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Pioneering Human Genetics — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | While a University of Wisconsin genetics professor from 1960 to 1988, Oliver Smithies pioneered the targeted genetic modification of mouse embryonic stem cells. This discovery led to the development of "knockout" mice, which became an indispensable tool for studying the function of mammalian genes and understanding the root causes of human diseases. His earlier invention of gel electrophoresis also led to numerous molecular biology discoveries, including the sequencing of the human genome. . . . — Map (db m32580) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Preventing Endemic Goiter — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | In regions distant from oceans, goiter once was a common disease of humans and animals. Goiter, manifested through an enlarged thyroid gland, is caused by a deficiency of iodine in the diet. University of Wisconsin biochemists Edwin B. Hart and Harry Steenbock in 1917 confirmed the cause of goiter. In 1939, Hart and his associates developed a process to stabilize added iodine in table salt. This provided an inexpensive and universal means to prevent goiter. — Map (db m32395) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Rasmus Björn Anderson — Teacher • Author • Diplomat |
| | Born of Norwegian parents in town of Albion, January 12, 1846 Member of the University faculty 1869-1883 United States Minister to Denmark 1885-1889 Died in Madison, Wisconsin, March 2, 1936 First Wisconsin-born professor on the University faculty First professor of Norwegian descent in an American university Founder of the first chair of Scandinavian languages in America "Urdar orgi kvedr engi madr" This native rock, which Anderson cherished for its likeness to a Viking ship, was removed . . . — Map (db m32739) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Reform and Revolt — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | University of Wisconsin students traditionally have been active in political and social causes, and that was never more apparent than during the turbulent 1960s. During that time, students frequently led rallies and demonstrations, many of which protested U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War. Those activities succeeded in mobilizing thousands for and against the war. The tensions and divisions on campus eventually devolved into violence, culminating with the bombing of Sterling Hall, which . . . — Map (db m31761) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 67 — Riley House — Frank M. Riley — 1908 |
| | This imposing house was the first of many fine Colonial Revival designs by Madison architect Frank Riley. It has the superb details and gracious proportions that were to become hallmarks of Riley's work. He designed this house for his parents, Edward and Eliza Riley, while he was living in Boston. Riley also lived in this house from his return to Madison in 1915 until his death in 1949. The Riley family was influential in East side real estate development and civic affairs. — Map (db m33470) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Robert E. Gard Memorial Storyteller's Circle |
| | Robert E. Gard (1910-1992) wrote, spoke, taught, and lived the Wisconsin Idea through community arts development. Convinced everyone has a story to tell, he envisioned a Wisconsin in which everyone wrote, painted, danced, acted or sang their story. His own writing captured Wisconsin's "sense of place" and history, and influenced national and international audiences. This Storyteller's Circle honors his work and invites future generations of story tellers. — Map (db m32937) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 42 — Robert Lamp House — 1903 |
| | This unusual midblock residence was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright for his boyhood friend, "Robie" Lamp, a realtor and insurance salesman. The simply, boxy shape of the house, with its open floor plan, was very modern for the time. Wright called it "New American" in style, while the diamond-paned casement windows were "Old English" in inspiration. The penthouse on the roof is a later addition, replacing an elegant roof garden complete with grape arbors and a greenhouse. Please respect the privacy of the residents. — Map (db m32412) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 51 — Sauthoff House — 1857 |
| | At the center of the Third Lake Ridge Germanic enclave were the Hannoverian merchant tailor Friedrich Sauthoff and his family. Sauthoff and his neighbor, Michael Zwank, a mason, built this house of molded red brick. Its sturdy vernacular style derives from the Greek Revival and Italianate. The house remained in the Sauthoff family until 1917. — Map (db m32701) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Scientific Approach to Agriculture — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | In 1893 the College of Agriculture's emerging science-based approach to agriculture was emphatically demonstrated to farmers and Wisconsin citizens by the postmortem verification of a tuberculosis test for cattle. Organized by University of Wisconsin bacteriologist Harry L. Russell, the slaughter of the exceptionally fine University dairy herd verified the accuracy of the test to a doubting audience. Acceptance of the test helped pave the way to control of tuberculosis in animals and humans. . . . — Map (db m32260) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Securing the Future — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | The Social Security system that became a cornerstone of Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal was written by University of Wisconsin economist Edwin Witte, who served as an advisor to Roosevelt. Witte drew from deep Wisconsin roots. He based the new program largely on the ideas of University of Wisconsin researchers who had been demonstrating since the turn of the century how government could play a role in securing the well-being of its citizens. That Wisconsin school of thought helped rewrite this . . . — Map (db m31953) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Sherman Avenue Crossing |
| | The original Sherman Avenue crossing over the Yahara River was a wooden bridge built by Leonard Farwell circa 1848. It was replaced in 1874. By 1904 the bridge consisted of steel beams, plates and rivets with a wooden plank deck. There are four similar bridges over the Yahara River in use today, all of which were initially constructed as railroad bridges. This bridge was replaced in 1934 by a steel bridge with a concrete arch facade. The beams, deck and railings of the 1934 bridge were . . . — Map (db m32172) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 46 — Shipley-Shuttleworth House — 1855 |
| | First occupied by railroad contractor D. B. Shipley, this brick house draws stylistically from both the Greek Revival and the Italianate. In the 1880's the dwelling was owned and occupied by the family of Territorial Secretary William B. Slaughter. In 1893 attorney Farrand K. Shuttleworth purchased the house. A one-time partner of political boss Elisha W. Keyes, Shuttleworth resided here until his death in 1929. — Map (db m32969) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Site of Former Greenbush Cemetery Burials |
| | Nineteenth century cemeteries were sometimes relocated as a community expanded. In 1845, land was purchased for a cemetery in the Greenbush neighborhood of Madison where St. Marys Hospital is located today. The cemetery became overcrowded with Madison's German and Irish settlers, so in 1862 Catholics purchased land for Calvary -- now Resurrection -- cemetery. Early in the twentieth century the bodies were removed to this site where they lie in unmarked graves. — Map (db m27060) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 37 — State Historical Society |
| | Dedicated to the conservation, advancement and dissemination of the American heritage, the Society was founded in 1846, chartered in 1853. Legislative support, the first bestowed in any state, began in 1854; the Society became a state agency in 1949.
