HISTORIC DRIVING TOUR

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CRAWFORD COUNTY, WISCONSIN
Click here for Historical Sites in Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin

Historical Sites in Crawford County, Wisconsin

Black Hawk Recreation Area & Marker – DeSoto
The marker commemorates the site of the 1832 Battle of Bad Axe, where Chief Black Hawk and his band of Sauk followers made their historic stand against the U.S. infantry.

Rafting on the Mississippi Marker – Lynxville
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 sawmills 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 stream toward the Mississippi River. Here logs were caught, sorted, scaled, and rafted. Between 1837 and 1901 more than forty million board feet of logs floated down the Great River to sawmills. The largest log raft on the Mississippi was assembled at Lynxville in 1896. It was 270 feet wide and 1550 feet long, containing two and one-fourth million board feet of lumber.

US Lock & Dam #9 – Lynxville
Largest federally managed pool on the Mississippi River

Prairie du Chien Historical Marker
In prehistoric times water from melting glaciers cut a wide valley between the bluffs of the Mississippi River to form a broad flood plain. On it French explorers traders and missionaries found a large and well-established Fox Indian village. The chief’s name was Lim in Indian, Chien in French, and dog in English. Jonathan Carver visited the village in 1766 and called it “Dog Plain” but the residents preferred the French “Prairie du Chien.”

Villa Louis Historical Site & Markers – Prairie du Chien
Located on St. Feriole Island, Villa Louis Rd. National historic landmark site owned and operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. Tour six historic structures including the Villa Louis mansion. 608-326-2721

Fort Crawford Museum & Markers – Prairie du Chien
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Self guided tour of three buildings with over 50 exhibits. Showcasing the reconstructed Fort Crawford Hospital on its original site. Other exhibits include Dr. William Beaumont's digestive experiments; medical, national, and local history exhibits; 1829 Fort Crawford Military Cemetery, and more.

War of 1812 Historical Marker – Prairie du Chien
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 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 a Wisconsin fort. Pro-British residents alerted the British at Mackinac and a force of 150 militia and 400 Indians was quickly sent to Prairie du Chien. The fort was compelled to surrender on July 20 and was re-named Fort McKay by the British. When the war ended, the British burned the fort and withdrew. The Americans began construction of another fort July 3, 1816, and named it Fort Crawford. The reconstructed blockhouse marks one corner of Fort Crawford.

Marquette & Jolliet Historical Marker – Prairie du Chien
In 1673, Louis Jolliet, Canadian fur-trader and explorer, and Father Jacques Marquette, French Jesuit Missionary, with five French Canadian boatmen, were the first white men to enter the upper Mississippi River. Indians directed them to the Great River via the Fox-Wisconsin waterway from the present site of Green Bay to Prairie du Chien. The Frenchmen entered the Mississippi River June 17, 1673.

St. Feriole Island – Prairie du Chien
Area of earliest settlement and activity in Prairie du Chien. Site of the Battle of Prairie du Chien during the War of 1812 and of the First Fort Crawford where three important Indian treaties were signed, home of the Villa Louis. Host to annual events including the Prairie Villa Rendezvous, Town and Country Jamboree, the Rodeo, Prairie Dog Blues Fest and the Villa Louis Carriage Classic. Ideal for walking and biking. Two approaches to the island, at the newly renovated Blackhawk Avenue entrance and at Washington Street.

Wyalusing State Park – Bagley
Located 10 miles south of Prairie du Chien. Features views of the historic junction of the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers where the first Europeans, Marquette and Joliet landed in 1673. Campsites, group camping facilities, picnic facilities, 22 miles of hiking and nature trails, and a year round naturalist. 608-996-2261

Kickapoo Indian Caverns – Wauzeka
Carved by underground rivers and used for centuries as shelter by Native Americans, the ancient cavern stands as testament to nature’s creativity, with the Majestic Cathedral Room featuring a 60’ high onyx ceiling, the Frozen Waterfall, and the Turquoise Room. Hwy 60 on Rhein Hollow Rd, Wauzeka, 15 miles SE of Prairie du Chien, WI. Largest show cave in the Midwest. 608-875-7723

