WHAT THE TRAIL FOUNDERS SAID-1921
The stranger will find Wisconsin the easiest state in the country in which to find his way about.
This is due to a very thorough and systematic marking of the state trunk line highways under the auspices of the State Highway Commission itself.
The roads are designated by a system of numbers of the state trunk line highways passing through that town.
While the system may seem somewhat confusing to strangers, it will be found very easy and workable as soon as it is actually experienced.
The Yellowstone Trail is the short road across the state of Wisconsin connecting Chicago and the Twin Cities.
It traverses central Wisconsin and is a good road throughout the entire distance.
Wisconsin is an automobile outing state and offers such a selection of good things for the vacationist that no attempt can be made to describe them in detail here.
The state abounds in lakes and good lake fishing is the common thing rather than an exception.
The state is well equipped with facilities for taking care of vacation trade and the conveniences of a home are always available nearby and yet there are portions of the state in which the primitive is still enough in evidence to satisfy the call of the wild.
Information bureaus of the Yellowstone Trail Association at Chicago, Milwaukee and the Twin Cities are all prepared to give detailed information about the state of Wisconsin.
1921 Yellowstone Trail Touring Service Map #10 of Wisconsin
Ride Along With Us!
We continue eastward from Minnesota into Wisconsin, beginning with YTA Wisconsin Mile Marker 000.0 assigned to the starting point at the Minnesota-Wisconsin state line.
Select shortcuts below, on map, or simply Scroll Down.
For Directions, click the Montana (MT-) State YTA Mile Marker Numbers (below) linking you to a real-time map.
WI-000.0 Wisconsin/Minnesota Line
WI-000.0 Hudson
is situated on beautiful Lake St. Croix, which divides the states of Wisconsin and Minnesota. From Prospect park, overlooking the city, one has a splendid view of the surrounding country. Free kitchen and dining rooms are maintained in this park for tourists. BB1921-10*
US 12 crosses the Minnesota Line on a toll bridge (15¢ for auto and driver; 5¢ for additional passengers) over the St. Croix River, 16.9 miles east of St. Paul, Minnesota. WPA-WI*
Hudson, A railroad division, it has car shops. Free Camp is at Prospect Park, free kitchen, dining rooms. Ford garage is best. MH-1926; BB1920*
In 1915 the Yellowstone Trail entered Wisconsin from Minnesota across the St. Croix River on a toll bridge and adjoining causeway, or “dike” as it was locally called, built out to meet the toll bridge in the middle of the St. Croix River. The opening of the bridge, June 14, 1913, was cause for great celebration, speeches by officials of everything, ending in a big dance on the bridge. The city-owned bridge tolls allowed the Hudson residents the privilege of paying extremely low property taxes from c.1913 to 1951. Today the “dike” serves as a pleasant place to stroll or fish.
111 Walnut St. Dick’s Bar is just a block up from the river where many steamboats moored. It has been a bar/saloon from 1853. “J. B. Gage has adopted a new name for his refreshment buffet, the Yellowstone Trail Buffet” (1915 Hudson Star-Observer). Today, stop in and say you are on the Yellowstone Trail. They know!
426 Second St. Just south of the Yellowstone Trail is the San Pedro Café, site of the former Yellowstone Café. “The place of business of the Yellowstone Café under the ownership of Koenig Brothers has been moved to 426 Second St.”
(December 30, 1926, Hudson Star-Observer).
Third Street Historic District consists of 17 historic homes on Walnut and Third streets. Travelers can obtain an Historic Walking Tour map from the Chamber of Commerce 219 Second St.
Four houses that saw the Yellowstone Trail are most interesting:
1. 1005 Third St. Phipps House. Queen Anne style, built in 1884, now the Phipps Inn B&B.
2. 1004 Third St. Octagon House. It is eight-sided, built in 1855, and is on the National Register of Historic Places. It is a museum owned and maintained by the St. Croix County Historical Society complete with gardens and carriage house.
3. 915 Third St. John C. Spooner House. Built in1878 of Italianate design for lawyer and three-term U.S. Senator Spooner. It is a T-shaped house with gable roof and large paired brackets along the cornice. Private residence.
4. 727 Third St. Boyden House. Victorian Gothic style, built in 1879. Private residence.
It isn’t easy, but getting to Prospect Park on a high hill is worth it. 3rd Ave. south becomes Laurel, on to north on Blakeman to enter Prospect Park. It was created in 1885 overlooking the city. It features gardens, picnic pavilions, and playground areas. Adjacent to the park at its south end was a tourist camp, opened in May, 1922, that was used by many Yellowstone Trail travelers. Diaries of Trail travelers speak of “driving up the steep hill to the camp and enjoying the view of the town and river below.” The newspaper reported regularly the numbers of campers (4,628 in 1923) and the amenities supplied by the proud city.
WI-017.7 Hammond
820 Davis St. On the corner where the Yellowstone Trail (present US 12) takes an abrupt 90-degree turn was the Hammond Hotel. Built in 1879, it survived 135 years in business, when the business was replaced in 2014 by Cheap Andy’s Saloon. The hotel was also the headquarters for the annual Llama Run on the Yellowstone Trail.
WI-021.5 Baldwin
Baldwin Free camp at park. Good Country hotel.
Camp maintained by Community Club in park on Main St. near creamery. Accommodations for 5 cars, 20 people. Opera House with moving pictures twice a week. MH-1926*
WI-026.1 Woodville
Woodville was incorporated in 1911. Lights came in 1914 and a water system in 1920. First newspaper in 1913.
WI-030.3 Hersey
Hersey was once a booming lumber mill town, Hersey also had a white clay mine. The clay was used in the making of porcelain china. WPA-WI*
A campground existed at the corner of present US 12 (the Yellowstone Trail) and present 292nd St. Helen Petranovich, in her History of Hersey says, “The year 1926 found the Old Yellowstone Trail becoming US 12. The old graveled road was widened and became a cement paved road. The Old Yellowstone Trail was at that time a main thoroughfare for horse jockies and gypsy caravans as they traveled westward.”
WI-032.4 Wilson
Free camp space at Gas station. MH-1926*
WI-034.0 Knapp Hill
Between Wilson and Knapp (Dunn County) is Knapp Hill. It is not now as scary as it was when folks were driving the Yellowstone Trail. No need now to back up the hill to keep gas running to the engine. Story has it that slow-moving trucks could slow down the traffic righteously, leading a trail of exasperated drivers of under-powered flivvers. Between Wilson and the county line, the route was subject to much straightening. You might look for the old route weaving in and out.
WI-037.4 Knapp
Good garage and country hotel. Free camp space on highway. MH-1926*
WI-047.3 Area of Old Brickyard
Menomonie had at least one brickyard on Brickyard Road (the early Yellowstone Trail). Millions of bricks were once manufactured by seven companies using the outstanding nearby clay. In 1968 the last surviving brick company closed, a victim of modern plants. There are still hundreds of bricks lying about.
WI-048.8 Menomonie
A prosperous little town, supported by flour mills, brickyards, a piano factory and the successful dairy farmers of the territory. Hotel Marian; splendid new hotel. Best meals. Sgl. $1.25, dbl. with bath, $4. The C & O Garage is best. Labor $1.Tourist camp, 25¢, level and in a nice grove. MH-1926*
1820 Wakanda St. Russell Rassbach Heritage Museum in Wakanda Park. Good exhibits have included local James Huff Stout, and Menomonie native Harry Miller – King of the Race Car Builders. It is open year round.
