08 Wood County

<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>08 Wood County</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="36da39c0.jpg" border=0 width="675" height="412" ALIGN="BOTTOM" HSPACE="0" VSPACE="0"></B></div> <bR> <bR> <div> Wood County - Say Cheese!</div> <div> <B>M162.8</B>  Wood/Marathon county line</div> <bR> <div> <B>M165.4 Marshfield</B></div> <div> <I>Prosperous and lively. Free camp at Fair Grounds.  Charles Hotel, most modern, forty-five rooms, half with bath.. MH; Blodgett Garage, .5 block from hotel..  Victory Garage, 2 blks off Main St. C. E. Blodgett Butter and Egg Co. and P. J. Schaefer Co. are reputed to be the largest wholesalers and exporters of cheese in the world.  Central Av. is the widest paved street in the state.BB (1920).</I></div> <bR> <div> The route through Marshfield is marked by  Yellowstone Trail signs through town and east on Yellowstone Drive. </div> <bR> <div> At 103 S. Central is <B>Thomas House Center for History</B>. It is 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 displays, each running about 4 months.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M170.4Hewitt</B> (Just north.)</div> <bR> <div> <B>M170.5 </B>Yellowstone Recreation Park just past Main St. on Yellowstone Drive. Local citizens have created a park along the old Yellowstone Trail, now named Yellowstone Drive.  Several citizens actually do remember the role the Trail played in transportation progress for small towns.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M175.1 Auburndale</B>  <I>Dairying. Small free camp space two blocks from town.  Good country hotel on Main St. Overland garage is best for repairs. MH</I>.   Until the railroad overhead pass on US 10 was built, the YT crossed the tracks twice in the center of  town and ran two or three blocks south of the tracks. Modern reconstructions of US 10 through Auburndale hide the old route.  From the east, turn north on Co M for one block, left for one block, left for one block and right on Railroad Drive along the tracks.  From the west on Railroad Drive, turn left at end, one block north, one block east, one block south on Co. M to US 10.</div> <bR> <div> Laid out like many villages by railroads, Auburndale runs east/west along the Wisconsin Central Railroad with its businesses all lined up along the track.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M181.0 Blenker  </B><I>Meals and rooms over Post Office.</I> <I>MH.  </I>In the year 2009, the Post Office is still in the same building as it was in the 1920s, but in the east side of the building rather than the original west side. </div> <bR> <div> <B>M184.0 Miladore</B>  <I>Bray’s hotel.  Clark’s garage is said to have reliable mechanics.</I> <I>MH</I>. </div> <div> The Yellowstone Trail followed the Central Wisconsin Railroad here, and present state hwy 10 follows the same route.  Note the cobblestone face on Hughes Ford Garage. That was the same building as Clark’s Garage described in 1926.</div> <bR> <div> <B>M184.5 </B>Wood/Portage County Line</div> <bR> <div> Marshfield Wayside</div> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" ><B>Code 1</B></FONT><B>  Upham Mansion </B>212 W 3rd St. near the Yellowstone Trail. Free. The restored home of former Wisconsin Governor William Upham is of mid-Victorian architecture with original furniture. The garden has 32 varieties of roses. Open Sunday and Wednesday afternoons.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" ><B>Code 2 </B></FONT><B> Foxfire Botanical Gardens</B> 3 miles north. Free. M220 Sugarbush Lane. Take hwy E 3½ miles to McMillan Wildlife Marsh. Turn left on Sugarbush Lane.   Fifteen acres of Asian-themed gardens,  hostas, and gentle paths past waterfalls and native Wisconsin rock formations.  Retail plants available for sale. Open 10-4:30 summer and fall.   </div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" ><B>Code 2 </B></FONT><B> Jurustic Park </B>across the road from Foxfire Botanical Gardens. Free. You’ve got to see this! It’s a hoot. 250 mythical swamp creatures jokingly said to have existed in adjacent McMillan Wildlife Marsh millenia ago are made of metal.  Rusted metal creatures ranging from 6-inch spiders and mosquitoes to 45 foot, 4000 pound flying dragons, plus turtles, birds, and plant life, all in clever settings. Creator Nancy Wynia’s studio is on the grounds. Open 10 - 4 summers only.</div> <bR> <div> <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#B07050" FACE="Arial" ><B>Code 1</B></FONT><B>  World’s Largest Round Barn</B>. Built 1916. In Central Wisconsin State Fair Park, 513 E 17th St. south of downtown Marshfield. The barn is 150' diameter and 70' high, and has 250 stanchions. The large arena for cattle shows is unique for it has no supporting beams. It is used for various festivals and dairy events.</div> <bR> <div> Code 1 <FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#0000FF" FACE="Arial" > Hewitt Historical Note</FONT><FONT SIZE="2" COLOR="#000000" FACE="Arial" > </FONT></div> <div> Remember that the Yellowstone Trail Association-sponsored an auto relay race of 1915 at Chippewa Falls? The Association sponsored another relay race against time in1916. This race ran from Plymouth Rock to Puget Sound (3807 miles).  This time the race was run to show the Army that the YT could be used as a military route for the coming World War.  This time a packet held letters from Sec’y of War Baker at Plymouth Rock to Fort Lawton, Seattle.   They did it in 121 hours, averaging 30.4 mph. </div> <bR> <div> On the Yellowstone Trail at Hewitt a Buick, driven in the 1916 race by A.J. Clements, was coming from Stevens Point to Marshfield. It blew a tire; it flew off the rim. The mechanic riding along with the driver jumped out here to find the tire. The driver didn’t stop. The last 4 miles to Marshfield were made on bare rim.  Nothing stopped these daredevils. A considerable crowd had gathered at the Blodgett Hotel in Marshfield  where C.E. Blodgett waited to grab the packet and race west The mechanic in Hewitt found the tire; he later caught a ride into Marshfield with a passing motorist.  With the tire repaired, he and the driver returned home to Stevens Point thru a “sea of mud”while the letters flew west.</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>