LWR Genealogical and Historical Research Center – Wauzeka
The Lower Wisconsin River Genealogical and Historical Research Center, LWR for short, is a nonprofit organization whose purposes are to create and foster interests in genealogy, family, and area history; gather and preserve the records and artifacts of our ancestors, founders, and early settlers in our area; and to aid individuals, organizations, and the public in genealogical and area history pursuits. Meetings are held every fourth Saturday of January, March, May, July, September and November at the Century Hall in Wauzeka, Wisconsin. Membership is open to anyone interested in genealogy and history and in the promotion of the purposes of the LWR. Membership entitles each member or household to a subscription to the newsletter, surname listing, and use of our new library at the Century Hall.

Phetteplace Display – Wauzeka
Joseph Phetteplace of Wauzeka, Wisconsin, who died in 1982, was one of the nation’s top lapidaries, the art of cutting and engraving precious stones. His creative and meticulously detained works have had a major influence on contemporary lapidary artists in this country. As a professional inlay artist in mother-of-pearl, chiefly for elegant musical instruments for well-known musicians, Phetteplace was equally renowned for his mosaics. An admirer of Lincoln, Phetteplace painted a portrait in stone of this president, using 2700 intricately cut and fitted pieces of gemstones for the realistic life-sized masterpiece. The project took 2700 hours. Shown at regional and national shows, the mosaic won several awards and drew world-wide attention to his work, and was influential in starting many American lapidaries to expand and perfect the lapidary art.

Museum of the Kickapoo – Gays Mills
The Museum of the Kickapoo, created by Community Conservation, Inc, opened July 4, 1998 as part of the Wisconsin Sesquicentennial celebration in Gays Mills. It was created for local people, tourists and local schools. Situated within the historical hydroelectric dam building on the Kickapoo River in Gays Mills, the Museum of the Kickapoo offers detailed information about the geological history, plant and animal life, various ecosystems, and conservation practices in the valley.

Log Cabin Heritage Park – Gays Mills
The Log Cabin Heritage Park was established in the early 1970’s by the Crawford County Historical Society. Cabins were donated from around the Kickapoo Valley, dismantled log-by-log and re-assembled in the park. The purpose and mission of the park was to “preserve the folk architecture of the Kickapoo Valley.” The cabins sat un-repaired for quite a while, but in the spring of 1996, a group of people sent out an “SOS” to ‘Save our Settlement.” With energy and enthusiasm the group joined again with the Crawford County Historical Society as a chapter, calling themselves the Log Cabin Heritage Society. It is hoped that the park can remain a place where the people of the present can touch a bit of the past.

Apple Orchard Historical Marker – Gays Mills
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 growers in commercial production. The Society examined a site on High Ridge and planted five acres with five recommended varieties. By 1911, the orchard had grown so vigorously that an organization was formed in Gays Mills to promote the selling of orchards. Today more than a thousand acres here produce apples nationally known for their color and flavor.

STILLIFE Wildlife Museum - Gays Mills
Located in the town of Petersburg 4 miles south of Gays Mills, it has over 500 Taxidermy mounts. Open only on weekends. There is no fee.
48577 Petersburg Lane, Gays Mills, WI 54631. 608 735-4664

Soldiers Grove Origin Historical Marker
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 Albert Sydney Johnson, encamped in this vicinity, known then as Pine Grove Village. Weary from their trek through the rugged terrain of Western Wisconsin, the soldiers rested; their exhausted and hungry horses, which were unable to find food for days in the jagged terrain, foraged in the grass here. Because this military encampment became widely known throughout the territory, Pine Grove Village was renamed Soldiers Grove

Solar Town – Soldiers Grove
Built between 1978 and 1981, America’s first “Solar Village” is still regarded by the U.S. Department of Energy as a milestone in the use of solar heating by a community.

Congressional Medal of Honor Memorial – Soldiers Grove
Celebrates awards to more than 600 Medal of Honor recipients from 12 Midwestern states.