932 N. Broadway (Yellowstone Trail after 1925). Wilson Creek Inn Restaurant. In Trail days a gas station stood on this spot, followed by other restaurants and motels for decades. What makes this place a stop for today’s Trail traveler is that they have preserved some items from that era. It is a typical Wisconsin “supper club.” It is now called Wilson Creek Inn.
901-999 N Broadway St. Sanna Park, called Menomonie Tourist Park in Yellowstone Trail days. In the 1920s the 10 acre park had camping, boating, dancing in pavilions, and comfort stations. It was a popular stopping place for Yellowstone Trail travelers. Today, the only remaining evidence of its past is the small stone pillars at the entrance.
205 Main St. The Mabel Tainter Memorial Theater is worth a stop. Built of sandstone in 1890, it is a beautiful 130-year-old Victorian theater which presents performing and cultural arts. There are two galleries devoted to Tainter Estate furniture, fittingly displayed in this “Guilded Age” building.
101 Wilson Cir. (on S. Broadway, the later Yellowstone Trail). Wilson Place Mansion Museum. It was built in 1859 by lumber baron William Wilson. It stayed in the family through three generations and endured three different architectural styles -Victorian, Queen Anne, and Mediterranean.
603 S. Broadway (the Yellowstone Trail before 1925). Raw Deal Café near UW-Stout campus. A funny little place where all the food is raw! It has healthy fruits and veggies and surprising treats and guest performers.
712 S. Broadway. University of Wisconsin-Stout began as the Stout Manual Training School in 1891 founded by James Stout. He was a wealthy lumberman, state senator, and a member of the UW Board of Regents. In 1898, as a Good Roads enthusiast he financed and built a half-mile section of the “road of the future” He personally oversaw the construction of a “seedling” half mile of a model multi-lane road that included two earth roads, a stone road, a walking path and a bicycle path. It has been overlaid by the road used by the Yellowstone Trail.
WI-072.6 Eau Claire
An important manufacturing and jobbing center. Beautiful residence district.
The Eau Claire Hotel Barstow St. (sgl $2, dbl. with bath $4.50-$8.00) coffee shop.
Union Auto Service Co. Never closed. At Barstow and Gray Sts.
Tourist Camp, on Birch St., about one and a half miles from the center of town, 25¢. MH-1926*
Hotel Galloway. BB1927*
The Gillette Tire Company, once the largest employer in Eau Claire, flourished from 1917-1992, its large factory now repurposed as housing for over 150 small businesses. We mention this company because, as a Gillette company, their tires were sold everywhere and Yellowstone Trail travelers may well have been riding on those famous tires.
On the west side of Eau Claire is 100-year-old Carson Park, home of the Chippewa Valley Museum and Paul Bunyan Logging Camp. The lumber industry and early Eau Claire stories are told in the Museum with “hands-on” displays and many year-round activities. Summers at the Logging Camp one sees what loggers endured 100 years ago.
517 S Farwell St. Schlegelmilch House Museum. Built in 1871 and lived in by the family until 1948, the house is now owned by the Chippewa Valley Museum and is filled with period furnishings.
514 W Madison St. (Yellowstone Trail). The 1903 home of Norwegian newspaper writer Waldemar Ager. He founded the Reform newspaper, written in the Norwegian language. He did so because he feared the loss of the language and also to voice his progressive political views. Some original furniture and copies of the Reform and other works may be seen.
Madison Street Bridge Area. Phoenix Park on the east side of the Chippewa River at Madison Street is a pleasant new park with concerts and a farmers’ market. Yellowstone Trail traffic crossed here on a wooden bridge. It burned down in 1924 and was replaced by a concrete arch bridge, used until the present bridge was built in 1974. Across Madison St. (Yellowstone Trail) from the park is Stella Blues Restaurant in a renovated historic building.
316 Wisconsin St. The Livery Restaurant. The Livery is a country music bar and restaurant located in an 1893 horse stable, listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The stable now stands saved, intact and restored with ceiling beams exposed, antiques throughout and a working old elevator which the Oleson brothers used to haul buggies and autos (and horses?) up to the second floor. Not everyone owned a horse and buggy, necessitating a livery stable and its rent-a-horse business. The number of livery stables in Eau Claire fell from 13 to four in 1920 and this stable became an auto shop. The building represents, through its three morphings, the cultural history of Eau Claire – horses, autos, present renewal of the historic.
840 E Madison St., For 145 years the Amber Inn Bar and Grill has been a place of refreshment for the locals. Called by other names, the last 35 years with the same family, it has been the Amber Inn. During Prohibition the “root beer” was spiked with whatever alcohol was at hand. The historical integrity of the original two-story rectangular shape building is intact, in spite of the very small 10 foot addition. There are even pictures of old Eau Claire on the walls. Keep an eye open for Yellowstone Trail signs on streets as you go through this area.
WI-073.7 Sacred Heart Cemetery
Along Omaha St. is the Sacred Heart Cemetery with a seldom noticed small, ornate chapel built in the 1800s and now listed on the Register of Historic Places. Across the street is the site of the former Eau Claire Tourist Camp which, in 1925, would have hosted Trail travelers.
WI-085.8 Chippewa Falls
(alt. 866 ft.), once having the largest sawmill under cover in the world, is now a thriving manufacturing city. It is situated on the Chippewa River, which, with Wissota Dam, has one of the greatest hydro. electric plants in the northwest. The city boasts of a large and beautiful park, covering about 300 acres, with splendid drives throughout and a collection of native and imported animals and birds. The state home for the feeble-minded and the county insane asylum are also located here. BB1921-10*
Beautiful and picturesque little city. Second largest shoe manufacturing city in the state. Follow trolley north to the tourist camp in beautiful Irvine Park. Fine kitchen with gas stoves. Tennis courts. Hotel Northern, modern throughout. BB1920*
Keep an eye open for modern Yellowstone Trail yellow signs as you go through town. These signs do not mark the authentic route because they take you across the river, twice, to attract you to the business center today.
Today, you will go past the Chippewa Area Visitors Center, 1 N. Bridge St., where you can pick up area information.
WI-085.0 Greenville Street
Greenville Street was the Yellowstone Trail in 1915. It has the original width, 18 feet, and the concrete dates to 1915–18. This street was part of the effort to make the Wisconsin portion of the Yellowstone Trail, 409 miles, all concrete by 1929.
Trail travelers may have frequented the following current places which were standing in 1915 though the Trail itself did not cross the river:
236 W River St. Sheeley House Hotel and Restaurant. If you are on the Trail (Park St./Hwy J) take the bridge (Main St.) across the river. Directly in front of you at the end of the bridge is the Sheeley House. Through various owners from 1868 to the present, the Sheeley house has been a boarding house in one way or another with a tavern on the ground floor, restaurant on the second and sleeping quarters above. Today the tavern is the only remaining business.
124 E Elm St. Follow WI 124 North to 1 Jefferson Ave. Jacob Leinenkugel Brewing Company. The brewery was established in 1867. The fifth generation of Leinenkugels manages the brewery and, although it is now owned by Miller Brewing, it still makes its own seasonal and specialty beers. Leinie Lodge sells souvenirs, conducts tours and provides samples of beer.
125 Bridgewater Ave. Irvine Park and Zoo. 300 acres across from Leinenkugel Brewery is Irvine Park, a popular attraction here year round with picnic areas, Glen Loch dam, trails and playgrounds. And the trolley station is left over from Yellowstone Trail days when trolleys ran to Eau Claire.
