The largest of the Apostle Islands was one of the earliest areas of Indian settlement, fur trade, missionary activity and commercial fishing in the interior of North America. It was discovered by French explorers in 1659. Trading posts were built . . . — — Map (db m234580) HM
A French-Canadian trader built a post on this site about 1792. From his wife Madeline daughter of the Chippewa chief White Crane the island takes its present name.
The official French fort La Pointe was built in 1718 about 500 feet west. Its . . . — — Map (db m144128) HM
Mellen, Wisconsin, nestled in a valley in the heart of the Penokee Range, was founded in 1881 by Samuel O'Grady Bennett for which Bennett Street is named.
Iron City, later renamed Mellen for William Mellen of the Wisconsin Central Railroad was . . . — — Map (db m201380) HM
Vast forests of virgin white pine were the treasure which brought the first wave of white settlers to Northern Wisconsin. The farms came later, but for half a century the forests were local history.
In 1847, the Knapp, Stout & Co. purchased . . . — — Map (db m45069) HM
The steam engine was a unique part of the industrial history of America’s heartland. Engines, such as this one, provided the power to generate electricity and run machines in hundreds of factories and municipalities throughout the world.
This . . . — — Map (db m130998) HM
1831 Henry Schoolcraft, Indian agent from Sault St. Marie, MI travels down the Red Cedar River to Rice Lake and held council with the Chippewa Indians at this approximate site. 1847 The Knapp Stout Co. purchased thousands of acres of . . . — — Map (db m161500) HM
1901 The Knapp Stout era was over. The Knapp Stout holdings were sold to the Rice Lake Lumber Company, which later was known as the largest hardwood mill in the country. 1906 The Rice Lake Excelsior Co. arrived on the scene in its present . . . — — Map (db m161666) HM
To quote from the Rice Lake Chronotype, September 30, 1920: ”Extensive improvements are being made at the yards of the Park Falls Lbr. Co. in this city. Monday Cyrille Mercer and a crew of carpenters began working at erecting a monorail . . . — — Map (db m120496) HM
The Tuscobia State Trail represents the history of the railroad in the development of northern Wisconsin. The route was first conceived as a rail line in 1899, but construction did not end until 1914. The Chicago and North Western Railroad ran on . . . — — Map (db m199897) HM
Dedicated in 1981 to the hard working commercial fishermen whose indomitable spirits will not be forgotten.
Commissioned by Edwin Erickson,
Mayor of Bayfield, 1970-1976 & 1980-1988
Designed by Harold Kerr (1909-1981)
Constructed by . . . — — Map (db m57811) HM
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places
In the waters off Outer Island lies the wreck of the Pretoria, one of the largest wooden vessels ever to sail the Great lakes. On September 1, 1905, Captain Charles Smart and nine crew . . . — — Map (db m98244) HM
At one time, a local fishery once encompassed this entire block. Early sailing vessels would bring their harvests here to be salt packed in barrels and shipped to market. Here in “The Cooperage,” one of the remaining buildings of that . . . — — Map (db m57810) HM
The familiar sandstone outcroppings along Lake Superior's shoreline provided a popular building material for grand and massive structures all over the Midwest and Eastern United States throughout the last half of the Nineteenth and into the . . . — — Map (db m201591) HM
Leo, Roy, and Eskel Hokenson began fishing commercially at Little Sand Bay in the 1920s. During the fall herring season, the brothers fished at night when cooler temperatures helped preserve the catch. Noting this habit, friends began saying, . . . — — Map (db m201397) HM
Harvesting the Waters
In 1927, the Hokenson brothers (Leo, Roy, and Eskel) began life as fishermen. For more than 30 years, they met the challenges of fishing the largest lake in the world, relying on their skills, strength, and . . . — — Map (db m46908) HM
In the early days of Washburn, the waterfront was filled with saw mills. The A.A. Bigelow Mill (1887-1902), later to become the Hines Mill, was the largest of three major sawmills in Washburn. It rested on pilings that ran directly out from the . . . — — Map (db m122317) HM
(side 1)
Washburn Lumbering Days
Washburn begins on the shoreline of Chequamegon Bay. The city rises gradually 75 ft. above level of the water. In 1884, the town was created, born of the necessity of the railway (Chicago, St. Paul, . . . — — Map (db m57824) HM