James Davidson Historical Marker – Soldiers Grove
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 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.

Historical Sites in Prairie du Chien

St. Feriole Island  The island is the site of the city’s earliest activities, the center of the fur trade, home of the first Fort Crawford, site of the Battle of Prairie du Chien in 1814 and three important Indian treaties. From the middle 1860s until early 1900 it held the depot for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. St. Feriole Island was Prairie du Chien’s 4th Ward until the Corp of Engineers spent $500,000 to relocate the residents after the record Flood of 1965. Today St. Feriole Island hosts several major annual attractions and many small family outings. The third week in June, The Prairie Villa Rendezvous is held. In July the Chamber of Commerce Fireworks, Town & Country Jamboree and the Prairie Dog Blues Fest draw large crowds. The Carriage Classic brings an elegant equestrian style to the island in September.

Villa Louis (St. Feriole Island) Villa Rd. and Bolvin St. - This Victorian estate was home to three generations of the Dousmans. The estate was first developed in the 1840s by fur trader and frontier entrepreneur, Hercules Dousman. The prominent mound was first built by Indians and later modified by several military installations. The estate offered both an elegant and a flood-proof setting. The present residence was built in 1870 by Dousman’s son, H. Louis Dousman. After living in St. Louis for more than a decade Louis and his wife Nina Sturgis Dousman returned in the mid-1880s. Louis established the Artesian Stock Farm to breed and race trotting horses. Nina directed a major remodeling of the residence. After a brief illness, Louis died in 1886 and life for the Dousmans changed. The horses were sold, paddocks became fields and the estate was dubbed Villa Louis, as a memorial to young Dousman. The family closed the estate in 1913 but returned 20 years later to establish one of the first historic house museums in the Midwest. The property became Wisconsin’s first State Historic Site in 1952. Today it is open daily May - October. The site retains its original furnishings and since 1995 it has been undergoing extensive remodeling to restore its 1890s elegance. National Historic Landmark and National Register of Historic Places.                                                                                   

Brisbois Store - Fur Trade Museum
(St. Feriole Island) Water St. - Built in 1851-52 by fur trader and merchant, B.W. Brisbois, this stone building sits on land with a long association with the North American fur trade. Prior to the War of 1812, the property was owned by a number of prominent traders and companies. During the War a log structure on the property was used by U.S. soldiers for housing while nearby Fort Shelby was under construction. After the War, the property became the site of a U.S. Fur Factory. In the 1820s the land was sold to the American Fur Company who held it until its sale to Brisbois in 1850. Through much of the twentieth century the building was known as the Riverside Boat Repair. The Wisconsin Historical Society acquired the building in the 1970s and established the Fur Trade Museum. Operated in conjunction with the Villa Louis, the building is open May - October. National Historic Landmark and National Register of Historic Places.                                                                                   

Brisbois House
(St. Feriole Island) Water St. - As part of a separation contract negotiated in 1836,  Joseph Rolette agreed to build this stone residence for his estranged wife, Jane Fisher Rolette. Built from surplus limestone sold by the government after the construction of Fort Crawford, the house was erected on property owned by Jane’s maternal relatives, the Brisbois. After Rolette’s death, Jane married his business partner, Hercules Dousman, and moved to the famed House on the Mound. Jane transferred the property to her cousin, B.W. Brisbois, and the house remained in his family until the end of the 1900s. In the 1950s the Cornelius family restored the residence and gave the property to the State Historical Society. Today it is operated in conjunction with the Villa Louis. National Historic Landmark and National Register of Historic Places                          

Rolette House
(St. Feriole Island) Water & Fisher Sts.- In December 1840, Joseph Rolette began construction of this frame house. Unfinished upon Rolette’s death in 1842, the house was purchased by its builder, Henry Brandes. In the 1870s it was extensively remodeled, becoming a hotel, then a boarding house. Restoration of the house to its 1840s character is not complete. National Register of Historic Places.                                                                                   