Under Lyman Copeland Draper (1854-1886) the library achieved pre-eminence; research, publication and a modern museum were begun. Local societies followed in 1895. The Society became the state archives in 1907. The quarterly magazine was . . . — Map (db m31582) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 10 — Tenney Park Lock and Dam |
| | In 1846 Wisconsin's territorial legislature approved incorporation of Madison Village and construction of a dam at Lake Mendota's outlet with a canal for navigation between Lakes Mendota and Monona.
The first dam was built of earth in 1847 by Leonard J. Farwell, later a Wisconsin governor. The dam enlarged Lake Mendota and increased its depth. Prior to construction Mendota's water level was only slightly above Monona's, and the Catfish (Yahara) River meandered through connecting marsh.
. . . — Map (db m33652) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The American Character — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | At the end of the nineteenth century, one of the most popular classes at the University of Wisconsin was Frederick Jackson Turner's course on the American frontier. In those lectures, Turner shared beliefs about our nation's history that would help define what it means to be an American. His "Frontier Thesis" traced strains of American self-reliance and individualism to the hard experience of colonizing the rugged West. Turner's argument became one of the most influential ideas about the American experience ever posed in a classroom. — Map (db m31989) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The Dean House / Nathaniel Dean |
| | Marker Front:
The Dean House
This simple flat-roofed cream brick structure with wood cornice and dentils was built by the Dean family as their country home. After 1871, the home was used by tenant farmers and in the 1920's as the Monona Golf Course club house, serving in this capacity for 50 years. The Historic Blooming Grove Historical Society began restoration of the Dean House in 1972. The house serves as a center for cultural events and local history study and as a living . . . — Map (db m31790) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The First Dance — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | When the University of Wisconsin started the country's first college dance program in 1926, the goal was to teach more than dance. The program's founder, Margaret H'Doubler, wanted the women's physical education program to be "worth a college woman's time," so she incorporated lessons on philosophy and art history. Under her direction, the university's dance program helped shape the world of modern dance and allowed thousands of students to explore the realm of creative expression. — Map (db m31948) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The Land Ethic — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | The ideas of University of Wisconsin ecologist Aldo Leopold provided the intellectual and philosophical foundation for the discipline of wildlife ecology. His 1948 book of essays, A Sand County Almanac, gave form and voice to the land ethic that undergirds modern concepts of environmental sustainability. He fostered the idea that land is more than a commodity, that nature is a human trust, and that there is inherent value in wilderness and wild things. Through his land ethic and by advocating . . . — Map (db m32397) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The Nurses Dormitory — 1402 University Avenue, 1924-2002 — Where we became nurses and friends |
| | The University of Wisconsin-Madison School of Nursing, established in 1924, is the oldest collegiate nursing program in the state. Nursing students lived in the dormitory from 1946 until 1960. The Nurses Dormitory building remained home to the School of Nursing administrative offices until 1977 when the school moved to the Clinical Sciences Center at 600 Highland Avenue. The dormitory was demolished in August, 2002.