is the most cost-effective mode of transportation when compared to truck or rail. Ships quietly move cargo farther (per ton mile) and more efficiently than trucks or trains. Most importantly, ships move cargo more safely than trucks and trains. . . . — — Map (db m43814) HM
The historic Union Hotel opened in 1883 and has been owned by the Boyd family since 1918, the year before the Green Bay Packers were born. Over the years, Packers legends and other prominent pro football personalities have found the Union to be one . . . — — Map (db m190022) HM
In 1896, Michael Freimann built a large three story hotel building on what had previously been a vacant lot. The building first served as the O'Neil Hotel but was soon renamed the New Freimann Hotel in 1898. The building typically housed about ten . . . — — Map (db m39058) HM
in Wisconsin’s transportation system is the Port of Green Bay. It serves as a multi-modal distribution center connecting waterborne vessels with an extensive network of highways and railroads. The Port of Green Bay provides Northeast Wisconsin . . . — — Map (db m43812) HM
is a vital part of our local economy, our history and our lives. It plays an important role in the transportation of goods and commodities that are critical to the economic health of the region. The Port of Green Bay receives and/or sends . . . — — Map (db m43817) HM
This site is part of a 4800-acre tract patented to Eleazer Williams by the United States. In 1882 Williams led a delegation of New York Indians to the Fox River Valley, hoping to set up an Indian Empire in the West. A year later he married the . . . — — Map (db m57219) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m10103) HM
Canute Anderson was born Canute Ingverson Eggum in Laerdal, Norway. He arrived in the Grantsburg area in 1854, establishing a stopping place and trading post where the buildings southeast of this marker stand. Opening the first post office in his . . . — — Map (db m68715) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m31977) HM
This was once the site of a thriving lime producing business known as the Western Lime and Cement Company. From beginning to end, production lasted approximately 100 years (1856-1956). All that remains today are the skeletons of the three kilns in . . . — — Map (db m164740) HM
In 1865, Robert Marriner settled in this vicinity, built a dam and sawmill below the present Main Street Bridge an subsequently platted the village of Cadott.
The falls of the river here had been called “Cadotte Falls” for a member of . . . — — Map (db m120393) HM
In 1880, Captain Ellery Clark of DePere, Wisconsin moved his hub and spoke factory to Cadott. Clark had been a steam boat operator moving logs on the Fox River. He was drawn to the Cadott area because of the high quality and abundant supply of white . . . — — Map (db m48931) HM
Among the fur traders who attained prominence in the Lake Superior region were Jean Baptiste Cadotte (Cadeau) and his sons, Jean Baptiste, Jr., and Michel.
Each married daughters of prominent Ojibway Indians; became influential as merchants, . . . — — Map (db m120429) HM
This statue is a conception of the “Cadotte” fur trader. Sculptor Jerry Holter of Clam Lake, Wisconsin, was commissioned to carve the figure from a solid section of native Northern White Pine, symbolic of the great lumbering industry of . . . — — Map (db m120392) HM
This site is near the location of the first sawmill called the "Blue Mills" built just north of Lake Hallie, built over a two year period 1842-1843 by Steven McCann and the brothers Simon and George Randall. In 1867 it was sold to T.S. Schoefield. . . . — — Map (db m56289) HM
Built in 1867, the spring house is the oldest remaining structure on the grounds. The famous water from the Big Eddy Springs in Chippewa Falls has served water-bottling companies and the Leinenkugel brewery for over 150 years. It is still used today . . . — — Map (db m236853) HM
Over the years, numerous improvements to bottling and canning capabilities have taken place at Leinenkugel's. Early on, beer was bottled in 64 oz. "picnic bottles," 32 oz. quarts, 12 oz. "pints," and 8 oz. "splits." Leinenkugel's was an early seller . . . — — Map (db m244121) HM
In 1890, Jacob finished construction of the Brew House. This brewery centerpiece remains standing today. Over the next few years, he added an icehouse, bottling house, cooper shop, and sheltering barns for the delivery horses. Future expansions . . . — — Map (db m244124) HM
Jacob and Josephine Leinenkugel had five children. Though one child passed away as an infant, all four of their remaining children grew up helping out at the brewery.