505 W Grand Ave. Cook-Rutledge Mansion. Built in 1873, remodeled in1887, its high Victorian-Italianate architecture, red brick exterior with hand-carved ceilings and woodwork draw many to tours. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 Bridgewater Ave. Chippewa County Historical and Genealogical Society. In the former Notre Dame Convent (1883), the museum contains genealogical resources and local historical exhibits. The Historical Society has marked the Yellowstone Trail throughout Chippewa County with official yellow signs.
21 E. Grand Ave. Chippewa Falls Museum of Industry and Technology. We include this recent museum because of its general interest to today’s tourist. See the history of modern technology, including the original Cray supercomputers made in Chippewa Falls, once the fastest computers in the world.
Spring St. and Rushman Dr. Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge. Built in 1916, it is the only one of this once common bridge design remaining in Wisconsin. It crosses Duncan Creek. Foot traffic only. We would remind you that the Trail did not actually go to downtown Chippewa Falls. We include this bridge because of its historicity and because Trail travelers may have come into the city for respite and interest and may have viewed this bridge. Other Rainbow Arch bridges along the Yellowstone Trail are found in Ortonville, Minnesota, and Warm Springs, Montana.
WI-086.3 Chippewa Spring House
570 E. Park Ave. is the Chippewa Spring House. Since the early 1700s, water from this spring has been extremely pure. It is the source of the name of Eau Claire, 10 miles to the south. A great place for a watering trough and a water source for the radiator in Trail days.
Just across the street is a county historical marker featuring the Yellowstone Trail.
WI-089.2 Lake Wissota
The Trail skirts beautiful, manmade Lake Wissota. (See the historic note to the left.)
WI-091.6 Bateman
19990 Co. X (Yellowstone Trail). Butch & Jackie’s Bar.
This 100-year-old building was built as a cheese factory.
The following seven small communities all share the Yellowstone Trail, Co. X, in both Chippewa and Clark counties and they offer a buffet of little gems to see.
Under the auspices of the Highway 29 Partnership, they unveiled the marked 37 miles of Trail that they share in 2006 with the help of then-Lieutenant Governor Lawton.
WI-098 Cadott
On the corner of Co. X and MM is the Yellowstone Cheese Factory. Jeremy and Heidi Kenealy knew about the Trail before they built the factory on Highway X and chose the name of the place accordingly.
Try the Yellowstone Crunch cheese—with chocolate bits!
Painting the YT sign on Cadott telephone pole.
Cadott Historical Society
801 E Patton St. St. Joseph Catholic Church was built in 1928. Its claim to fame is the priceless stained-glass windows and three-dimensional glass sculptures. They were created from mouth-blown antique stained glass imported from Munich. Later, during World War II, the Munich studio was destroyed.
WI-109.2 Stanley
Intersection of First Ave. and Broadway. The Royal is a good, clean country hotel, serves meals.
Miller-Thornton Ford. Tel 21. Small free camping space, water. MH-1926*
219 E First Ave. (Yellowstone Trail). Yellowstone Implement. The building with the square glass blocks was built in 1917 by Armond Christopherson as the Yellowstone Garage. Partner M. R. Shock sold Dort, Dodge, Chevy, and Durant cars beginning in 1925. He was a member of the Yellowstone Trail Association. His son, J. A. Shock, has run it as an implement company. Tragically, shortly before we interviewed Mr. Shock, he had cleared out his father’s Yellowstone Trail Association materials.
Just a few yards to the west of Yellowstone Implement and across the street from the post office in Soo Park is a small Chippewa County Historical Society marker featuring the Trail.
Corner Franklin and First Ave. A Yellowstone Trail sign was posted here for several years. In 2007 this large yellow
boulder you now see (painted by school children) was placed here as part of the Yellowstone Trail celebration marking seven communities along the Trail on Co. X, the Trail.
228 Helgerson St. Stanley Area Historical Museum. Outstanding historical displays of farming and logging are there, also a 1906 Cadillac in pristine condition.
Just west of town is Chapman Park, created in 1922 on the site of a former lumber company. The mill pond now is an attractive lake. Yellowstone Trail travelers may well have stopped here.
WI-115.9 Thorp
Small country hotel; Dell’s Station downtown existed in the 1920s if not earlier. MH-1926*
Corner Stanley Street (Co. X, the Yellowstone Trail) and Co. M is Bob’s Corner Service Station. When the gas station was called ‘Dell’s’ in the 1920s and 1930s, Al Capone, the famous Chicago gangster, stopped there frequently on his way to his hideout in northern Wisconsin.
100 S Washington St. Same intersection as Bob’s Station is the present Heritage Court Motel and its adjoining 1891 home. It is quite homey and has repeat customers on their way “up north.”
Stanley St. Yellowstone Trail Park, so named because it is on the Trail. The park was renamed due to a resurgence of interest in the Trail.
WI-126 Withee
Black River Tourist Camp, free, in a nice grove. Supplies and gas. MH-1926*
For the story of the Krueger Boys, pacifists during World War I, see Trail Tail: Draft Dodgers, page <?>.
WI-127.8 Owen
Lumber mill and box factory. Two small free camps, four blocks from town. Woodland Hotel, modern and well managed. Dining room. MH-1926*
246 Central Ave. Pippin’s Pub and Grub. At the corner of Central and Fifth Street is a local watering hole, operated under various names since c.1907. There is a large yellow “R” on the side of the building, which owners keep painted. That “R” is the only original Yellowstone Trail marker known to remain, outside of museums, in Wisconsin. It stands for “the Yellowstone Trail turns right at the next corner.”
207 Central Ave. Woodland Hotel. At this writing the Woodland Hotel is being revived after some years of neglect. The Woodland Hotel was built for the John S. Owen Lumber Company, which established the city of Owen. See History Bits to the left for more about the Hotel.
607 W 3rd St. Mauel’s Ice Cream and Dairy. They have produced dairy products since 1919 and, no doubt, Yellowstone Trail travelers stopped there.
WI-134.2 Norwegian Church
Between Owen and Curtiss on Willow Rd. (Yellowstone Trail) is a small Norwegian church. Used regularly until 1953. Built c.1916 of red brick, it is a simplified Gothic style with arched door and windows. It is opened for one service a year, on the last Sunday in July, but the church is open and some come daily to pray.
WI-135 Curtiss
813 Meridian St., Co. E. The Old Curtiss Hotel built c.1905, is now called Our Place Bar and Hotel.
WI-141.8 Abbotsford
Abbotsford Headquarters for Wisconsin cheese Producers Ass’n. Small garage, but no hotel. MH-1926*
Camp 1 blk s. 5 cars, unlimited # of people, open field. AAA*.
The town is entered from the west on Spruce Street. WI 29 lies on top of the Yellowstone Trail here.
Downtown, on the corner of Spruce and 1st St., we join WI 13, the Trail.
Abbotsford, Colby and Unity, all on the Yellowstone Trail (WI 13), share a unique fact: they straddle the line between Clark and Marathon counties, no doubt complicating city governments.
At about WI-150, the route connecting Fairhaven Ln. and Lasalle St. varied, but Century Rd. is one known to have been used on the early route.
NOTE: Century Road is dirt, be careful when wet.
WI-144.3 Colby
Niehoff is a good country hotel. Ford garage. MH-1926*
This is the home of the world-famous Colby Cheese. In 1885 Joseph Steinwand left more curd and whey in and pressed it into molds for up to three months, leaving a tasty, mild, soft cheese. It was the only natural cheese native to the U.S. After the turn of the century, this area became one of the great cheese-producing centers in the nation and Colby cheese became known the world around.
