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TH file photo
Jan and Jack Waite ride the bike path along U.S. 151 near Platteville, Wis.

Area History

Boscobel, WI

* Boscobel Old Rock High School, built in 1898 and listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

* The home of the former Wisconsin governor, John Blaine.

Grand Army of the Republic Hall, a meeting place of the veterans of the Civil War, is the only GAR hall remaining in Wisconsin. It houses memorabilia such as books, drum cap and pictures. It is open to the public during special events throughout the year.

* Hotel Boscobel, birthplace of the Gideon Bible.

* Boscobel Depot Museum, built in 1857, the marshaling point for World War I and II veterans.

Cassville, WI

* At Stonefield Historic Site, adjacent to Nelson Dewey State Park, the State Historical Society presents the story of early rural Wisconsin. The Society operates not only the Nelson Dewey homesite, which was the plantation of Wisconsin's first state governor, but also a re-created village of the 1890s and the State Agricultural Museum.

Stonefield was the name Dewey gave to the rock-studded 2,000-acre farm he established along the bluffs of the Mississippi, upriver from Cassville. He built Gothic revival stone barns and farm buildings and a large brick home. He practiced law and raised a variety of crops and livestock, at times employing as many as 50 people, who did everything from building stone fences to making furniture, wine and dairy products.

Dewey's lifestyle and wealth declined after 1873 with a national financial panic and a fire that destroyed his home. The home was rebuilt in the 1890s as a more modest summer residence. In 1936, the state acquired 700 acres of the property for a state park and a portion of the Dewey homestead was restored and refurbished. The Dewey buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

* The State Agricultural Museum portrays the history of agriculture in Wisconsin from 1840-1930, along with dioramas and a slide tape show. The museum features H diorama and exhibits displaying an outstanding collection of early farm machinery, models and related dairy and food processing items.

* Stonefield Village, a re-created hamlet, depicts rural Midwestern life at the turn of the century. Its school, church, trade shops, cheese factory, railroad station and business places show the life and economy of a rural community of that day. Visitors walk or ride a horse-drawn carriage through a covered bridge to the village square. Here, they can stroll the village green, visit with a costumed guide, discover the many historic artifacts exhibited in village buildings, shop in the museum store, and enjoy an ice cream treat in the old-fashioned confectionery. Open 10 a.m.-4 p.m. daily, May, June and Sept.; and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. daily, July and August.

Stonefield consists of the Nelson Dewey home site, the estate of the first governor of Wisconsin; the Wisconsin State Agricultural Museum; a 1900 farmstead and a 1900 village.

Stonefield was the name Dewey gave to the rock-studded 2,000-acre farm he established along the bluffs of the Mississippi River, upriver from Cassville. Dewey built Gothic revival stone barns and farm buildings and a large brick home. He practiced law and raised a variety of crops and livestock, at the time employing as many as 50 people, who did everything from building stone fences to making furniture, wine and dairy products.

Dewey's lifestyle and wealth declined after 1873 with a national financial panic and a fire that destroyed his home. The home was rebuilt in the 1890s as a more modest summer residence. In 1936, the state acquired 700 acres of the property for a state park, and a portion of the Dewey homestead was restored and refurbished. The Dewey buildings are listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The Wisconsin State Agricultural Museum portrays the history of agriculture in Wisconsin from 1840 to 1930. The museum features an outstanding collection of early farm machinery, models and related dairy and food processing items. It is also home to the 1896 McCormick Auto Mower, the oldest tractor in North America and a 1932 Allis-Charmers, the first rubber tire tractor in the United States.

The 1900 Farmstead offers a glimpse of farm life in the 1900s and consists of a farmhouse, barn and outbuildings.

The 1900 Village, a re-created hamlet, depicts rural Midwestern life at the turn of the century. Its school, church, trade shops, cheese factory, railroad depot and business places show the life and economy of a rural community of that day.

Visitors walk through a covered bridge to the village square. Here, they can stroll the village green and discover the many historic artifacts exhibited in village buildings. The site is operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society, for more information go to www.wisconsinhistory.org.