Arthur Peabody, Architect, 1925 — Map (db m24944) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The Power of Ideas — Bascom Hill Historic District |
| | As president of the University of Wisconsin from 1903 to 1918, Charles Van Hise championed a mission of public service that became known as the Wisconsin Idea. Calling for professors to share the wealth of their teaching and research, Van Hise declared that he would "never be content until the beneficent influence of the university reaches every family in the state." Campus leaders have been guided ever since by this moral imperative that the university should work for the benefit of all. — Map (db m32505) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — The School of Pharmacy — University of Wisconsin |
| | The School of Pharmacy, University of Wisconsin, which began on this site in 1883, pioneered in America the Bachelor of Science in Pharmacy as a professional degree (first awarded 1895) and the Doctor of Philosophy in pharmaceutical specialties as a research degree (first awarded 1902). — Map (db m31949) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 397 — Third Lake Passage |
| | On July 20th, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Black Hawk led about 700 Sac, Fox and Kickapoo Indians past this point and through the “Third Lake Passage,” the juncture of the Yahara River and Lake Monona. By sunset, the military also reached the passage but abandoned their chase at nightfall to camp in this vicinity. — Map (db m31777) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — This city was planned in 1836 — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | It was future Wisconsin Governor James Doty who first envisioned a city on this site, after passing through the area and glimpsing its potential in 1829. In April 1836, Doty purchased land on this isthmus between two lakes. That November, he lobbied the legislature of the newly created Wisconsin Territory to locate its capital city here. Doty’s street plan for Madison, drafted on his way to the legislature, was inspired by Washington, D.C. This influence is apparent in Capitol Square, which . . . — Map (db m32909) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 396 — Tragedy of War |
| | On July 21, 1832, during the Black Hawk War, the U.S. Militia "passed through the narrows of the four lakes," Madison's Isthmus, in pursuit of Sac Indian leader Black Hawk and his band. Near this location, the Militia shot and scalped an old Sac warrior awaiting his death upon his wife's freshly dug grave. — Map (db m31700) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Turtle Effigy |
| | Rare two-tailed type of Indian turtle mound, length: 104 feet; built by the Winnebago probably about 500 years ago — Map (db m33424) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Understanding Immunity — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | In the mid-1940s University of Wisconsin geneticist Ray Owen noticed a surprising fact about non-identical cattle twins. Each twin had two kinds of blood cells, its own and those of its twin. In ordinary transfusions, such mixing of blood cells often leads to sever immunological reaction. Owen realized that when bloods are exchanged early in development, each twin somehow learns to tolerate the other's cells. This discovery of "immune tolerance" helped to explain how an organism can tell its . . . — Map (db m32807) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Unitarian Meeting House |
| | Unitarian Meeting House has been designated a National Historic LandmarkDesigned by renowned architect Frank Lloyd Wright for the First Unitarian Society of Madison, the meeting house is an innovative building that has influenced religious architecture worldwide since the mid-twentieth century. Completed in 1951, the meeting house uses a diamond shape as the basic building form; a soaring roof evokes the steeple and shelters the chapel and parish hall withing a single unified structure. — Map (db m32413) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum — Home of pioneering research on prescribed fire and prairie restoration |
| | The Arboretum consists of 1,200 acres of restored and remnant prairies, savannas, wetlands and woodlands. Each of these plant communities provides a window into the natural heritage of southern Wisconsin before European settlers arrived in the 1830s.
Visitors can explore the plant communities of the Wisconsin Native Plant Garden and use miles of roads, trails and footpaths. You are also invited to the lawns and paths of the Longenecker Horticulture Gardens, a 60-acre site containing . . . — Map (db m26489) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — 9 — Van Slyke House — 1859 |
| | This Italianate sandstone house, originally built for local hardware dealer Samuel Fox, exemplifies a regionally distinctive alternating pattern in its masonry. In 1860, transplanted New Yorker, Napoleon Bonaparte Van Slyke, the cashier of the Dane County Bank and later president of the First National Bank, bought the house and lived in it until his death forty-nine years later. — Map (db m32665) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Vietnam War protesters and police clashed here — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | During the 1960s and early 1970s, many American college campuses smoldered over political issues, especially the draft and the Vietnam War. The University of Wisconsin, however, burst into a full blaze. Groups demonstrated regularly on campus and State Street. Police sometimes responded with tear gas or even beatings. In 1967, radicals took control of the student movement, and vandalism of campus and State Street businesses became common. Many stores closed, moved or opened new locations to . . . — Map (db m33039) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Welcome to the Edgewood Park and Pleasure Drive |
| | The Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, incorporated in 1894, was granted an easement from the Dominican sisters of Sinsinawa for a road connecting Vilas Park with Woodrow Street.
The road was constructed in 1904 to provide a place to enjoy nature by bicycle, horse-and-carriage, or on foot. The advent of the automobile gradually eroded this peaceful oasis, and by the 1990's it had become a hazardous commuter shortcut.