The Dousman House Hotel
(St. Feriole Island) Fisher St. - The Railroad House was touted as the premier hotel on the Upper Mississippi when it was built by the railroad in 1864. Since Hercules Dousman owned so much of the railroad stock, the hotel was renamed for him after his death in 1868. In the 1940s it was converted to a meat packing plant and later served as a warehouse. The property is awaiting redevelopment.  National Historic Landmark and National Register of Historic Places.                                                                                    

Lawler Park (St. Feriole Island) Water St. - In the early fur trading days canoes landed on this beach. In 1930s the WPA constructed the stone retaining wall and filled the shoreline with dirt. This favorite park was named for John Lawler, the builder of the famed pontoon railroad bridge. Visitors can enjoy the Walk of History, a series of 10 marble etchings telling highlights of Prairie du Chien’s past.  

Old French Cemetery
Located several miles out on Frenchtown Road (County K) is the old burial ground. The first recorded burial was 1817. Basil Giard and Joseph Rolette are buried here. Records are at St. Gabriel’s.  

Calvary Cemetery
Located several miles out on Frenchtown Rd. (County Hwy K) across from Old French Cemetery. Hercules Dousman deeded the land to St. Gabriel’s before the Civil War. The prominent Dousman plot is near the center of the cemetery.  

Francois Vertefeuille House
Hwy K - Designated as the oldest structure in Wisconsin on its original site, it was built by a voyager, Francois Vertefeuille. The house is built in the French-Canadian manner. It is now privately owned. National Register of Historic Places.        

Strange Powers House 338 N. Main – Built between 1818-1824. The house is privately owned. National Register of Historic Places.

St. Gabriel’s Church, School and Cemetery
506 N. Beaumont Rd. - The parish dates back to the 1820s and the stone church to 1836. The early settlers met in a log cabin on the banks of St. Feriole Slough. In 1908 the church was modernized when the twin spires and the new front were added. Father Galtier, early priest here and the founder of St. Paul, is buried in front of the church. The cemetery behind the church holds the graves of most of Prairie du Chien’s early Catholics.  St. Gabriel’s is the oldest parish in Wisconsin still operating as a church and is staffed by Jesuits.

LaRiviere-Ravoux House
316 N. Beaumont Rd. - Pierre LaRiviere, a prosperous farmer built this home. Pere’ Augustin Ravoux, first pastor of St. Gabriel, lived in this house in 1843 while translating the Catholic catechism into the Sioux language. This property is privately owned.

German School 
202 North Wacouta, across from the Courthouse - Built in 1868 to serve the educational needs of Prairie du Chien’s German-American community, the school flourished until 1876. In 1885 the building was converted to a house by Major Edward Whaley, a disabled veteran of Wisconsin’s famed Iron Brigade who served as Prairie du Chien’s postmaster. This house is privately owned.

Crawford County Courthouse  
220 N. Beaumont Rd. - The courthouse as it stands today was built in several stages. The oldest central section dates back to 1867. An earlier courthouse on this site was built in 1836 when Wisconsin became a territory. The Territorial Dungeons are located in the basement and can be visited upon request. National Register of Historic Places.

Cornelius Family Park & Tourist Information Center
Located on U.S. Highway 18 at the base of the Marquette-Jolliet Bridge this structure houses the Prairie du Chien Area Chamber of Commerce/Tourism office and the State of Wisconsin Tourist Information Center. The grounds feature the 1910 statue of Father Marquette which was relocated from St. Mary’s Academy. Today the statue points to the river remembering the 1673 voyage of Marquette and Jolliet.

W.H.C. Folsom House
109 Blackhawk Ave. - Folsom, a businessman, built this residence in 1842. Captain Wiram Knowlton, a prominent attorney, recruited local militiamen from his office in this building during the Mexican War, and naturalist John Muir worked here briefly as a printer. In the 1920s the house was acquired by the League of Women’s Voters who renovated the structure and used it for their headquarters. In 1960 the League deeded the house, known locally as the Knowlton House, to the State Historical Society. National Register of Historic Places.