Dickeyville, WI

* Dickeyville Grotto, two blocks from the intersection of Wisconsin 35 and U.S. 151/61, includes multi-colored stones in the form of patriotic and religious shrines of Christ, Lincoln, the tree of the Holy Trinity and the Sacred Heart.

* Dickeyville - Dickeyville Grotto, two blocks from the intersection of Wisconsin 35 and U.S. 151/61, includes multi-colored stones in the form of patriotic and religious shrines of Christ, Lincoln, the tree of the Holy Trinity and the Sacred Heart.

Fennimore, WI

* Fennimore is the home of two museums - The Fennimore Dolls and Toys Museum and Gift Shoppe, 1140 Lincoln Ave. The museum features dolls from 1810-present, doll furniture, private collections and more. Featured in the museum are Barbie, Annette Himstedt's "Barefoot Children," Betty Boop, Shirley Temple, Hollywood stars, wax, china, porcelain and more.

Featured in the toy room are Fisher-Price toys from the 1930s and 1940s, a collection of toys from "Toy Story," G.I. Joe, Star Wars, Beanie Babies, robots, tractors and much more. Visitors can choose from a large selection of items in the museum gift shop. The museum is open from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. May 7-Dec. 14. Call 608/822-4100 or 888/867-7935 for more information. Or e-mail dolltoy@fennimore.com; or visit the Web site at www.fennimore.com/dolltoy/ .

* The Fennimore Railroad Museum, 610 Lincoln Ave., features memorabilia from Fennimore's Railroad past and the unique narrow gauge trains. The museum resembles a 1900s-era depot, with a replica water tower standing in portly splendor near the 1907 2-6-0 Davenport locomotive referred to as the Dinky and the State Historical marker detailing the life and times of the narrow gauge. There is an operational miniature train on a 15-inch gauge track on the museum grounds (call for operating schedule). The museum also houses tourist information of area attractions and sells souvenirs. The museum is open daily Memorial Day-Labor Day and weekends only in September and October. For information, call 800/822-1131 or 608/822-6144. Group tours are welcome.

Hazel Green, WI

* Hazel Green - Hazel Green is truly in a unique position on the map. "The Point of Beginning" is where the fourth principal meridian crosses the Illinois/Wisconsin border. In 1831, Lucius Lyon began surveying just south of the present day Hazel Green. At that spot was built a 6-foot-tall-by-6-foot-square mound with an oak post hammered into its heart.

This is the place where all the land that was to become Wisconsin would be measured. Today, every property deed in Wisconsin includes a description that is based on the Point of Beginning.

The first permanent settlement in Wisconsin was Hazel Green in 1825. This makes the community an ideal location for history buffs and antique shoppers.

The village offers several bed and breakfasts and antique shops.

It is the home of the Hazel Green Opera House, built in 1981 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It is the home of the Fever River Puppeteers and the Hazel Green Community Chorus.

* Well-known author and poet James Gates Percival is buried in Hazel Green Public Cemetery. He is considered one of America's first classical poets.

Lancaster, WI

* Lancaster - Grave of Nelson Dewey, first registrar of deeds for Grant County and first Wisconsin governor, is in Westwood Cemetery next to the Episcopal Church. His grave is marked by an official State Historical Marker, dedicated in 1961.

* Grant County Courthouse, built in 1902 of red sandstone, brick, and a glass and copper dome, is on the National Register of Historical Buildings. Monuments in the courtyard include a bronze statue of Nelson Dewey given by the state as a tribute to Wisconsin's first governor; a fountain statue of a Civil War soldier given to the county in 1907 by the women of the Grand Army of the Republic; Soldiers Monument listing 744 names of Grant County men who died in the Civil War. Soldiers Monument is marked by an official State Historical Marker as the oldest memorial in the nation to Civil War dead, dedicated July 4, 1867.

* Cunningham Museum, 129 East Maple St., provides an excellent display of historical information for the casual visitor or devout historian. The museum features many artifacts in the two-story building, with each room having a local history theme. Also on display is a collection of sewing machines dating to 1846, a 1799 flag, a military room and a beaded Indian blanket used at Custer's Last Stand.

