04 Fond du Lac & DodgeCounties

<body topmargin=0 leftmargin=0 marginheight=0 marginwidth=0> <table cellpadding=0 cellspacing=0 border=0><tr> <td valign="top" colspan=2 height=47 style=" border-bottom: 3px solid #FF9900;" BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <B>04 Fond du Lac & DodgeCounties</B></div> <div> </div> </td> </tr><tr> <td valign="top" width=162 style="border-right: 3px solid #FF9900;" BGCOLOR="#FFFF33" TEXT="#080000"> <div> <A HREF="index.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="The Yellowstone Trail"><B><IMG SRC="30164140.png" border=0 width="100" height="20" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="wisguide0.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="Wis Guide Home"><B>Wis Guide Home</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis00.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="How to use the guide/ legend."><B>How to and legend</B></A></div> <bR> <div> <B>By county:</B></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis12.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="12 St Croix County "><B>12 St Croix</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis11.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="11 Dunn Eau Claire Counties"><B>11 Dunn & Eau Claire</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis10.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="10 Chippewa County"><B>10 Chippewa</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis09.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="09 Clark Marathon Counties"><B>09 Clark & Marathon</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis08.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="08 Wood County"><B>08 Wood</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis07.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="07 Portage County"><B>07 Portage</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis06.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="06 Waupaca County"><B>06 Waupaca </B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis05.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="05 Winnebago Outagamie Counties"><B>05-Winnebago & Outagamie</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis04.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="04 Fond du Lac DodgeCounties"><B>04-Fond du Lac & Dodge</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis03.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="03 Washington Waukesha Counties"><B>03 Washington/</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis03.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="03 Washington Waukesha Counties"><B>Waukesha</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis02.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="02MilwaukeeCounty"><B>02-Milwaukee</B></A></div> <div> <A HREF="guidewis01.htm" TARGET="_top" TITLE="01 Kenosha Racine Counties"><B>01 Kenosha & Racine</B></A></div> </td> <td valign="top" height=433 width="100%" BGCOLOR="#FFFFFF" TEXT="#080000" bgproperties="fixed" background="06100c00egerdp.jpg"> <div> <B>Please scroll down for draft text. </B></div> <div> <B><IMG SRC="3713ab00.jpg" border=0 width="570" height="688" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Fond du Lac and Dodge Counties - Lakeside and Countryside</div> <div> <B>M292.9 Winnebago/Fond du Lac County Line</B></div> <div> M----<B>Van Dyne</B> On WI 175 (Van Dyne Rd) and YT you will see a charming old gas station shaped like a house with a steep roof. It is reminiscent of other old gas stations of the 1930s,  just post-YT days. For a look and a lesson about old gas stations in Wisconsin, see <I>Fill ‘Er Up</I> by Jim Draeger and Mark Speltz (Wisconsin Historical Society Press 2008 )</div> <bR> <div> <B>M299.6 North Fond du Lac</B>.  This is the intersection of the 1915-1919 route, Co. RP, and the 1919-1930 YT route, Lakeshore Drive/US 45, going north.</div> <bR> <div> When they moved Co. RP (was Wis 175) some years ago within North Fond du Lac, a block long triangle of grass was left between Minnesota Ave.  and Co. RP (Van Dyne Rd.) and between Garfield and Winnebago. The city fathers created <B>Yellowstone Trail Park</B> there in 2002. The park recently acquired a train caboose, reminding the viewer of the strong influence of railroads upon this community. Park and enjoy the area and the large YT sign identifying the park.  </div> <bR> <div> Right across the street from the Yellowstone Trail Park is the old Yellowstone Garage building, now a modern battery company, but you can still see the architectural lines of a garage there. It was built in 1920 for the Yellowstone Sales and Service Company which sold and repaired farm implements and automobiles. See <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" ><A HREF="http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/YGarage.pdf" TARGET="_top" TITLE="http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/YGarage."><U>www.yellowstonetrail.org/YGarage.pdf</U></A></FONT> </div> <bR> <div> For information about <B>Van Dyne</B> on the 1919-1930 route see <B>M288.0</B> in Winnebago County where the two routes meet again. </div> <div> <B>M301.3 Fond du Lac</B> <I> Hotel Retlaw. Kruger Bros. Auto Service, 30 E. First St.  Salzman Auto Co. 76 S. Portland St. MH; Crescent Motor Co. 56-58-60 N. Main. Ph 62. Free camp in Lake Side Park. BB(1920);  Camp maintained by Assoc of Commerce and City Comm.  1 mile n. on Main St. Fishing, tennis courts, free, road maps free. AAA</I></div> <bR> <div> <B>M301.6</B> <B>Aetna No.5 Fire Station</B>, 193 N. Main St., with its tall bell tower, used for observation and for drying hoses, watched over the YT. The word “Aetna” was used by fire stations in the 1870s, when the station was built. It referred to the volcano, Mt Aetna in Sicily.