Mathias "Matt," born in 1866, attended school until he was 16 and began working . . . — — Map (db m244122) HM
The Malt House was constructed during the 1870s and is the oldest existing building on the grounds. Built entirely of stone, it cost $5,000 at the time of its construction. The first floor acted as a dormitory for brewery employees, while the second . . . — — Map (db m244130) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m13798) HM
The building to your right is the oldest commercial building in Chippewa Falls. It was built (Circa 1859) by Peter Morie (Morey) and was used originally as a Saloon and Boarding House for lumberjacks and others. In 1861 at the start of the Civil . . . — — Map (db m55299) HM
In 1904 on this 25 acre site between the Chippewa River and the Soo Line Railroad tracks, sugar processing became a new industry in the Chippewa Valley. The Chippewa Sugar Company was incorporated and a huge six-story sugar beet factory was . . . — — Map (db m42693) HM
This Columbia Street site was the location of the ornate pioneer mansion built by Hiram Stores Allen. Called the founder of Chippewa Falls, Hiram built the first grist-mill, the first flour-mill, and the first hotel in Chippewa Falls. He operated . . . — — Map (db m38891) HM
Chippewa Falls was born with the logging era and with it came support industries such as shoe factories. One of the most important tools for the loggers was strong boots. In 1869, Colliche Vinette was the first shoemaker to come to town. The area . . . — — Map (db m38822) HM
Joseph Sokup opened Sokup’s Market in Downtown Chippewa Falls around 1891 on the northwest corner of Bay and Willow Streets. He built the current grocery store at 624 N. Bridge Street in 1894. The market is one of the oldest family owned businesses . . . — — Map (db m55380) HM
The barn was an integral part of the brewery, providing shelter for livestock and housing wagons used to build the brewery and deliver the beer. In December 1903, Chippewa Times wrote: "Possessing one horse and a democrat wagon, [John] Miller could . . . — — Map (db m244125) HM
Chippewa Fall's oldest industry. In 1867, Jacob Leinenkugel, the son of a Bavarian brewmaster, came to Northern Wisconsin searching for a promising location to build a brewery. He settled on this spot purchasing the land from lumberman Hiram S. . . . — — Map (db m42360) HM
Built in 1871 by Alexander Wiley Sr. and Nels Elikson, the rooming house over the years was home for hundreds of immigrants, lumber jacks, mill workers, farm hands and log drivers (known as river pigs). In 1887 Wiley Sr. became the sole owner and . . . — — Map (db m42697) HM
William Irvine was born in Mount Carroll, Illinois of Scotch-Irish ancestry. He came to the Chippewa Valley when he was 14 years old to work for his brother-in-law, who was captain of a raft boat towing lumber from Chippewa Falls to Mississippi . . . — — Map (db m38788) HM
From 1882 to 1962, the Chippewa Woolen Mill played an important role in the economy of Chippewa Falls. The mill was established for the purpose of supplying the men working in the lumber trade with warm, dependable clothing. During the 1920s, the . . . — — Map (db m237868) HM
In 1912, after a permanent dam was built across the Chippewa River near this location, the Cornell Wood Products Company, a large paper milling operation, began production here. The company manufactured paper products, cardboard and wallboard. The . . . — — Map (db m45015) HM
Ezra Cornell was the man who founded the City of Cornell, Wisconsin, but actually never lived here. Cornell was born in 1807 in New York State of Quaker parents. He was a farmer, inventor, businessman, statesman, and a philanthropist. He . . . — — Map (db m46026) HM
Jean Brunet is one of the most noteworthy pioneers of the Chippewa Valley. Born in France in 1791, Brunet immigrated to this country in 1818 and moved to Chippewa Falls in 1828. He built the first dams on the Chippewa River at Chippewa . . . — — Map (db m46018) HM
The Cornell Pulpwood Stacker is believed to be the last of its kind in the world and is listed in the State and National Register of Public Places. Designed and constructed in 1911-12 by the Joors Manufacturing Co., of England for the Cornell . . . — — Map (db m46068) HM