In 2007, the Friends of the Park and Pleasure Drive . . . — Map (db m20951) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — What would you have seen here 14,000 years ago? — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | Sometime between 14,000 and 20,000 years ago, during the Ice Age, an enormous northern glacier invaded Wisconsin. Standing here then, you would have been encased in a solid ocean of ice 160 stories tall. The glacier bulldozed this area’s jagged rock-towers and outcroppings, and filled deep valleys with the debris. Finally, temperatures warmed and transformed the ice into a vast lake dotted by islands. Trees grew on its banks. The slow but constant movement and eventual melting of the glacier . . . — Map (db m32914) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation — College of Agricultural and Life Sciences |
| | The Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, incorporated in 1925, was created to make the discoveries of University of Wisconsin scientists available to the public. WARF patents return royalties to the University to support new research. The idea to create WARF came from UW biochemist Harry Steenbock, who had discovered a year earlier that irradiation of food products would create vitamin D components thus preventing rickets and other bone diseases. Since that time, WARF has returned hundreds of . . . — Map (db m32805) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Wisconsin State Capitol |
| | Wisconsin State Capitol
has been designated a
National Historic Landmark
The Wisconsin State Capitol possesses national significance as an exceptionally intact example of the architectural values that embody the American Beaux-Arts tradition, popular during the late nineteenth to early twentieth centuries. It exemplifies that period’s emphasis on constucting monumental state capitols patterned on the National Capitol in Washington, D.C. — Map (db m32641) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — World-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright called Madison his hometown — The Madison Heritage Series |
| | In 1879, the family of young Frank Lloyd Wright bought a house at 802 East Gorham Street, a house that was later demolished. Wright's years in Madison were formative. As a teenager, he witnessed the tragic collapse of an addition under construction at the capitol. Eight workers died. The memory haunted the architect throughout his life. At age 17 he landed a job with University of Wisconsin professor, architect and engineer Allan Conover, from whom Wright later said he learned more than anyone . . . — Map (db m32917) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Madison — Yahara River Parkway |
| | In January 1903, the leader of Madison's park development and President of the Madison Park and Pleasure Drive Association, John M. Olin, presented a grand development plan for the Yahara River to city leaders. The plan called for deepening, widening and straightening the river between lakes Mendota and Monona and creating a parkway. In only six months, and with contributions from many Madison citizens, Olin and the Park and Pleasure Drive Association raised the money and secured the land to . . . — Map (db m32644) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Marxville — Indian Lake |
| | Indian Lake Park lies at the edged of the unglaciated or "driftless" area of southwestern Wisconsin. Here, features of both glaciated and unglaciated land are prominent. The steep slopes of exposed rock indicate that this valley was never completely covered with ice. Yet the large boulders found in the draws and on the valley floor could only have been brought here by a finger of ice, which fanned out from the main body of the glacier.
Indian Lake is one of many shallow kettle lakes in . . . — Map (db m31808) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Marxville — 399 — Indian Lake Passage |
| | On July 21, 1832, during the Black Hawk War, Sac Indian leader Black Hawk and his band left Pheasant Branch, west of Madison, retreating ahead of the military forces commanded by Colonels Ewing and Dodge. The band fled north following a route past the west end of Indian Lake and turned westward down the broad valley now bisected by Highway 12. The military, despite rain and exhausted horses, managed to catch up to Black Hawk's warriors late that afternoon at the Heights overlooking the Wisconsin River. — Map (db m31806) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Marxville — St. Mary of the Oaks |
| | On the brow of a hill, one-half mile east overlooking Indian Lake, rests a tiny stone chapel. The structure was built in 1857 by John Endres in fulfillment of a religious vow he made in return for protecting the lives of his family during a diphtheria epidemic.
Aided by his son Peter, Endres hauled several tons of stone to the hilltop with an ox team.
The building has been much venerated by local families for several generations. Family names identified with care of the chapel are . . . — Map (db m31809) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Mazomanie — John F. Appleby |
| | It was here at Mazomanie in the late 1870's that John F. Appleby perfected the knotter. Still used on binders and balers, the knotter is a mechanical device which binds grain into compact bundles with twine.
Appleby was born in New York State but spent his boyhood in Walworth County, Wis. In his youth he was intrigued by his mother's nimble fingers tying knots as she worked at a spinning wheel. Thus inspired Appleby carved from wood his first "bird-bill" knotting device.
Following . . . — Map (db m20255) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Mazomanie — 337 — Mazomanie |
| | In 1850, the Milwaukee and Mississippi Rail Road Company began building a line to span the lower third of Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Prairie du Chien. Chief Engineer Edward Brodhead concluded that this area's topographical features were ideal for constructing a railroad servicing station and a commercial trading village. In 1855, he platted the village and named it "Mazomanie," an Indian name he believed to mean "Iron Horse." Mazomanie developed quickly after a dam and millrace were built . . . — Map (db m19472) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Mazomanie — Mazomanie Sand Barrens |
| | When the last glacier melted some 10,000 years ago, the Wisconsin River swelled to more than 100 times its present size and carried billions of tons of fine sand and gravel on its way to the Mississippi River. As the meltwater decreased, it deposited material in this valley to a depth of 300 feet. This process created wide steps, or terraces, leading down to the present river bed. You are on one of the upper terraces, called a "sand barren" because of its desert-like conditions. Water . . . — Map (db m32302) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), McFarland — 125 — Stephen Moulton Babcock — 1843 – 1931 |
| | Stephen Moulton Babcock came to the University of Wisconsin faculty in 1887 and remained until his death in 1931. His life was filled with a great eagerness to know and a persistent desire to serve. He is best known for the perfection of the butterfat test which bears his name. Yet great as was this development, it likely was far surpassed in significance to mankind by the solid foundation he laid for invaluable research by himself and others in the field of animal nutrition. This has . . . — Map (db m22699) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Middleton — 398 — Pheasant Branch Encampment |