The Joseph & Emma Linzenmeyer Wachute Memorial Library  
125 Wacouta - In 1876 an artesian well drilled on the site shot water in the air almost 1,000 feet. The water was used for fire protection, for the nearby sanitarium, and bottled for sale. In 1907 the city bought the property and turned it into the Artesian Park. In the early 1960s Joseph and Emma Wachute left money for a library which was built on this site. In 1976 his brother Charles left money to the city if they would rename the street where he lived after him. Since he spelled his name differently from his brother, the Wachute Library is on Wacouta Avenue.

Post Office 120 S. Beaumont Rd. - Today’s post office building was constructed in 1936 as part of the Works Projects Administration program. Inside is a relief sculpture of Marquette and Louis Jolliet.  National Register of Historic Places.

Holy Trinity Episcopal Church
220 S. Michigan - The Little Brown Church was built in 1856 by grain merchant H. Baldwin. Originally services were held at the second Fort Crawford.

Evergreen Cemetery  
S. 15th St. - The land was set aside for burials in the late 1840s by James H. Lockwood, one of the city’s earliest settlers. Many founders of modern Prairie du Chien are buried here.

The Old Rock School
South Marquette Rd at Parrish St. - Originally constructed in 1857, the school served elementary students until the school consolidation movement in the mid 1900s. In the late 1980s the American Legion with the city’s support added the Veteran’s Memorial. It honors local soldiers who fought in wars from the Black Hawk War through WW II.   National Register of Historic Places.                                                                            

Prairie du Chien Correctional Facility
500 E. Parrish - The Wisconsin prison for young offenders occupies a historic site. Dating from the 1880s Sacred Heart College then Campion College and High School were dedicated to the education of young men. After Campion closed in 1975, Wisconsin Synod Lutherans operated Martin Luther Preparatory School for 15 years.

The Fort Crawford Military Cemetery
One of the nation’s smallest cemeteries, it has 64 internments -18 known and 46 unknown. Originally only officers serving at Fort Crawford and their families were buried there. Later soldiers were moved from the enlisted man’s plot and from Evergreen. Unfortunately, their names were lost. Most years Memorial Day services have been celebrated here.

O.E. Satter County Building
111 W. Dunn - Once part of the second Fort Crawford, this land was bought by John Lawler in the late 1860s and served as his estate where he planted hundreds of evergreens, many of which still stand. In 1902 the family estate was sold. In 1903 the Prairie du Chien Sanitarium was erected. In the early 1930s O.E. Satter came as a young doctor to work for the Sanitarium. Sometime later the Sanitarium became General Hospital with Satter as its director. In 1976 he sold the building to Crawford County which has used it for offices since. Now at the turn of a new century another generation is deciding the fate of this old building.

Wyalusing Academy
601 S. Beaumont Rd. - John Lawler gave this site, once part of the second Fort Crawford, to Catholic nuns for a girl’s school in 1870. St. Mary’s Academy educated young women for almost a century before it closed in 1968. Wyalusing Academy, a private institution, is dedicated to helping students who have had difficulty in traditional schools to learn life and job skills.

Fort Crawford Museum
717 S. Beaumont Rd. - The second Fort Crawford Hospital was first occupied in 1831, with Dr. William Beaumont as the first surgeon. Zachary Taylor, Jefferson Davis, and Chief Black Hawk are also associated with the second Fort Crawford. Some tireless DAR women bought the site in the 1920s and in the 1930s it was reconstructed as a WPA project. Until 1995 the site was known as The Museum of Medical Progress and was owned by the State Medical Society of Wisconsin. Since 1995 the museum has been owned and operated by the non-profit Prairie du Chien Historical Society. Today it is open daily May - October. National Historic Landmark and National Register of Historic Places.

More sources of area history:
Fort Crawford Museum phone 608-326-6960; Villa Louis Historic Site phone 608-326-2721; Prairie du Chien Public Library 608-326-6211; Crawford County Clerk 608-326-0200; St. Gabriel's Catholic Church 608-326-2404; Wisconsin Room - University of Wisconsin-Platteville, Karrmann Library, Platteville; Lower Wisconsin River Genealogical & Historical Research Center, PO Box 202 Wauzeka, WI 53826-0202