* Potosi - A word meaning "mineral wealth," Potosi was the largest town in territorial Wisconsin and the leading seaport on the upper Mississippi until 1846. The township boasted of eight thriving communities between the 1827 Lead Rush days and the 1849-50 California Gold Rush exodus.

* Besides old buildings of historical significance, other sites include the Osceola Indian Burial Ground, the 1830 underground smelting furnace, the Port of Potosi, Specht's Ferry, Potosi Brewery buildings, White's Hotel, which Ulysses S. Grant frequented, the Rock Boarding House that John Wilkes Booth visited, and several churches and cemeteries.

Tourists can pick up tour maps at various area businesses and drive the 12-mile marked route at their leisure.

Daily entertainment each year from Memorial Day weekend-Labor Day, and on weekends until mid-October, with guided tours through the historic St. John Mine, the site where lead was discovered in Wisconsin in 1690. It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

* Passage Thru Time Museum. Glimpse the proud and passionate past of southwest Wisconsin during its adolescent years. Experience life in the early 19th century as you walk through time. Exhibits and displays containing historical views of the Potosi Brewery, early mining, agricultural achievements and Indian arrowheads. The museum is open daily from noon-4 p.m. May through September. Group tours are available. Call 608/763-2745 or 763-2261.

* Badger Hut Trails. History buffs will want to hike the trails and see the Badger Huts, which were dug by the lead miners in the 1830s. The miners built their sleeping quarters in the hill by stacking limestone rocks to form short walls, leaving a gap for the entrance. They scooped out a depression in the center and covered the area with branches. The Badger Hut Trail is located behind St. Thomas Catholic Church.

Platteville, WI

* Mining Museum, Rollo Jamison Museum, 405 E. Main St. The mining museum traces the development of lead and zinc mining in the Upper Mississippi Valley through models, dioramas, artifacts and photographs. A guided tour includes a walk down into the Bevans Lead, an 1845 lead mine which produced more than two million pounds of lead ore in one year, a visit to a head-frame where you can see how zinc ore was hoisted from a mine and hand sorted, and a train ride around the museum grounds in ore cars pulled by a 1931 mine locomotive. The guided tour of the Rollo Mansion Museum will take you back to the turn of the century with exhibits of carriages, farm implements, tools, a tavern/general store, a kitchen and parlor, musical instruments, mechanical music boxes and more. Open 9 a.m.-5 p.m. May-October.

* Mitchell Rountree Stone Cottage located on Wisconsin 81 at the corner of Lancaster and Ann Street, operated by the Grant County Historical Society, open afternoons June-August.

* For the best view of scenic southwest Wisconsin, stop at the University of Wisconsin-Platteville's "M," visible from throughout the area. The 241-foot-tall "M," constructed of whitewashed limestone, represents the university's heritage as the Wisconsin Mining School. A new stairway consisting of 266 stairs and three landings with benches leads the adventurous to the top. To reach the M, take Main Street in Platteville, east to Broadway, then travel east three miles on Broadway/County B.

* Belmont - First Capitol State Park, three miles north of Belmont on County G, consists of the territorial capitol and Supreme Court buildings erected in 1836.

These buildings have been restored, redecorated and furnished in 1840s decor. A guide is on duty daily to conduct free tours.

Area Fishing

Boscobel, WI

* A boat landing along the Wisconsin River, which provides good fishing, picnic area, rest rooms, canoeing and boating.

Cassville, WI

* Facilities for 50 boats, three free public ramps for launching, picnic area and boat livery.

* Good fishing for bass, bluegill, crappie and walleye in the Mississippi River.

Fennimore, WI

* The wooded ridges of farmland valleys surrounding the Fennimore area are a sportsman's dream.

Springs band together to form trout streams such as the nationally famous Big Green River, the Little Green River and the Blue River and Crooked Creek, as well as pioneering catch-and-release trout fishing sections of Castle Rock Creek. Fennimore boasts more than 100 miles of trout streams within a 15-mile radius.

Lancaster, WI

* Several state-stocked trout streams in valleys surround the city.

Potosi-Tennyson, WI

* Boat landings provide convenient access for fishing catfish, bluegills and walleye.