| | On the night of July 20th, during the Black Hawk War of 1832, Sac Indian leader Black Hawk and his followers camped near this location. Desperate for food and frightened by the approaching military, the Indians fled northwest towards the Wisconsin River the next morning. — Map (db m31753) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — Black Bridge — 1904 |
| | Fabricated by the Iowa Iron Company, the early well known bridge was built like a railroad trestle with black overhead supports. It served as the area's only route across the Yahara River. Nearby speakesies and its edge-of-town location gave the area a dubious reputation in the Prohibition Era. — Map (db m19930) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — Bungalowen — Cottage, 1911: Home, 1932 |
| | The summer cottage was built on the honeymoon camp site of Ray S. and Theo P. Owen; the connected house was added to serve the family year around. Owen, professor of Civil Engineering, University of Wisconsin, was a charter member of the Village Board of Monona. The Owen family was part of the early community of the Frost Woods neighborhood in Monona. — Map (db m19961) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — George Kalbfleisch, Jr. Farm House — 1903 |
| | This typical Wisconsin frame farmhouse was built by the son of a German immigrant on a forty-acre parcel. The land was later used as a truck farm and mink ranch. In 1950 an old chicken house on the property was converted to serve as the first Catholic Church in Monona. The farmhouse became the rectory. — Map (db m31029) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — George Nichols Home - Circa 1878 |
| | This typical Wisconsin farmhouse became the retirement home in 1880 of early civic leader George Nichols. Five unusual round windows upstairs and a hilltop location provided a grand view of the area. Nichols School and Road, built on parcels of his original farm, are named in George Nichols' honor. — Map (db m19959) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — Otto Schroeder House — 1932 |
| | Designed by Madison architect Frank Riley for a prominent undertaker, this Tudor-style house was built on an old cobblestone foundation. Painter Aaron Bohrod purchased it in 1959 and added a studio designed by Herb Fritz. Bohrod, artist in residence at the University of Wisconsin from 1948 to 1973, is noted for his trompe l'oeil' style of painting. — Map (db m31028) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — Royal Airport / Charles Lindbergh |
| | Royal Airport
The site of an airplane landing field, hangars, flying schools and stunt shows, this field was the center of Madison aviation from 1926 to 1938, mainly through the efforts of Howard Morey and his founding of Madison Airways Corporation. Later known as Royal Airways Corporation, it provided the first passenger service to Chicago, while Northwest Airways Inc. provided the first airmail service from this former farmland. The 100 foot wide hangar, built in 1926, could house 17 . . . — Map (db m20950) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — Springhaven Pagoda |
| | This was built in the late 1800's to protect the natural spring water in Springhaven, the farm of Judge E. W. Keyes. Later the clear water was used by area children to make lemonade for their picnics, held in what is now Stonebridge Park. — Map (db m33224) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Monona — The Outlet Mound |
| | The largest of nineteen conical, oval and linear mounds once located in this vicinity, the Outlet Mound was constructed as a burial place by Woodland Indians about 2,000 years ago. It was saved from destruction by the Wisconsin Archaeological Society and local citizens in 1944 and donated to the City of Monona. — Map (db m19958) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Mt. Horeb — Old Town |
| | Pioneer Mt. Horeb, complete with houses, churches, stores, harness shop, undertaker, hotel, and tavern stood on this spot. Known as “The Corners” by early settlers, it was the intersection of the Old Military Road with a major wagon trail from the east.
Scotch Presbyterians erected the first church here in 1848.
The area became known as Horeb’s Corners, when in 1867 a post office named Mt. Horeb (after the biblical landmark) was moved to the community from the farmhome . . . — Map (db m2198) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Mt. Vernon — 34 — Pioneer Scottish Settlement |
| | "Highland Clearances" and 300% hikes in farm rent prompted many Scottish farmers to sail to America in the mid-1800s. Some displaced Scots settled in Springdale and Verona Townships on both sides of the Military Ridge. This rural community known as Scotch Lane established a Presbyterian Church, a post office, and the Henderson and McPherson/McGregor schools. Nearly 100 families had settled here by 1870, some of whom rest in this early "Scottish Cemetery." Members of this community were . . . — Map (db m32974) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Roxbury — In Memory of Rev. Adalbert Inama, O. Praem. — 1798-1879 |
| | Born in Wilton, Tyrol Dec. 26, 1798. Came to Roxbury in 1845. Dane County's first resident Catholic priest. Labored in Dane, Iowa, Columbia, Dodge, Jefferson, Sauk, Waukesha counties. Repeatedly read Mass in the Assembly chamber of the Capitol, Madison. Caption for engraved picture: Chapel and Dwelling, First Catholic Church in Dane County, one half mile west. — Map (db m33082) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Sauk City — 395 — Battle of Wisconsin Heights |
| | On July 21, 1832, during a persistent rainstorm, the 65-year old Sac Indian leader, Black Hawk, led 60 of his Sac and Fox and Kickapoo warriors in a holding action against 700 United States militia at this location. The conflict, known as the Battle of Wisconsin Heights, was the turning point in the Black Hawk War. Here commanders General James D. Henry and Colonel Henry Dodge and their troops overtook Black Hawk and his followers after pursuing them for weeks over the marshy areas and . . . — Map (db m32301) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Stoughton — Main Street Historic District |
| | This district is a collection of Victorian and early 20th-century commercial buildings, largely built between 1860 and 1910. Once southern Dane County's mercantile center, the district provided extensive retail and professional services. Extending west to the Yahara River, the district was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. — Map (db m22708) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Stoughton — 126 — Robert Marion La Follette, Sr. |
| | Wisconsin's most famous political leader and greatest statesman. Born on a farm in Primrose Township, Dane County, he was the first native son and first University of Wisconsin graduate to become Wisconsin Governor. He rose from Dane County District Attorney to Congressman, Governor, and U.S. Senator. An influential fighter for reform, he viewed government as a servant, not ruler, of people. "Fighting Bob" led in establishing the progressive movement in Wisconsin politics. He advocated much . . . — Map (db m22702) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Sun Prairie — 480 — Georgia O'Keeffe |
| | This world-renowned artist was born in the Town of Sun Prairie on November 15, 1887. She was the second of seven children born to Francis and Ida O'Keeffe. Georgia grew up on the family farm south of the city of Sun Prairie. As a child, she received art lessons and her abilities were recognized and encouraged by local teachers and family throughout her school years.