The original cheese factory, now closed, is a bit southwest of town on, logically, Cheese Factory Road. You can drive down the road about a mile to see the closed, historic, small factory.
Adams and North Division Sts., just off WI13. (Yellowstone Trail). The Rural Arts Museum is a collection of buildings that tell the story of the railroad, dairy industry, and other past Colby history, complete with a depot and a furnished log home. Of note is the piece of meteorite that fell near Colby on the 4th of July, 1917.
WI-148.3 Unity
Free camp space one mile east. Good meals at Unity hotel. Garage across track is reliable. MH-1926*
WI-165.4 Marshfield
Prosperous and lively. Free camp at Fair Grounds. Charles Hotel, most modern, forty-five rooms, half with bath. MH-1926*
(pop. 6,000, alt. 1.271 ft.). The greatest cheese market in the Union. There are within a radius of forty miles nearly three hundred cheese factories which produced more than $10,000,000 worth of cheese last year. The C. E. Blodgett butter and egg company and the P. J. Schaefer company are reputed to be the largest wholesalers and exporters of cheese in the world. The fair grounds of the Central Wisconsin fair association are located in Marshfield and their stock exhibit barn is the largest round barn in the world. Central avenue, the main street of the city, is the widest paved street in the state, and is the pride of the city. BB1921-10*
Blodgett Garage half a block from hotel. Victory Garage. BB1920*
Today’s Yellowstone Trail driver will find the route through Marshfield marked by Yellowstone Trail signs through town and on eastward on Yellowstone Drive. Eight historic buildings are downtown near Central Ave. including the 1901 Tower Hall, Public Library, the Old Depot, and others.
There are five historic residential districts.
103 S Central Ave. Thomas House Center for History, significant because it is in the restored Thomas House, originally a hotel built in 1887, so Trail travelers may well have stayed there. The Center has featured rotating historic displays.
212 W Third St. Upham Mansion. The restored home of former Wisconsin Governor William Upham is of mid-Victorian architecture with original furniture. This white house is inviting with a large, sweeping porch and rose garden.
513 E 17th St., south of downtown Marshfield, World’s Largest Round Barn. Built in 1916, it stands in Central Wisconsin State Fair Park. The huge barn has 250 stanchions. The large arena for cattle shows is unique for it has no supporting beams. It is used for various events.
WI-170.5 Yellowstone Recreation Park
Yellowstone Recreation Park is just past Main St. on Yellowstone Dr. Local citizens have created a park along the old Yellowstone Trail, now named Yellowstone Dr.
WI-175.1 Auburndale
Dairying. Small free camp space two blocks from town. Good country hotel on Main St. Overland garage is best for repairs. MH-1926*
Auburndale runs east/west along the Wisconsin Central RR with its businesses along the track.
M181.0 Blenker
Meals and rooms over Post Office. MH-1926*
The post office is still in the same building as in the 1920s.
WI-184 Milladore
Bray’s hotel. Clark’s garage is said to have reliable mechanics. BB1926*
NOTE: Note the cobblestone face on Hughes Ford Garage. Undoubtedly the same building as Clark’s Garage described in the BB1926*.
WI-188.7 Junction City
Free camp space at school. Farming village. Small country hotel and garage. MH-1926*
East/west tracks intersect with north/south tracks, thus the “junction.”
WI-201.5 Stevens Point
Hotel Whiting, 414 Main St. an exceptionally fine hotel. MH-1926*
Auto Sales Co., corner of Clark and Strongs opp. hotel. Ford Garage, Ellis & Strongs Aves. Papermill Road is also sought by autoists. Goes to paper mills just south of city limits. Wis. River Mill & Plover Paper co. Automatic self-rocking cradles are made in Stevens Point exclusively. Free camp at fair grounds. Better accommodations at the Yellowstone Camp, about 1 mile east of town on Trail [Route after about 1920]. Level and in a grove. 50¢. Three cabins $1.50 to $2.50 each (BB,1920); 40 acres. 200 cars and 1000 people. Toilets. MH-1926*
They say they are the “potato capital of the world.” The language they speak among themselves is often Polish. WPA-WI*
As you cross the Clark Street Bridge, (old US 10/Yellowstone Trail) you will pass over the Wisconsin River. In the early days of Stevens Point, the river was often filled with logs as the lumber industry was prominent. The tar on the roadway of the bridge caught fire, closing it down in the 1920s. Today, a large mural (which you can see from the Clark Street Bridge) titled “Rivermen” celebrates this history. Many historical murals are throughout the downtown district.
38 Park Ridge Dr. (later Yellowstone Trail). Silver Coach Diner. This 1903 Smith and Barney train car may have started out just as a bar. The exterior does not look like a diner, and the original train car has been swallowed up by the addition, but its still there.
1408 Strongs Ave. at Clark St. Old Whiting Hotel. This 1900 Spanish Revival architecture hotel was on the Yellowstone Trail. The hotel became the main attraction in downtown Stevens Point and the place where travelers went for Trail information. Today it is called Whiting Place Apartments. The hotel was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.
2617 Water St. Point Brewery, has been in continuous operation since 1857. Daily tours.
In June, 1915, on “Trail Day” wherein local citizens all along the Trail pitched in to help maintain it, Point Brewery donated a team of horses. Bet you thought they should have donated a few kegs.
WI-204.4 Whiting
To travel from Stevens Point to Whiting, a suburb, you will be on Post Road. Post Road is so named because it was originally designated for the transportation of mail.
WI-A207.1 Plover
The Comfort Inn on the 1918–20 route features a Yellowstone Trail Pub with modern decor but historic pictures and maps of the Trail. It is just west of I-39 and north of County B. This crossroad is the intersection of two national driving routes, Yellowstone Trail and US 51.
Corner of Washington and Willow Dr. in Plover. Heritage Park, run by the Portage County Historical Society, is an historical village of buildings from early Portage County. There is the last cabin surviving from Yellowstone Hotel and Tourist Court built on the 1928-1930 Yellowstone Trail route (present US 10) in Stevens Point.
WI-219.5 Amherst
The Amherst Inn. Yellowstone Garage on main route BB1920
Amherst at the intersection of Co. B and Co. A.
303 Main St. (Yellowstone Trail). Amherst Inn Bed-and-Breakfast, a 1887 Victorian Gothic-style house was a popular stop for travelers in the heyday of both the Inn and the Trail. Now private.
WI-224.6
The Yellowstone Trail crosses the Ice Age Trail near Pipe Rd.
WI-232.6 Waupaca
(pop. 3,000, alt. 858 It.) The Chain o’ Lakes, consisting of some 13 beautiful lakes, is but a short distance from the city. The Wisconsin state fish hatchery is another interesting point. BB1921-10*
A dairying and potato growing center. Tourist Camp 50¢ along Mirror and Shadow Lakes 5 blks south on Main. Inn Hotel, some rooms with running water. American Plan sgl $3.25, dbl. $7. Sanders garage, never closed, tel 187 for tow car. MH-1926*
Delavan Hotel, on Yellowstone Trail and Main St across from Bank. Central stop on Yellowstone Trail between Chicago and St. Paul. BB1920*
Keep your eyes open for Yellowstone Trail signs throughout Waupaca. Some locals feel that the Yellowstone Trail followed the Hillcrest Dr./Granite St./Main St. route from WI-232.0 to WI-232.6, just north of Fulton. However, the guides of the period, such as various Blue Books and Mohawk Guides, specify not Granite, but Fulton St. (with the trolley tracks) as the route in that area.
