Went out for coffee this morning at Willaby's Cafe on Williamson ("Willy") Street, sitting at the counter as per my usual custom. Got talking with a nice young couple who lived just up the street from the restaurant and pretty soon the talk turned to the history of the local neighborhood around there-the Marquette.

I explained to them how this was one of the oldest parts of the city, being not far removed from downtown, home to several prominent business people, of which the name BB Clarke immediately came to mind, with his home being locate d at the corner of Spaight and S. Few Streets, an imposing residence built in the Gothic style of architecture.

I then related to them the history of Orton Park, the city's oldest, with it's beginnings being that of the village cemetery in 1848, the same year that Wisconsin attained statehood and the bodies eventually being disinterred and removed to the Forest Hill site when that opened in 1857, with the final ones (that could be found) being removed in 1877 and being designated as Madison's first official city park, with it being named after Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice and former Madison Mayor, who cast the deciding vote in favor of it being a park.

And finally, I ended the conversation in explaining to them the story of the Corry Carriage House on Lakeland Avenue, which was built in 1911 for James Corry and his wife Minnie, before he died with the main house never having been completed. I explained a bit about the Fair Oaks Plat on what was the the city's Far East Side and how Mr. Corry was a major player in the development of this as well as a promoter of the East Side in general.

So all in all, it turned out to be a nice morning, making some new friends and being able to share with them some of the history of their neighborhood.

Took a little drive this evening through the Arboretum, going from N. Wingra Drive down the main road along the edge of Lake Wingra, then turning off in the developed subdivision area and coming back out onto Carver St. towards Fish Hatchery Road.

As I drove along on Carver, I was reminded of the "dream that was" with Madison's Lost City, of which much has been written with a special Facebook page being dedicated to it. There is a canal that runs alongside Carver that was dredged in the early 1900's in conjunction with this grandiose plan to provide waterfront frontage for those living away from Lake Wingra. Looking from Google Maps, one can see the entire system of canals and lagoons of which this waterway is a part of, with the whole thing draining into Wingra Creek which in turn leads into Monona Bay.

Also evident is the unique layout of Carver and Martin Streets thrusting a solitary finger into the Arboretum's perimeter with several cross streets connecting these two. This little peninsula of development is the only part of the "Lost City" that survived, the rest having become part of the Arboretum years ago and having gone back to nature. Looking at it now, one would never guess the greater plan that it was a part of or the high hopes that the developers of this project had with the only visible reminder being this small ordinary-looking residential neighborhood.

I was talking the other day about history being right under your nose. Well in my case, as in many other people's as well, I am living in a piece of living history. I live above the Main Depot Bar on W. Main St., right next to the railroad tracks, which are in themselves pieces of living history.

In fact, after talking to several old-timers who patronize the bar, I've learned that it's history and that of the railroads are closely tied together as from what I understand, this building was essentially built to serve the railroad workers coming off duty, both as a place for those who lived in Madison to grab a drink and possibly a meal on their way home as well as providing a place of lodging for those that were "tying up" from their runs away from home. That is why the upstairs rooms in the building, mine included exist. Downstairs, in the bar the remains of an old dumbwaiter built for carrying food upstairs to the lodgers still remains. i'll have to ask my landlord if he knows the exact year of the building's construction, but I did find an old photo online someplace which I'll have to try and find again of the building at the turn of the last century,

And as I was saying, the railroads that brought this establishment into existence are pieces of living history in their own right. For this entire area around the bar was the principal yards of both the Milwaukee Road as well as the Illinois Central roads, with the Milwaukee Road having built a large roundhouse being built right about on the site of the Kohl Center, a block away from where I live

There were three lines converging here-that of the Milwaukee's original route from it's namesake city of Milwaukee to Prairie du Chien, entering Madison on the causeways across Monona Bay. It is interesting to note that all of this route, with the exception of a small segment within the Milwaukee city limits is still being used by the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad today.