After O'Keeffe left Sun Prairie she pursued studies at the Art Institute of Chicago (1905-1906) and at the Art Students . . . — Map (db m22692) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Verona — 31 — Dane County Home |
| | Boarding houses and jails, deemed unsatisfactory for the County's "unfortunates", prompted establishment of the Dane County Poor Farm on this site in 1854. A two-story brick structure housed all the disadvantaged until 1883 when an asylum for the mentally ill was built a short distance to the north. Both facilities added buildings and improvements as resident numbers and requirements increased, including a "Leper House" for infectious diseases, four miles south of the Farm. By 1900 the . . . — Map (db m33506) |
| Wisconsin (Dane County), Waunakee — 20 — Ella Wheeler Wilcox — (1850-1919) |
| | "Laugh, and the world laughs with you;
Weep, and you weep alone"
Wisconsin's most famous poet, who penned these lines, grew up on a Town of Westport farm located on the south side of Easy Street east of County I. She attended a one-room country school a half-mile east of that intersection. From 1917 to 1962, an elementary school at that site was named in her honor.
Two of Ella's essays appeared in the New York Mercury when she was only fourteen. Her prolific pen produced forty . . . — Map (db m31820) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Beaver Dam — 458 — Frederick Douglass |
| | Frederick Douglass was a former runaway slave who was a leading orator and author of the abolitionist movement. He is regarded as one of the most influential Americans of the nineteenth century. On October 20, 1856, Douglass came to Beaver Dam and spoke to a large audience about the brutality and immorality of slavery. His speech was also intended to generate support for the abolitionist movement in Dodge County and Wisconsin. — Map (db m22986) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Fox Lake — 220 — Bernard R. "Bunny" Berigan — (1908–1942) |
| | This was the hometown of famed jazz trumpeter and band leader, Bunny Berigan. As a child he played in the Fox Lake Juvenile Band directed by his grandfather, John C. Schlitzberg.
In his early teens, he began his professional career with the Merrill Owen dance band at Beaver Dam. A few years later in Madison, he was in demand for campus dances.
Beginning in 1930, he became the featured soloist for such band leaders as Paul Whiteman, Benny Goodman, and the Dorsey Brothers. Singers . . . — Map (db m22989) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Juneau — 277 — Adrian "Addie" Joss |
| | Tall and lanky, Wisconsin native Adrian "Addie" Joss became one of baseball's greatest pitchers, praised for his terrific speed and accurate control. Born in nearby Woodland on April 12, 1880, his family moved here to Juneau in 1886, where he played second base for the high school team. He attended Watertown's Sacred Heart Academy and played baseball in the Wisconsin State League before joining the Cleveland "Naps" of the American League in 1902. Famous for his "hip pocket" delivery, Joss . . . — Map (db m22978) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Juneau — Dodge County Memorial Park |
| |
This park is dedicated to the men and women
of the county who served their country in time
of war; it replaces six miles of memorial elms
which were relinquished for this highway.
[Seal of the American Legion Auxiliary]
The trees were planted by the American
Legion Auxiliary of Beaver Dam under
the leadership of Miss Sadie Davison.