112 Granite St. In 1917 Dayton Baldwin leased the 1909 garage and called it the Yellowstone Garage. In 2016 the former Yellowstone Garage and Oakland dealership was bought by John Gunnell, automotive author and restoration expert. John owned a 1917 Oakland and felt that the 100-year-old car belonged in his 110-year-old garage in Waupaca. In 2018, Gunell sold his Waupaca garage and his 1917 Oakland to a Milwaukee collector who plans to retain the garage as an historic site.
321 S Main St. The Holly History and Genealogy Center. Located one block south of the Yellowstone Trail. The Center, in a 1914 Carnegie library building, is the headquarters of the Waupaca Historical Society and houses a local history and genealogy library.
The Historic Hutchinson House Museum. 1854, located at the south end of Main Street within South Park, having been moved from Fulton Street and refurbished in Victorian style. The Hutchinson House is one of the oldest surviving homes in the city of Waupaca.
WI-241.7 Weyauwega
Producer of dairy, cheese, butter. MH-1926*
Weyauwega Historical Silo is just one block off the Yellowstone Trail which runs along Main Street. Built in 1855, it is a rye grain elevator, and the last one still standing in the United States. It has murals of old Weyauwega as well as the Yellowstone Trail logo painted on it. It’s tall. You can’t miss it.
WI-248.9 Fremont
(778 alt., 387 pop.), on the Wolf River, Thousands come from Wisconsin and Illinois to drop their baited hooks into the water here. WPA-WI
Fremont has been a magnet for fishermen for eons. The bridge over the Wolf River in downtown Fremont is no more. It was the route of the Yellowstone Trail. You can get to the other side of town, but you have to drive south a bit and take WI 110. Much road building has obliterated the Trail on the east side of town, but the citizens of Fremont have honored the Trail by marking it with large yellow signs.
Hotel Fremont on Wolf River Dr. (Yellowstone Trail). Built in 1895, it housed many a Yellowstone Trail traveler. The renovated hostelry has an ice cream parlor and historic pictures of Fremont are on the walls. The guests in the eleven-room hotel share three bathrooms, just like in Trail days.
WI-270.0 Appleton
The capital of Outagamie County is pleasantly situated on a plateau about 70 feet above the Fox River. It is the seat of Lawrence University. Appleton is said to have been one of the first cities in the world to have an electric railway and to use electricity for lighting purposes. Here are some of the largest paper mills in the country. BB1917*
Note the buildings which now hold a variety of exciting restaurants along College Ave. (Yellowstone Trail).
Most of them were there, gazing down at the Trail and its Tin Lizzie traffic.
Author and Pulitzer Prize winner Edna Ferber lived in Appleton from age 12.
She wrote So Big, Show Boat, and Giant, which were made into movies.
From the Intersection of South Oneida and South Olde Oneida Streets explore Olde Oneida, the route of the Yellowstone Trail. Find a drawbridge at the Fox Canal with benches among the greenery.
330 E. College Ave. (Yellowstone Trail). Outagamie Historical Society. “The History Museum at the Castle,” is in a Norman Revival-style 1924 Masonic temple. Appleton native Harry Houdini (Ehrich Weiss) exhibit, hands-on activities, and Appleton’s heritage displays are featured. Look across the street at Lawrence University.
625 W Prospect Ave., corner of Memorial and Prospect. Hearthstone Historic House built in 1881. It was the first residence in the United States to be incandescently illuminated by hydroelectric power. Remnants of this original electrical system are intact, giving us a rare glimpse into the early technology used in residential electrification. The beautiful home has original light switches and electroliers that still operate.
Vulcan St. Hydroelectric Plant. In 1882 a group purchased two Edison K water driven dynamos. It began operation with a direct-current generator that lighted 250 sixteen-power lamps, each equivalent to 50 watts. A water wheel operating under a ten-foot fall of water turned the generator that operated at 110 volts. This was the first hydroelectric plant.
425 W Water St. Paper Discovery Center. The paper industry looms large in the Fox River valley which once boasted of 42 paper plants between Menasha and Green Bay. The Discovery Center is chock full of hands-on experiences. Make your own paper to take home.
WI-A276.7 Menasha
Menasha Tayco St. Bridge Tower Museum. BB1925*
WI-A277.6 Neenah
Queen Ice Cream Parlor on Main Route (BB 1920*); Valley Inn (on Lake Winnebago and Fox River) (BB 1923*). Riverside park, Shattuck park, the Fox river and the lakes, all right in the city limits, are most interesting and beautiful. The great paper mills, wood-working plants, foundries, are also worth attention. BB1921-10*
347 Smith St. The Octagon House houses the Neenah Historical Society. This eight-sided house was built in 1856. The belief at the time was that octagonal houses were a more healthful shape.
165 N. Park St. (Yellowstone Trail). Bergstrom-Mahler Museum. Housed in a vintage mansion on Lake Winnebago, this museum has the world’s largest glass paperweight collection.
701 Lincoln St. Doty Cabin, once the home of Wisconsin’s second governor, James Doty, 1844-1845. During summer, costumed guides re-enact the era.
WI-283.1 Oshkosh
(pop. 38,000, alt. 744 ft.) is situated on the west shore of Lake Winnebago and on both banks of the Fox River, which here enters the lake. Steamboats ascend from Green Bay to this city and can pass in other directions to the Mississippi river by means of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Oshkosh is a flourishing commercial center with vast lumbering business interests. BB1921-10*
Oshkosh Home of Oshkosh B’ Gosh overalls. Alma’s Restaurant on Wangoo St. serves excellent meals. Oshkosh Camp, 50¢. Winnebago Auto Co., Fords stored 40¢ per night. MH-1926*
Three miles north of Oshkosh at 4100 Treffert Dr. is Winnebago Mental Health Institute, formerly the Northern Asylum for the Insane. It contains an interesting museum, the Julaine Farrow Museum in the Old Superintendent’s House. It chronicles the early pioneers of mental health and the visitor can get a picture of the treatment of mind diseases during the time of the Trail.
100 High Ave. Grand Opera House. Built in 1883, it is the oldest operating theater building in Wisconsin. The fight to ‘Save the Grand’ lasted 20 years. After a $3.5 million restoration, it opened again but structural problems were found in original 1883 elements. In 2010, after a $2 million fund raising, it opened again, now hosting nearly 100 public performances each year.
1410 Algoma Blvd. Paine Art Center and Gardens. The Paine is a 1920s mansion looking like a Tutor Revival castle. It has historic interiors, art exhibits and hands-on activities. Go in the summer when the gorgeous gardens are in bloom.
1331 Algoma Blvd. Oshkosh Public Museum. Interesting changing exhibits tell of the settlement of the Lake Winnebago region of Wisconsin.
800 Algoma Blvd. University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
2413 S Main St. (& Doty St., the Yellowstone Trail). Ardy & Ed’s. Stop at a delightful old-fashioned drive-in, Ardy & Ed’s, probably from the 1950s, at the south end of Main St. Car hops in skates! It is not of the Yellowstone Trail era, but it will bring back memories to older drivers and is a prized historic site in Oshkosh.
WI-286.7 Kurt Graf Bridge
The old Kurt Graf Bridge just a couple of dozen feet west of WI 45 on West Ripple Avenue. The bridge once carried the Yellowstone Trail with its cross country traffic. Now, in its retirement, it carries golfers to the Paukatuk Golf Course.
N9564 Van Dyne St. (Yellowstone Trail). A lovely Tudor Revival cottage style gas station of perhaps the late 1920s fronts a country market. Note the steep, gabled roof. There was, apparently, no garage attached.