The second line was another Milwaukee route also came in coming from Milwaukee via Watertown. Most of this route into the city remains, with the segment from by the Goodman Community Center to the intersection of Williamson St with John Nolen Drive across from Machinery Row Bicycles having been torn up years ago and made into a segment of the Capitol City Trail.  

And finally the third route was that of the Illinois Central, which entered the city along the route of what is now the Southwest Commuter Path, crossing the Milwaukee Road in what is now a parking lot between Mills and Dayton Streets and on into it's own yard, with a roundhouse of their own, paralleling the route of the Milwaukee with it's main line passing through what is now CVS Pharmacy on W. Washington Ave., part of the apartment complex directly next door to my building, if not through then directly behind the WORT radio station building and finally joining the "wye" connecting track between the Milwaukee's two routes mentioned above at the intersection of S. Bedford and W. Wilson Sts.

It was a bustling place with a beehive of activity, to say the least and my place of residence ws at the heart of it all. The only clue that this once bustling railroad empire ever existed here are the two depot buildings from the opposing railroads, that of the Milwaukee Road being the home of Motorless Motion Bicycles on W. Washington and the IC depot now housing a U-Haul moving and storage building. Several pieces of abandoned rail are also visible peeking up through the blacktop in the parking lot of the former Kroger Foods warehouse across the street from my building a swell as freight doors both in the side of that building and a couple of neighboring ones to give away the spots where freight cars were once loaded and unloaded at these facilities.

History right under our nose

Hi,

It's time I got this blog started. I've been trying to get going with it for the last couple of months, but have kept getting sidetracked with life. But anyhow, here I am now, ready to put up my first post.

I've been trying to put up a good first topic pertaining to the local history of Madison and have been unable to make up my mind. Then it came to me as I was passing through the Bay Creek Neighborhood on the south side of Monona Bay.

I know a very brief history of this neighborhood, I remember reading how it was originally called "South Madison" with the stretch along Lakeside Street in the area around Franklin Elementary School being it's downtown.

So anyhow, as I was passing through along Lakeside, I realized how I've never really taken the time to tour this neighborhood and get a closer look at it off it's beaten path. So I turned left, down a couple of blocks then right.

And there, off on my left, I saw it. A mansard "Adams Family" style house (the kind that people think of when they think of haunted houses) complete with cupola. It seemed to be set right in the middle of the block, set back from the street on all sides. Driving around the block, I got somewhat a better view of the backside of the place.

I found myself wondering whose house it must have been originally-surely that of some prominent "South Madison" resident or business person as ordinary working-class citizens would not have lived in so elaborate a house.I thought to myself. I'll have to do some research to find out. Maybe someone here might have some info? I'll have to drive or bicycle back over there to get the address.

Anyhow, this whole experience reminded me of how oftentimes the best historical treasures are those that we discover by accident such as this one. I wasn't planning on finding this historic home, but all of a sudden there it was.

So often we get hung up with all the major historical attractions that everyone knows about such as "Mansion Hill" in the area near the Edgewater Hotel or those found around Capitol Square.

But it is the lesser known or forgotten secrets, those that we find as we get around into the neighborhoods of our city and start prying into the "nooks and crannies" that will be the main focus of this blog. Some of my adventures may take me wading off through some thick, heavy brush to find some long-forgotten secret that was.

Or it may be something such as this house that perhaps may take some extensive research or a lucky break to find out about it-case in example: let's say that I've discovered something that I can't find any kind of record on. Then one day, as I'm out trying to explore the place further, I start talking to some guy next door that's out in his yard doing some work and he refers me to the little old lady who has lived in the house at the end of the block all of her life and SHE is the one with the story that I'm trying to find. You just never know where you might find a source.

So anyhow to quote a former high school teacher of mine, that's going to be the "meat and potatoes" of my blog. I do hope that as we journey through our city together here that it will prove to be an enjoyable and enriching experience for all.