</div> <div> <B>M302.2</B> Present Ramada Hotel at corner of Main and Division Sts. was the <B>Retlaw Hotel</B> in YT days. This historic landmark was built in 1922 and still retains some of its early features. It is on the National Register of Historic Places. Retlaw is the builder’s name spelled backward. </div> <div> <B>M311.1 Byron</B></div> <div> <B>M312.4 Fond du Lac/Dodge County Line</B></div> <div> <B>M15.5 </B><B><U>Lomira</U></B><B> </B> Horicon Marsh is about 10 minutes to the west;</div> <bR> <div> <B>M320.3 Theresa </B> <I>Pretty village. No camp. Small Hotel & garage. MH; Ford Garage. Rooms and Meals in Connection.  BB (1920) </I> <B>Theresa Marsh</B> is about two miles east. As you drive through town notice the large rock wall on the east side bearing the town’s name. A YT marker is at the foot of that wall. At the top of that wall is the home of Solomon Juneau, founder of Milwaukee and of Theresa. The <B>Historical Museum/Solomon Juneau House</B> is open the last Sunday of every month from Memorial Day thru September.</div> <div> <B>Widmer’s Cheese Cellars,</B> 214 W. Henni St., is a block and a half west of the route.  See  www.widmerscheese.com/</div> <div> <B>M325.6 Washington/Dodge County Line</B></div> <bR> <div> Fond du Lac Wayside</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" >Code 1</FONT><B>  Galloway House & Village.</B> 336 Old Pioneer Rd. Within the area is the Blakeley Museum. Experience history and culture of the area there.  The Galloway House began as a 30-room farmhouse and evolved into a showplace of gracious living. It has hand-carved woodwork, etched glass, and hand-stenciled ceilings. CCC Barracks Museum (Civilian Conservation Corps from the 1930s) is on the grounds. Open summer weekends.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" >Code 2</FONT><B>  Historic Octagon House</B>. 276 Linden St. This house, on the National Register of Historic Places, was built in the Civil War era. The house features 9 secret passageways including an underground tunnel used for a safe house in the “underground railroad.”</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" ><B>Code 2</B></FONT><B>  Lakeside Park</B>, Lookout Lighthouse and Lakeside Park Marina all are found on the southern shore of Lake Winnebago. Lakeside Park is 400 acres of festivities, special events, children’s activities in a lovely setting. The 63-foot Lakeside Spirit cruise boat offers rides on Lake Winnebago. In 1920 the <I>Good Roads for Wisconsin</I> reported that Fond du Lac’s Lakeside Park had “upwards of a thousand auto tourists” camped at the park from “as far away as California.”</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0080FF" FACE="Arial" >  Fond du Lac Historical note:</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" >                         </FONT></div> <div> The Retlaw Hotel (now Ramada) has been a prominent commercial and visual downtown landmark since it was constructed in 1922. At the time of construction, the city of Fond du Lac called itself "the Gateway to the Fox River Valley." Milwaukee businessman Walter Schroeder (Retlaw is Walter spelled backwards) was responsible for the hotel construction. The Schroeder Hotel Company chain was one of the largest hotel chains in Wisconsin in the 1920s.</div> <bR> <div> From 1923 through the 1970s, the hotel maintained its position as Fond du Lac's premier hotel. Such notable figures as John F. Kennedy, Hubert Humphrey, Eleanor Roosevelt, Gene Autry and leading Wisconsin politicians visited the hotel. The hotel's position on four well-traveled highways, in addition to the Yellowstone Trail, also meant that automobile tourists frequented the establishment. The Hotel Retlaw has been restored and converted into the 132-room Ramada Plaza Inn Hotel.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0080FF" FACE="Arial" >  North Fond du Lac Historic note:</FONT></div> <div> The Yellowstone Garage changed ownership several times before Jim Mowbray ran it from 1949 to 1966. Sometime in the ‘20s individual hand-carved wooden letters spelling the “YELLOWSTONE GARAGE” were added over the large front door. Jim’s son, Mark, tells many homey tales of the re-named “Mowbray’s Yellowstone Garage” in his booklet, <I>History of the Yellowstone Garage</I>. Mark follows some automotive changes through warm tales of his family and the “family of friends” who frequented the place. A favorite tale concerns the fact that there was only an old klunker of a  furnace in the garage corner, so in the winter they would burn drained auto oil in it and use an old car fan to blow the heat through the garage. Here is grist for a tv series (or an OSHA investigation).</div> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0080FF" FACE="Arial" >  North Fond du Lac Historical note:</FONT></div> <div> Other “Yellowstone” businesses once at that corner: McArdle’s Yellowstone Auto Sales (1950s - 1970s) was just next to and north of Mowbray’s. The Yellowstone Tavern, across the street from Mowbray’s, held its name from the 1930s to about the 1960s. Note the names. Thirty and forty years after the demise if the Trail, the name lingered on.</div> <bR> <bR> <div> Code 1<FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0080FF" FACE="Arial" > Theresa Historical note:</FONT></div> <div> Widmer’s Cheese has been there since 1922;  many a YT traveler presumably stopped there. Founder John Widmer came from Switzerland so you know that the 70 varieties of cheeses are good. They specialize in brick cheese. You can even watch the cheese being made from vats holding milk and curds and the placing of the curds into tins with bricks placed upon them to compress the curds into solid blocks. Brick cheese is sweet when young and turns Limburger-like as it ages. Widmer’s has been interested in the YT and its history. Daily tours at 9:30 AM.</div> <bR> <div> Code 1 <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0080FF" FACE="Arial" >Theresa Historical note:</FONT></div> <div> Look at the original YT sign that Lester Beck & John Bodden found in Theresa.  It has a few bullet holes in it, showing it to be the victim of target practice. Story has it that metal signs were frequently stolen from telephone poles to be used for patches for holes in barn walls and corn cribs.</div> </td> </tr></table></body>