WI-299.6 North Fond du Lac
(749 alt., 2,244 pop.), changed from a small farming community to a bustling railroad center when the Soo Line and Chicago & North Western Ry, transferred their shops here in the early 1900’S. WPA-WI*
When they moved WI 175 (now Co. RP) 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 Yellowstone Trail Park there in 2002. The park acquired a Train Caboose, reminding the viewer of the strong influence of railroads upon this community. Park your car and enjoy the area and the large Yellowstone Trail sign identifying the park.
Right across the street from the Yellowstone Trail Park is the old Yellowstone Garage building, now Northern Battery at 602 Iowa Ct. See History Bit on page <?>.
WI-301.3 Fond du Lac
(pop. 27,000, alt. 800 ft.) lies at the foot of Lake Winnebago, the largest body of fresh water lying wholly within one state. Here is the largest tannery in the United States, and is a division center for the Northwestern and Soo Line railroads, and it has a summer resort. BB1921-10*
From the modern concrete highway skirting the edge of Lake Winnebago the traveler may turn and in a few miles climb to a wooded hill which will permit an unobstructed view of 25 miles. BB1921-10*
City Center. Hotel Retlaw. Kruger Bros. Auto Service, 30 E. First St., Crescent Motor Co. 56-60 N. Main. Ph 62. Free camp in Lake Side Park. BB1920*
South of FOND DU LAC appears the Niagara escarpment, a long ridge patched with farms and woodlots; as the highway climbs a ridge spur, Hamilton stone shows. Flaked off, the dull yellow rock is used as facing in modern houses. WPA-WI*
193 N Main St.(Yellowstone Trail). Aetna No. 5 Fire Station, with its tall bell tower, used for observation and for drying hoses, watched over the Yellowstone Trail. The word Aetna was used by fire stations in the 1870s, when the station was built. It referred to the volcano, Mount Aetna, in Sicily which was appropriate for this Italianate style. The building is privately owned now.
1 N Main St. Present Retlaw Plaza Hotel has had quite a history. Built in 1923 as the Retlaw (Walter spelled backwards) Schroeder Hotel in Yellowstone Trail days. Then it became the Ramada Plaza, closed in 2015, and now is back to the refurbished Retlaw. This historic landmark still retains some of its early features and elegance of 100 years ago.
336 Old Pioneer Rd. Galloway House & Village. Within the area are 30 buildings, including the Blakely Museum. The Galloway House began as a simple farmhouse and evolved into a 30-room showplace of history, gracious living with hand-carved woodwork and etched glass. CCC Barracks Museum (Civilian Conservation Corps from the 1930s) is on the grounds.
276 Linden St. Historic Octagon House. This house was built in 1856. The house features nine secret passageways including an underground tunnel used as a safe house for escaped slaves using the Underground Railroad. This is a private residence.
WI-311.1 Byron
(1,058 alt., 39 pop.), flanks the highway, a one street village where fields creep up to back doors, where a single building combines post office, general store, and filling station, where every house has a weathered barn. WPA-WI*
WI-315.5 Lomira
The highway passes through the oldest section, for most of Lomira has moved eastward to follow a shift in railroad lines. WPA-WI*
M320.3 Theresa
Pretty village. No camp. Small Hotel & garage. MH-1926*
Ford Garage. Rooms and Meals in Connection. BB1920*
As you drive through town notice the large rock wall on the east side bearing the town’s name. A Yellowstone Trail marker is at the foot of that wall. At the top of that wall is the 1847 Historical Society Museum/Solomon Juneau House. He was the founder of Milwaukee and of Theresa, named after his daughter. The Museum is open summers.
214 W Henni St. Widmer’s Cheese Cellars has been there since 1922; Trail travelers possibly stopped here. Founder John Widmer came from Switzerland. You can watch the cheese being made. They are still using the 1922 real bricks to press the brick cheese. Widmer’s has been interested in the Yellowstone Trail and its history. Tours.
WI-328.2 Addison
Some years ago WI 175 was rebuilt just to the west of Addison, vacating its former location through Addison. Suzanne Fish, a friend of the Yellowstone Trail, ran a bed-and-breakfast on the old route. She grasped the opportunity and worked hard to get her street renamed Yellowstone Trail, the name it had almost 100 years ago. It meets WI 175 at Watercress Rd. on the north. At the south end the driver must finagle a bit on WI 33 to continue on the Trail (WI 175). An interesting little half mile on the Trail.
WI-333 St. Lawrence
The St. Lawrence Roman Catholic Church, built 1880-82, is immediately visible with its tall steeple and Germanic style.
4900 WI 175, corner of WI 175 (Yellowstone Trail) and Co. K. Little Red Inn. This place has been a place of hospitality since the late 1880s. There are historic pictures in the place to prove it. Taverns were popular then as now. For about 75 years this was a tavern only, until about 1960, when a restaurant was introduced.
WI-336.2 Slinger
Small free camp ground at City Hall. Kohl Hotel is best for tourists. MH-1926*
Commercial Hotel. BB1925*
Originally named Schleisingerville after the founder, State Senator Baruch Schleisinger in 1857, it was shortened in a referendum in 1921; 169 votes for “Slinger,” 25 blank votes, one for Vim City, and four votes said “Yes.”
The Kettle Moraine Scenic Drive is just that – scenic. The last glacial period gouged and built. The result is rolling hills and “kettles.” The Drive goes through Slinger, as does the Ice Age Trail. Hikers can access the Ice Age Trail at Slinger City Park.
100 W Washington St. The Slinger House Pub & Grille, built in 1857 and later run by the Roth family for 90 years. The Roths built a larger hotel and tavern on the existing sturdy field stone foundation utilizing locally produced cream city bricks. The new building “had the latest modern amenities, including gas lighting throughout.” The place changed hands regularly from 1957 to the present, but it always remained a tavern serving food. In 2012 it was restored to its warm, historic self.
WI-338.2 (C338.2) Ackerville
Here is where the early Yellowstone Trail swings east on Sherman Rd., but the later route, after 1925, goes south on present WI 175. If you have chosen the later route of the Yellowstone Trail you will go through Ackerville. If you have chosen to stay with the earlier route of the Yellowstone Trail you will go along Sherman Road to County P.
At the corner of Sherman Rd. and Co. P is a small Yellowstone Trail sign set in a lovely small landscaped area. That marks Lamm’s Floral Company nearby.
3271 Hwy P (Just south of the corner of Sherman Rd. and Co. P). Bieri’s Jackson Cheese and Deli. They have many delicious goodies, especially a variety of cheeses, domestic and foreign. We include this over-70-year business because they know about the Trail and are on it!
WI-347.1 Dheinsville N128W18780. Drive one mile to the east off the Trail on Holy Hill Road and you will come to Dheinsville Settlement Park, operated by the village of Germantown. It is located at the six corners where Holy Hill Rd., Maple Rd., and Fond du Lac Ave, (WI 145) converge. The hamlet has retained all of its twenty-two original German structures, many having undergone extensive restoration. There are three museums there: Christ Church Museum of Local History; Wolf Haus Museum and Genealogy Research Center; and the Bast Bell Museum. The Bell Museum is within an old barn and contains more than 5,000 bells from all over the world. All open summers only.
WI-349.5 Germantown
While negotiating the twisting Co. Y to get around the US 41 exit, you might take a short side trip to visit Germantown (just to the east off the Trail). Visit Old World Main Street with several really fun German restaurants and shops with German flair, reflecting the heavy German immigrant culture of Wisconsin’s past.