1952 — Map (db m28304) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Lowell — 421 — Lowell Women Firefighters |
| | On July 11, 1972, three women joined the ranks of the Lowell Volunteer Fire Department, setting a precedent for official recognition of women firefighters in Wisconsin. The Lowell women firefighters were conferred all the voting rights and office holding privileges as their male counterparts in the fire department. — Map (db m22941) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Waupun — 45 — Auto Race — Green Bay to Madison |
| | In 1875 the Wisconsin Legislature offered a prize of $10,000 to the citizen of this state who could produce a machine "which shall be a cheap and practical substitute for the use of horses and other animals on the highway and farm." Such machine was to perform a journey of at least 200 miles, "propelled by its own internal power, at the average rate of at least five miles per hour, working time." By July, 1878, two steam-powered vehicles were ready to run the prescribed course from Green Bay to . . . — Map (db m23095) |
| Wisconsin (Dodge County), Waupun — Horicon Marsh |
| | Horicon Marsh, an area of 31,653 acres, was scoured out by the Wisconsin glacier, at least 10,000 years ago. Gradually the upper Rock River made deposits which slowed its current and spread its waters over the marshland. The Marsh became a haunt of the earliest Indians whose mounds remain. To promote lumbering, transportation, and agriculture white pioneers built a dam in 1846. Horicon Lake, covering 51 square miles, became famous for hunting and fishing. The dam was removed in 1869, . . . — Map (db m23090) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Egg Harbor — Halfway to the North Pole |
| | The 45th parallel (45 Degrees North Latitude) runs through this wayside. This is the midpoint between the equator and North Pole. But because the Earth is slightly flattened at the poles, the distance from the 45th parallel to the North Pole is approximately 3117 miles and to the equator approximately 3105 miles.
Polaris (North Star) is directly above the North Pole. Therefore the angle between this point and Polaris is 45 degrees.
Door County Historical Society – 2000 — Map (db m26713) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Ephraim — First Permanent Colony in Door County |
| | Near
this spot
a Moravian
Congregation,
Reverend
A.M. Iverson, Pastor
landed May, 1853,
forming the first
permanent colony
in Door County
———
Erected 1923 — Map (db m15714) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Fish Creek — The Alexander Noble House |
| | The Alexander Noble House was built in 1875 on land purchased from Asa Thorp, the founder of the Village of Fish Creek. This Greek Revival Style-influenced residence is the Village's oldest existing dwelling still in its original location. Born in Scotland in 1829, Alexander Noble immigrated to Canada in 1840 and settled in Fish Creek in 1855 where he lived until his death in 1905. He was a blacksmith by trade and served for many years as town chairman, postmaster and member of the county board. — Map (db m12122) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Jacksonport — Halfway to the North Pole |
| | The 45th parallel (45 Degrees North Latitude) runs through a point one half mile south of this wayside (intersection of Hwy. 57 and Logerquist Road). This is the geographical midpoint between the equator and North Pole. But, because the earth is slightly flattened at the poles, the distance from the 45th parallel to the North Pole is approximately 3117 miles and to the equator approximately 3105 miles.
Polaris (North Star) is directly above the North Pole. Therefore, the angle between . . . — Map (db m26671) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Jacksonport — 492 — Jacksonport United Methodist Church |
| | Also known as “The Little White Church by the Lake,” the Jacksonport United Methodist Church was completed in 1892. Its simple design is attributed to George Bagnall Sr., one of the original builders. Alex Halstead, Harry Wilson Sr. and Jed Jones helped in its construction. The church retains its original straight pews, white altar rail and pulpit, as well as its original Epworth reed organ. Current church rolls show many of the same family names as in the 1890s. Services are still held here May through October, and Christmas Eve. — Map (db m12114) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Namur — 321 — Belgian Settlement in Wisconsin |
| | Wisconsin's and the nation's largest Belgian American settlement is located in portions of Brown, Kewaunee and Door counties adjacent to the waters of Green Bay. Walloon-speaking Belgians settled the region in the 1850s and still constitute a high proportion of the population. A variety of elements attests to the Belgian American presence: place names (Brussels, Namur, Rosiere, Luxemburg), a local French patois, common surnames, unique foods (boohyah, trippe, jutt), the Kermiss harvest . . . — Map (db m12141) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — ‘Old Bell’ Tower |
| | A modern rendition of Bank of Sturgeon Bay's original tower erected in 1900 on the NW corner of 3rd Ave. & Kentucky St., and removed in 1939. The original bell was reacquired with the cooperation of the First Baptist Church of Sturgeon Bay where it had called parishioners to worship since 1946.
Dedicated to the people of Door County who have the courage to dream and give life their best.
January, 26, 1990
Commemorated in honor of
Bank of Sturgeon Bay's 100th Anniversary — Map (db m15722) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — Bradley Crandall Sawmill Site |
| | This sawmill led to the
founding of Sturgeon Bay
1853
The Founding of Little Lake
Sturgeon Bay's first major settlement was founded in 1853 with the construction of the Bradley-Crandall Sawmill. The original mill was located on a small island and had a workforce of 30 – 40 people, about half the population of the area. Life was hard and transportation difficult. Wild animals were prevalent, especially bears and wolves.
The channel between the island and the . . . — Map (db m26859) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — Historic Sturgeon Bay — Downtown Historic District |
| | The Downtown Historic District includes over forty late 19th and early 20th century commercial, civic and converted buildings. It is located along the three block long heart of Sturgeon Bay's traditional downtown. The District grew as a casual grid of stump studded streets on the higher land above the bay for which the city was named. A formal plat of the District was not prepared until 1855.