This is the former site of a dam, a grindstone and an electrical power plant, locally known as "Stanley's Mill." It was also used as a log sluiceway and popular recreation area. First used on December 26, 1877, the electrical plant furnished power . . . — — Map (db m48998) HM
On July 7, 1905, sixteen loggers of the Chippewa Lumber and Boom Company attempted to break a log jam on the Chippewa River at Holcombe below Little Falls dam, one of the largest wooden dams in the world. The batteau boat they were riding in reached . . . — — Map (db m45434) HM
The Holcombe Indian was known to river men along the Chippewa since 1876. Called the King of the Chippewa River, he stood guard on the old Holcombe (Little Falls) Dam and was a most welcome site to lumberjacks driving their logs down the river to . . . — — Map (db m45431) HM
The present Village of New Auburn approximates the site of Cartwright Mill, founded in 1875 by David J. and Paul W. Cartwright. To the original sawmill, powered by steam, they added a lath, shingle, and planing mill. Some buildings were of brick . . . — — Map (db m45182) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m9189) HM
Originally used for threshing grain in the area by William Neville, this steam engine was owned by Martin "Max" Feuerstein from the 1930s through the 1960s to power a sawmill along 18th Street on Neillsville's northside. This sawmill produced lumber . . . — — Map (db m41389) HM
Side A Neillsville has strong ties to the majestic white pine forests of the Wisconsin Territory. These forests along the Black River and its tributaries drew members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 1841. Remembered . . . — — Map (db m185567) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m20084) HM
Before the introduction of the railroad, the Wisconsin River
provided one of the most practical means of transporting lumber
and farm products to distant markets. The old Village of Dekorra was
beautifully situated to take advantage of this . . . — — Map (db m165534) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m7851) HM
Abundant stands of white pines throughout Northern Wisconsin spurred the first era of big business to the Dells beginning in 1833. Timber logs 70-feet long were floated down to sawmills, where they were cut into rough planks. Lumbermen made their . . . — — Map (db m157133) HM
From early settlers and lumber raftsmen, to row boat guides, steamboat captains and modern-day tour operators, love for this unique stretch of the Wisconsin River runs deep as its history. Tourism remains the driving economy for the waterway. Today, . . . — — Map (db m157132) HM
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. . . . — — Map (db m7850) HM
The arrival of the railroad in 1857 created a boom in tourism as an increased number of sightseers arrived by rail to take scenic boat tours. The Dells of the Wisconsin River had gained notoriety through the photographs of H.H. Bennett. But the . . . — — Map (db m157035) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m35407) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m23456) HM
Product of a small American community, James O. 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 . . . — — Map (db m31671) HM
Town of Vermont farmers, beset by a depressed economy in the early 1890's, organized a company to obtain quality products at fair prices. Amos Thorsrud was the first general manager. He and Nels Simley toured local farms to sell $10 shares in a . . . — — Map (db m41930) HM
This corner has a colorful background as the site of a saw mill, grist mill, post office, grocery store, hotel, blacksmith shop, dance hall and until 1958 the Town Hall. In 1847 Samuel Lattimer built a saw mill that operated until 1865 when it was . . . — — Map (db m55592) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32617) HM
Andreas Dahl came to DeForest from Valdres, Norway in 1869. For more than a decade as an itinerant photographer in southern Wisconsin, he took pictures that captured the essence of life at that time. His studio stood to the north of this site and . . . — — Map (db m37005) HM
This elegant Italian villa style house was constructed of native sandstone on the 191-acre country estate of Simeon and Maria Mills. An early pioneer from Ohio, Mills erected Madison's first store and was a banker, real estate developer and . . . — — Map (db m41983) HM