WI-C346.1 Meeker
Moses Meeker was a member of the Wisconsin territorial lower house (1842-1844), and a delegate to the first state constitutional convention (1846). He operated lead smelters in various parts of southern Wisconsin.
WI-353.8 Menomonee Falls
Small free campground ½ mile from town, no conveniences. Two country hotels. South Side garage has good mechanic. Hotel Marian 44 modern rooms. MH-1926*
N96W15791 corner of County Line Rd. Q and Pilgrim Rd., 1.7 miles east of WI 175 is Old Falls Village. Menomonee Falls Historical Society invites you to glimpse life as it was from the mid-1800s to the early 1900s. This living history museum includes a log home, railroad depot and dairy. There is also the Steichen home. Lillian Steichen met Carl Sandburg at a Socialist meeting in Milwaukee, brought him home to meet the parents and married him.
N92W17387 Appleton Ave. (Yellowstone Trail). Wittlin’s Service Station. Although it doesn’t look it, this family owned business is 11 years old. In 1907, just a few blocks south of the present station, John B. Wittlin began his blacksmith and auto repair business. In 1909, Wittlin’s became a Ford dealership before starting up the gas station at the present location in the mid-1920s. And a gas and auto service station it has remained. Undoubtedly, Yellowstone Trail travelers stopped here.
Coming into Milwaukee from Waukesha via Fond du Lac Avenue (Highway 175) it takes some imagination to see it as it might have looked when this was the Yellowstone Trail 100 years ago. It is totally urbanized today. The Trail founders would wonder what happened to their tranquil gravel road.
WI-369 Milwaukee
(pop. 500,000, alt. 636 ft.), the most populous city of Wisconsin is situated on the west shore of Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Milwaukee river. Its natural waterways and harbor have made Milwaukee one of the chief manufacturing and commercial centers of the northcentral section of the Union. BB1921-10*
NOTE: Its nickname, “Cream City,” comes from the cream-colored brick manufactured there in 1800s and sold world-wide and can be seen on houses throughout southeastern Wisconsin.
There is more to Milwaukee than Germans, motorcycles, and beer. In Trail days, Milwaukee produced 1/3 of the industrial output of the state.
The Lake Michigan Waterfront is essentially one long band of parkland from Historic Third Ward north for miles and encompasses several individually named parks; most were available to old Yellowstone Trail travelers.
The Trail on Water St. skirts the Third Ward, an area which is south and west of Interstate 794. An intriguing mix of shops is in this historic warehouse district. It has a high concentration of art galleries, antique shops, and theaters. For a walking tour, see www.historicmilwaukee.org.
1030 N Old World 3rd St.
Usinger’s Famous Sausage Company. Four generations of Usingers have led their German sausage into world-wide fame from 1880 to the present day.
1041 N Old World 3rd St. Mader’s Restaurant is across the street from Usinger’s. Absolutely great German food and atmosphere. Mader’s opened in 1902 mainly as a beer hall, which pleased the large German population. When Prohibition landed, they turned to serving German food. Today, the third generation Mader has kept up with the times. Order the tangy sauerbraten.
424 E Wisconsin Ave. (Yellowstone Trail). Pfister Hotel. The lobby held a Yellowstone Trail Association Bureau where maps, weather, and road reports were given out at no cost. Bad times befell this beautiful lady after World War II until Ben Marcus raised it like a Phoenix from the ashes in the 1960s to the elegant hostelry it is today, much as it was 100 years ago.
400 W Canal St. just off South Sixth St. (the Yellowstone Trail) is the popular Harley-Davidson Museum, with displays of historic motorcycles that were an important part of the Yellowstone Trail years. It began in 1903, making the bikes known as “Milwaukee Iron.” The museum has “outrageous customs, personalized gear and pop culture.” We toured the York, Pennsylvania, Harley plant and marveled at all the robots.
2333 S Sixth St. At Lincoln and South Sixth (Yellowstone Trail) is the Basilica of St. Josaphat, Magnificent 100-year-old landmark designed after St. Peter’s in Rome. Built by Polish-Americans between 1896 and 1901. Stained glass and murals show Milwaukee’s heritage.
144 E Wells St. Pabst Theater. The Pabst Theater is the centerpiece of Milwaukee’s downtown theater district. Built in 1895 by Frederick Pabst, it features a variety of programs. The original monster organ is still there. Today it is a National Landmark and Wisconsin Historical Site.
800 W Wells St. Milwaukee Public Museum, chartered in 1882. It has exhibits on the natural environment of various parts of the planet. This place has many activities always on – always changing. They include an IMAX theater. It is regarded as one of America’s top natural history museums.
2900 S. Kinnikinnick Ave. The White House Tavern. Built in 1891 as a Schlitz tavern; more than just a tavern, it was a neighborhood gathering place and institution. At 130 years old it is still going strong.
1037 W Juneau Ave. and 901 W Juneau Ave. Pabst Milwaukee Brewery & Taproom. Best Place at the Historic Pabst Brewery. The old Pabst Brewery complex has been renovated into interesting sites. The Best Place is named for the 1840s brewery founders, Jacob and Phillip Best.
Blue silk was tied to each bottle, reminding all that the beer once won a blue ribbon. The Taproom also offers a tour and food. Pabst beer is once again brewed (as a microbrewery) on the first floor of the old church. The second floor is the Taproom.
WI-374.5 St. Francis
The city took its name from St. Francis Seminary, founded by Milwaukee Archbishop John Henni. It is a quiet town, and bears 14 Trail signs along Lake Drive, the Yellowstone Trail. You can’t get lost there!
WI-376.6 Cudahy
A factory suburb of Milwaukee. The Cudahy Packing Plant is located here. BB1920*
The city has embraced the movement to resurrect the fame of the Yellowstone Trail so watch for the Trail markers through Cudahy.
West Layton Ave. and Applewood Ln. One can see the famous Patrick Cudahy Meat Packing Company which was moved to Cudahy by Patrick Cudahy, town founder, from Milwaukee in 1893. Today, Cudahy is still known primarily as a meat-packing town.
4647 S. Kinnickinnic Ave. Cudahy Historic Depot. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway stopped here from 1893 to 1940. When freight service was discontinued, the doomed depot was saved by the Cudahy Historical Society. Visitors will see a beautiful, fully renovated train depot.
5133 S Lake Dr. Sheridan B & B. This is truly a boutique hotel. In 1920 it was called The Sheridan Hotel. It changed names mid-century, now has been completely renovated and returned to its original name. Expect excellence. For more on that name, see Trail Tale: Sheridan Road, page <?>.
WI-380.5 South Milwaukee
Bucyrus Co., made steam shovels that dug the Panama Canal. 10th Avenue. BB1920*
Camp 1 mile ne, 60 cars, bathing in lake. AAA*
Economically a part of Milwaukee, South Milwaukee has 17 industrial plants. WPA-WI*
A number of Yellowstone Trail signs marks the Trail through South Milwaukee.
100 Hawthorne Ave. Grant Park at the Lake Michigan lakefront in northern South Milwaukee. It is 400 acres of wooded bluffs, paths and beach. According to its history posted at the park: “Created at the behest of the Wisconsin Highway Commission in 1921, the tourist camp was a popular resting point for those traveling the Yellowstone Trail highway in the early days of cross-country automobile travel.”
The city is very proud of Grant Park. Stroll where Trail campers strolled over 100 years ago.