The District was the commercial "crossroads" of Sturgeon Bay since the city's founding. It was the . . . — Map (db m26885) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — 417 — Leathem and Smith Quarry |
| | John Leathem and Thomas Smith established this dolomite quarry at the mouth of Sturgeon Bay in 1893. Though they produced dimension stone for building harbors around Lake Michigan, Leathem and Smith's quarry became a major operation by capitalizing on the growing demand for crushed stone for roads, railroad beds and concrete. In 1914, a huge stone crushing plant was constructed on the lower quarry floor. On the upper level, a steam shovel loaded stone into carts, which were hauled to the . . . — Map (db m12124) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal |
| | This canal was the dream of Joseph Harris, Sr., "the Father of the Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal." His intent was not only to provide a shorter and safer route for sailing vessels, but to also become rich by selling building lots along the canal in the town of "Harrisburg" that would surely result along the lake end of the canal. After much work, lobbying, and a change in the canal location, a state charter was granted in 1864 to his Sturgeon Bay and Lake Michigan Ship Canal and . . . — Map (db m15196) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — 98 — The Orchards of Door County |
| | In 1858 Joseph Zettel, a native of Switzerland, acquired the farm directly south of this Station and established the first commercial orchard on the Door Peninsula. The high yields and quality of his fruit aroused the interest of Emmett S. Goff of the University of Wisconsin and Arthur L. Hatch, orchardist, and led to the discovery that the Peninsula is remarkably suited for fruit growing. In 1892 Goff and Hatch planted a small acreage to cherries, apples and plums. Commercial production of red . . . — Map (db m5190) |
| Wisconsin (Door County), Sturgeon Bay — Wisconsin State Rock |
| | This monument is an intrusive igneous red granite rock — the official rock of the State of Wisconsin. It was quarried near Wausau, Wisconsin, and specifically known as "Wisconsin Ruby Red." It was crystallized from magma about 1750 million years ago.
The red mineral in this rock, potassium feldspar (microcline) is colored by finely divided hematite. Quartz is the glassy material and other minerals are oligoclase and biolite.
Granite is found in many textures and colors, gray, . . . — Map (db m15205) |
| Wisconsin (Douglas County), Solon Springs — Brule-St. Croix Portage |
| | Approximately one mile northeast of this point, a continental divide separates the watersheds of the Brule and St. Croix Rivers. The Brule flows north to Lake Superior and the St. Croix flows southerly to the Mississippi. A time worn trail connects the navigable portions of these two rivers.
Native Americans were the first to utilize this portage route. Later, voyagers, explorers, missionairies, traders and pioneers also followed it. The first documented use of this portage was in 1680, by . . . — Map (db m23482) |
| Wisconsin (Douglas County), Superior — Old Stockade Site |
| | The Sioux uprising in Minnesota during the Summer of 1862, culminating in the New Ulm Massacre, caused great alarm in Superior. A Committee of Safety was chosen, a Home Guard organized, and a stockade built on the bay shore here. An inventory of all firearms in Superior revealed a total of 60 shotguns, rifles and pistols. The state sent 192 muskets and 2 cannon. To assist the Home Guard, the Governor sent a company of Wisconsin soldiers that had been captured by the Confederates at Shiloh and . . . — Map (db m21272) |
| Wisconsin (Douglas County), Superior — S.S. Meteor — Last of the Whalebacks |
| | The Great Lakes whaleback fleet was the revolutionary result of Capt. Alexander McDougall's attempts to improve conventional ship design. Between 1888 and 1898, 43 whalebacks were launched and became forerunners of the bulk fleet on the Great Lakes today. Thirty-nine whalebacks were built in Superior-Duluth, and most of them were launched from a site about one mile west of here, now the Fraser Shipyards.
The S.S. Meteor was launched at Superior in 1896 as the Frank Rockefeller to . . . — Map (db m31632) |
| Wisconsin (Dunn County), Downsville — 174 — Caddie Woodlawn |
| | On this site during the Civil War Caroline Augusta Woodhouse, known throughout the world as "Caddie Woodlawn," experienced the excitement of growing up in pioneer Wisconsin. Her tomboy adventures with her two red-headed brothers, and her fearless trust in the Indians who lived nearby, were faithfully recorded by her grand-daughter, Carol Ryrie Brink, in her book, Caddie Woodlawn, and in its sequel, Magical Melons.
In 1935 Caddie Woodlawn received the coveted Newbery . . . — Map (db m31194) |
| Wisconsin (Dunn County), Eau Galle — Eau Galle |
| | The Chippewa and Sioux Indians roamed this area before the French fur traders came trapping fur bearing animals which were plentiful along the Eau Galle River.
The real history of the village of Eau Galle began in 1838-39 when a sawmill was erected by Capt. George Wales and his partners Thomas Savage and Capt. Dix. Mr. William Carson and Henry Eaton became partners in the lumbering business and the town grew around what was known as the Carson and Rand Company.
Eau Galle received it's . . . — Map (db m32868) |
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