This Italian Renaissance Revival style structure, a distinguished example of its type, was designed by Madison architect Stephen Vaughn Shipman. Built of Madison sandstone as the Park Savings Bank, the structure occupies the former site of the . . . — — Map (db m33644) HM
These two buildings are the most substantial warehouses built in Madison to house the processing of leaf tobacco. From the Civil War until the 1940s, leaf tobacco was among Dane County's most lucrative crops. The tobacco grown in Wisconsin was . . . — — Map (db m53072) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32466) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m33482) HM
Marker Front:
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 . . . — — Map (db m144039) HM
The imposing Dick Building is a flat-iron building in the Richardsonian Romanesque style, a style in which the local architects, Conover and Porter, were particularly adept. The Dick block was built in part to house Christian Dick's wine and liquor . . . — — Map (db m200505) HM
The Draper Brothers block is significant as one of the few remaining buildings of native sandstone from Madison's earliest era of commercial development and for being associated with Madison's commercial history, having housed a meat market on the . . . — — Map (db m52846) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32385) HM
Herman Loftsgordon and his family lived in this house from 1918 until 1946. Loftsgordon was one of five brothers who came to Madison from Mt. Horeb in the early 1900's and settled within blocks of each other in the Elmside plat. The family was . . . — — Map (db m41523) HM
This building was designed by Herbert W. Tullgren, an architect nationally known for his design of hotels and apartment buildings in period revival styles. Hotel Loraine, having elements of both the Tudor and Mediterranean revival styles was the . . . — — Map (db m48309) HM
The Jackman Building is an unusual and valuable example of early twentieth century commercial architecture because it is preserved virtually intact both inside and out. It was built for the law firm of Richmond, Jackman and Swanson. Their successors . . . — — Map (db m38494) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32383) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32467) HM
The Kessenich's building is significant as an example of the Commercial French Renaissance style as designed by Frank Riley. The building features an artfully assembled façade uniting two street frontages and the adjoining corner. The long façades . . . — — Map (db m51681) HM
The King Street Arcade is an example of an arcaded block, a distinctive building type popular in the United States during the first half of the twentieth century. The exterior is characterized by a series of tall, evenly spaced, arched openings . . . — — Map (db m55934) HM
With its two-story bay, leaded glass detail, and original Carroll Street storefront, this is one of Madison's best remaining adaptations of the Queen Anne style to commercial architecture. Constructed for retired attorney F. J. Lamb, the building . . . — — Map (db m38493) HM
The two-story Maeder building and the three-story Ellsworth block were constructed in 1871 as two distinct commercial buildings. Now considered one property, this block is significant as a representative example of the late 19th century commercial . . . — — Map (db m62337) HM
The Neoclassical Revival style former depot was designed by Frost and Granger of Chicago, regionally prominent designers of train depots. It is locally significant, representing the national dominance of rail for the transport of goods and people. . . . — — Map (db m53070) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32457) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m32459) HM
This block is comprised of two buildings constructed seven years apart. Although altered, this block is significant as a representative example of the commercial building type and the early history of local commercial architecture. This building . . . — — Map (db m62339) HM
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. . . . — — Map (db m33481) HM
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, . . . — — Map (db m31030) HM
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 . . . — — Map (db m31701) HM
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