1970 10th Ave. Caterpillar Global Mining Company Museum at Heritage Building. The museum opened in 2009. Bucyrus, then Bucyrus-Erie, now part of the Caterpillar Company, makes huge mining equipment and dredges with drag lines. Seventy-seven of Bucyrus’ steam shovels went to Panama to dig the canal in 1904–07. One 1960 model was the largest self-powered land vehicle built.
Some of the original buildings can be seen at 1100 Rawson Ave.
WI-394.6 Racine
The Belle City on the Lakes. Hotel Racine, new and elegant. $2-$6. 200 rooms, 160 baths. William Becker Garage, 339 Wis. St. is best. MH-1926*
Horlick malted milk. Home of Mitchell and Case automobiles and J. I. Case Threshing Machines, Exide Battery Station , 3rd St Garage. BB1920*
231 Main St. (Yellowstone Trail). Ivanhoe Restaurant. Built in 1891 and once owned by Frederick Pabst, this place has been a restaurant of one kind or another for 129 years. Trail travelers may very well have dined here. Some original interior decor remains such as the stained glass windows. There is even an antique player piano there from the nineteen-teens.
4917 Douglas Ave. (Yellowstone Trail, WI 32). O&H Danish Bakery. They know that they are on the Yellowstone Trail, and they are history buffs. Stop in for kringle, a yummy Danish pastry for which they are famous worldwide. Racine is known for kringle and several bakeries make it, but this one is right on the Yellowstone Trail so it is special. Try the almond.
701 S Main St. (Yellowstone Trail). Racine Heritage Museum. Three floors of changing, interesting exhibits tell of historic Racine products such as Horlick’s Malted Milk, Hamilton Beach, and Johnson’s Wax. Racine was a well-known destination for escaped slaves during the Civil War. Pick up a walking/driving guide to the Underground Railroad, which helped escaped slaves get to Canada. The museum also has a local history research center.
700 Sixth St. (Yellowstone Trail). Old Engine House #3 Museum. This museum is a former Racine Fire Department station which was active from 1881 to 1968. The Fire Station housed a horse drawn steamer and hose cart (1882-1918), and a Motorized Fire Engine (1918-1943). The building has been preserved to reflect the early 1900s and it displays artifacts from that period.
2200 Northwestern Ave. Former home of the world famous Horlick Malted Milk Company. Horlicks is a malted milk-based drink originally created as a supplement to babies’ formula. The two Horlick brothers began production at the turn of the 20th century. It grew to an international company with a branch in England where it is still popular. Operations were shut down in 1975. The 1902 castle-like buildings are now occupied by a variety of small firms.
1525 Howe St. at 14th St. S.C. Johnson Company, makers of Johnson’s Wax products. See the Wayside on the previous page for more information.
WI-405.7 Kenosha
(pop. 30,000, alt. 611 ft.) Kenosha has a fine harbor and a U. S. life saving station. It has extensive fisheries, and an active business in shipping. Its factories include the Simmons Mfg. Co., Nash Motor Co. (automobiles), Alien’s Sons Tannery, and Macomber-Whyte Rope Co. There are many small and pretty lakes nearby, whose shores are inhabited during the summer by aristocratic Chicagoans and others. Kemper Hall is one of the best known girls’ preparatory schools in the west. BB1921*
Hotel Dayton Sgl. $2, Dbl. with bath $4.50-$6. Sheridan Rd. Garage. Open all night. MH-1926*
Five famous auto brands span 110 years in Kenosha: Rambler/Jeffrey/Nash/American Motors/Chrysler engine plant.
973 N Sheridan Rd. White Brick Motel. Notice the cabins. They were there, no doubt, during the Yellowstone Trail era. Cabins gradually changed to motels after connecting roofs were built between cabins for auto storage. The White Brick represents an early motel.
220-51st Pl. Kenosha History Center on historic Simmons Island in Kenosha’s harbor. It features the Rambler Legacy Gallery with changing Kenosha automobile exhibits.
5117 4th Ave. Simmons Island Park, 50th Street and Lighthouse Drive (4th Ave). The Southport Light Station Museum is composed of the 1866 historic lighthouse and the adjacent 1867 historic Lighthouse Keeper’s home. The Light Station Keeper’s House opened in May 2010 as a maritime museum featuring artifacts, maps, and information about Kenosha’s important 19th century harbor. Both floors of the Lighthouse Keeper’s home have been restored to a 1908 time period. Want to climb the 72 steps to the top of the lighthouse? It is operated by the Kenosha County Historical Society.
5500 First Ave. Kenosha Public Museum in Harbor Park. Right next door to the Civil War Museum. Natural exhibits include a mammoth skeleton and world ethnology. All exhibits are carefully explained and many are interactive.
5400 First Ave. Civil War Museum. It is unusual in that it displays a Midwestern perspective on the war with stories of regional people who played a role in that war as well as the manufacturing and agricultural contributions to it.
Roughly bounded by 59th St., 7th Ave., 61st St., and 8th Ave. Simmons Library National Historic District.
GPS: 42.58072, -87.81947. An elegant park and buildings worthy of a stroll. It was created in 1900 by mattress maker Zalmon Simmons, maker of Beautyrest. The library has much about Simmons and the history of Kenosha within this delightful mausoleum-like building.
5608 Tenth Ave. Dinosaur Discovery Museum. One block off the Yellowstone Trail, it features life-sized dinosaur replicas, casts, bones and fossils. What did you expect in a museum named for dinosaurs? Meat eating dinosaurs and primitive birds also make their appearance.
598 58th St. Only a couple of blocks off the Yellowstone Trail, Frank’s Diner is locally recognized as an historic landmark and great breakfast and lunch joint. It might not look like it from the outside. Featured on the Food Network series “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives,” and numerous TV specials, Frank’s is now nationally famous. The diner is the oldest continuously operating lunch car diner in the U.S. In 1926, six horses pulled the diner to the spot where it stands today. Celebrities have visited the place.
Kenosha’s Electric Streetcar. Five restored electric streetcars travel a two-mile loop providing a scenic tour of the Lake Michigan shoreline, Harbor Park, and other sites. It makes 17 stops along the route. From 1903 to 1932 electric rail was the regular mode of transportation in Kenosha. In June, 2000, quiet, electric streetcars returned to service.
4914 7th Ave. (Yellowstone Trail). The Coffee Pot. A quaint little coffee shop and diner. We mention it here because of its old fashioned appearance and hospitality of staff which reminds one of 100 years ago on the Trail since they are really right on the Yellowstone Trail. They have expanded and also added the “Garden of Eatin’” for outside dining. Breakfast and lunch only, more’s the pity.
___________________
The Yellowstone Trail exited/entered Wisconsin on Sheridan Road, now highway WI 32.
It was originally made up of National Guardsmen from Wisconsin and Michigan. Men from the 32nd served in some of the fiercest battles in WWI. In WWII the 32nd was one of the first to be called. They subsequently spent 654 days in action in the Pacific Theater. The Division was de-activated in 1946. This highway has been dedicated to that Division for 104 years.
STATE-by-STATE Index
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*Abbreviations found throughout the YTA website, including year, have the following meaning:
ABB or BB – American Blue Books, guides written before roads were numbered so contain detailed odometer mileage notations and directions such as “turn left at the red barn.”
MH – Mohawk- Hobbs Guide described road surfaces and services along the road.
WPA – Works Project Administration. This government agency put people to work and paid them during the Great Depression of the 1930s. Some were writers. This agency was similar to the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) whose workers built parks, worked in forests and did other outdoor constructive work.
