Vacationing: A Bit of History Part I

Soon enough we were in the car sheltering from a storm of near biblical proportions. We decided to take in a little history of the town. After all, there were large plaques on many of the buildings commemorating the area's past. Here's one about the cranberry industry.



And so we went to see what we could see at the Jackson County History Museums. Yes, there are, in fact, two history museums in Black River. One is on First Street while the other is on Main Street. The Dulcinea and I began with the one on First which was manned by an older couple who showed us around and answered our questions.



The building used to belong to the phone company back in the day and there was an old switchboard on display along with a dress that was worn by one of the operators.



Next to this, were portraits of town fathers including this man, Jacob Spaulding, who came to the area in 1839 as a logger.



To say that logging was important to Wisconsin is like saying that water is important to fish. It may be all kitschy to go to a restaurant up north and sit on a chair made of slices from a tree trunk, but it's also a reminder of our state's history. If someone from Chicago gives you any grief, just remind that person that, after their city burned down in 1871, the breweries of Milwaukee sent relief in the form of beer and our sawmills, as well as those of Upper Peninsula, provided the pine lumber for them to rebuild. As Robert Gard & L.G. Sorden wrote in their book Wisconsin Lore: "Almost every city in northern Wisconsin in built on one of these log-driving streams."

The museum didn't have much about logging but it did have some musical instruments that lumberjacks used to entertain themselves. Below is an autoharp which was called the "lumberjack piano".



One industry which was well-represented was that of the cranberry. Here's a scoop (or rake) used to harvest them, as seen on the plaque above.



We had driven by the Brockway cranberry bogs, which were empty, on the way to Wazee Lake. The importance of cranberries goes back a long way in the Black River area. Below you can listen to "Cranberry Song" as sung by Mrs. Frances Perry of Black River Falls in 1946. It appears on Folk Music From Wisconsin.



There was a room that had three of its walls painted as a lovely outdoor mural while the fourth featured historical photos of various Indians from the area.



If you've been reading this thinking, "Black River Falls…sounds familiar but I just can't place it", then you may know the town from this book and the movie made based upon it.



The photographs in the book were taken by Black River Falls resident Charles J. Van Schaik and the museum dedicated plenty of space to him and noted his connection to Wisconsin Death Trip. One of his cameras and a backdrop he used in his portraiture were on display.





One thing that I did not expect was the Americana Music Room in the basement. There was a ton of neat items being exhibited. Some were of local significance while others had a broader appeal. Examples of the latter included representatives of various sound reproduction equipment starting with an Edison cylinder player through the CD with a portable 8-track player in there too.



Local bands were well-represented with memorabilia including a section devoted to local trumpet player Elmo Johnson who was of some repute.





But the item which really caught my attention was this one for a concert held at my old high school up in Strum.



Mel Street was something of a star having had a few hits. Supporting him were the Orange Blossom Special Band, who are still playing today. The concert was from the mid- or late 70s as Street committed suicide in October 1978.

With the first museum done, it was off to Main Street to visit the second.