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Highlights I wanted to share,

the next stories, those I want to tell

Chris Claremont, a Brit by birth, is an American comic book writer and novelist, who worked for Marvel Comics. He once wrote, “The more stories I told, the more I found I wanted to tell. There was always something left unsaid. I got hooked by my own impulse of 'Well, what's gonna happen next?’”

That’s the way I feel about highlighting stuff about Wisconsin for you that cannot be left unsaid.

Claremont expresses my feeling perfectly: “What excites me, what attracts me, what gets me up in the morning is telling the next story and getting it out in front of readers and hoping they'll love it too.”

There is no end to the stories I could tell. I hope you enjoy these.

Durand’s Circus Poster in the pub

Once we arrived in Durand, my friend told me to keep driving through downtown, and then she told me, “Pull in here.” I parked in front of the Corral Bar & Riverside Restaurant . It had a beautiful location on the Chippewa, to be sure. We had a late lunch there, outside on a beautiful day. The Corral BLT was outstanding; it was real bacon, I thought.

My friend then walked me into what appeared to be an event room, suitable for weddings, special events, and the like. And then she said,

“Look at that!”

I did. The wall was covered with what looked like old-time art. Honestly, I had no idea what covered this wall. At first, I yawned and said, “Ho hum,” to myself. But the wall art absorbed my friend. She told me the wall was covered with an original lithograph poster advertising the Grand Anglo-American Circus that came to Durand in 1885.

Carnegie Libraries in Wisconsin

The Wisconsin Library Association tells us this about Carnegie libraries in Wisconsin,

“Andrew Carnegie was often referred to as the ‘Patron Saint of Libraries’. He donated $56,162,622 for the construction of 2509 library buildings throughout the English-speaking parts of the world. He donated $40,000,000 for the construction of 1679 public library buildings in the United States. Sixty Wisconsin communities were the recipients of 63 public library grants from Andrew Carnegie. In addition, two academic institutions also received Carnegie Library grants. Fifteen of these Carnegie buildings have been razed, thirty have been repurposed or are no longer used as libraries, but 20 are still used as public libraries.

That’s 50 buildings still standing. I have been to three. A long way to go!

Wisconsin’s Old-Time Schoolhouses

There are many old-time schoolhouses still standing in Wisconsin, the famous one-room school. Brandon Bustead has said, “The one-room schoolhouse was once a signature of the American education landscape.” Richard Fidler had written, “These schoolhouses dotting our landscape are delightful artifacts of a bygone age.” Kris Scott reflected they are pockets of “rural charm.”

I have spotted over 30 such schoolhouses during my travels through the state. Jerry Apps, professor emeritus of agriculture at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, has published a book on the subject, One Room Country Schools.

Allow me to show you the schoolhouses I have found. Maybe one of them was yours, or one that schooled a member of your family.

BNSF Lift Bridge, Prescott - Engineering Marvel

The Burlington Northern & Santa Fe (BNSF) list bridge crossing the St. Croix River just as it meets the Mississippi River is quite a sight and engineering feat. It connects to Point Douglas Park in Hastings, Minnesota, from Prescott, Wisconsin.

It is a vertical lift bridge carrying BNSF railway tracks. It replaced a swing bridge at the same site. The center section lifts up so boat traffic below can pass.

It is a wonderful structural sight when standing still. It is even more wonderful if you can catch it being raised as a train can pass across.

Norskedalen Nature & Heritage Center

Norskedalen means “Norwegian Valley.” It is a “nature and heritage center dedicated to preserving, interpreting and sharing the natural environment and cultural heritage of the area surrounding Coon Valley in southwest Wisconsin. “

The Center provides environmental education, Norwegian heritage classes, and a host of events celebrating the heritage and nature that are so important to Wisconsin’s to Wisconsin’s Coulee Region.

Guided tours provide a first-hand view of historic buildings and share historic information about Norwegian immigration to this area.

Norskedalen is located three miles north of Coon Valley on La Crosse County Road PI.

