This is the Oehler Mill site, located in an area known as Mormon Coulee, six miles south of La Crosse, on County Road MM, about one-half mile south of Hwy 14/61 in the town of Shelby.

The stone mill was built in 1862. Two German immigrant brothers Valentine and Gottfried Oehler constructed the mill complex.

In addition to the mill, the site also contains a cave, stone dam, sandstone root cellar, two brick houses, park, creek, pond, artesian well, and family cemetery, though I am not certain how to get to these venues.

 In 2002, the Oehler's mill was placed on the Wisconsin Trust for Historic Preservation's List of ten most endangered historic properties. It is a beautiful ride to get to the mill.

Water power was central to milling. The Oehler mill is close to Mormon Creek and used it for power. Back during the Civil War flour milling was a huge enterprise in Wisconsin. Growing crops eventually pushed flour aside.

The Oehler site is built from stacked limestone rock. A dam was built upstream from the mill which increased the speed of the water to power the mill.

The Oehler mill served the local community. Wheat was brought to the mill by horse and cart. The Oehler brothers learned their milling skills in Krobern, Altenburg, Saxony, Germany.

Maintaining the mill and preventing fire were important tasks.

There is a wonderful web site describing the mill on line.

After looking at the mill, I weaved around on some roads and got terific panoramic views of the Mississippi River Valley.

Wisconsin’s Rustic Roads Guide describes the ride on MM like this,

“La Crosse County MM combines beautiful scenery and history, offering

the traveler views of the Mississippi River Valley, the Wisconsin Great

River Road and the Mormon Coulee Creek Valley. “Brinkman’s Ridge”

provides a panorama of the Mississippi River, including the wildlife

refuge at Goose Island.”

It’s worth fooling around to see what you can see.