Prairie du Chien’s St. Feriole Island, an abundance of history

"St. Feriole Island, where the city began, has the greatest concentration of historic landmark properties in the country." So wrote Mary Bergin in 2004.

"The Prairie du Chien terrace derives new interest not only because of the antiquity of its occupance and the variety of its cultural successions but also because the historical geography of this site, for the two centuries following 1685, epitomizes that of the Upper Mississippi Country." So wrote Glenn T. Trewartha in 1932.

Best laid plans - The Smith Brothers

I was on a “get lost ride” in Lafayette County. I followed my “get lost” rule: Get onto the road that is more narrow than the one I am on. I was in, vast, lush grasslands punctuated by tree-lines, a few farms, and homes. I was on Gant Rd., off CH F near Blanchardville.

I passed by Gantz Road, which runs north-south, while Gant runs east-west. I came upon this huge building, sitting out here, seemingly all alone, with nothing but farmland surrounding it.

I was startled by this structure and, of course, took a few photos of it. My question was, “Why is such a large, vertical building out here?” I had no explanation. I’ve pieced together an explanation, and more.

The Niagara Escarpment

An escarpment is a long, steep slope, especially at the edge of a plateau or separating acres of land at different heights. and it travels some 650 miles from Niagara Falls, New York in a semi circle westward through eastern Wisconsin. It runs predominantly east/west from New York State, through Ontario, Michigan, ending in Wisconsin**. The escarpment is most famous as the cliff over which the Niagara River plunges at Niagara Falls, for which it is named.

Old Fashion Barn-Raising: “A Celebration of Wood on a Massive Scale”

I don't know about the storyteller, but this is a great story. It is a story of love for the historic timber used in old Wisconsin barns and the marriage of one about to be destroyed with one being renovated. The idea was to find an old barn not in use that could be disassembled, moved to this address, reassembled, and attached to the red barn, providing the added space they wanted. These men are using actual timber from a 19th-century barn, and to the extent they can, they are putting the pieces back together where they were when they disassembled the barn, and they are working to put the pieces back together precisely as they were initially structured.

I watched the team go to work. This story attempts to convey what they had to do to make the idea work.

St. Croix and Brule Rivers, their sources

This is a wackadoodle story that ended up as a lot of fun, despite the fact there was egg on my face! My idea was to visit the Boise Brule River in northern Douglas County. It’s commonly known as the Brule.

Looking at my map on the run, I concluded that Lake Superior was the source of the Brule River and that it joined up with the St. Croix River to the south, after which it would meet up with the Mississippi southeast of Minneapolis.

This looked like a straightforward mission up Hwy 53. A piece of cake. I had not spent much time in this area, so getting excited about the ride was easy.

But…

Ashland Ore Docks - and then there was none

I visited Ashland. Wisconsin in 2007, saw the last Ashland Ore Dock and photographed it in all its splendor. This is a photo I took back then. She was a beauty.

I learned that there was an effort afoot to destroy this ore dock because it presented a safety danger to the public. A group formed to advocate converting the dock into a historical site instead. It was the last remaining ore dock in Ashland. That group did not prevail. The dock was destroyed in 2012-2013.

I want to acquaint you with the history. show you the dock as I saw it in 2007, and then show you when it was being destroyed in 2012-2013.

Portage Canal - Much ado about something

While living in Wausau, traveling south on I-39 and then on I-90, I passed signs for Portage many times. Honestly, I never thought much about it. Then one day, I decided to stop and see the town. I then learned the city is named Portage for a reason: a canal connects the Wisconsin River to the Fox River. You might ask, “So what?”

Get out your atlas. The net effect is one could travel by water from the North Atlantic Ocean, through the St. Lawrence Seaway into the Great Lakes to Green Bay and up the Fox River through the Portage Canal to the Wisconsin River to the Mississippi River and into the Gulf of Mexico!

Now that is something. Let’s take a look.

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Deny

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