Dust jacket notes: "Sinipee, Old Belmont, Helena, Newport, Ulao, Dunnville, Oil City, Voree, Pleasant Ridge, Gratiot's Grove, [Rock Island, Seeleyburg, Dover, Pokerville, La Rue and Turtleville]. Names familiar to most Wisconsin residents? Not likely! For these are names of Wisconsin ghost towns - communities gone and generally forgotten. Often the term 'ghost town' creates an image of desolate weather beaten buildings, clustered in some windswept part of nineteenth century Rocky Mountain mining country. But Wisconsin is rich in ghost towns. Villages that were thriving over a century ago when Wisconsin was a newly formed state, or, in some instances, so long ago that the area was only a territory. Here, however, is where the similarity ends. One was once a booming Mississippi River port which died with the pathetic deaths of half of its inhabitants, another the short-lived territorial capital of an area five times larger than present day Wisconsin. A third village prospered because of a tower which processed lead rifle shot. A fourth was a speculator's dream turned nightmare. Another a Lake Michigan port supplying wood burning steamers with fuel cut from the surrounding hills whose final inhabitants were a handful of persecuted Mormons. And still another a prosperous farming community located high in the hills of southwestern Wisconsin, whose inhabitants were all black, either ex-slaves or the descendants of slaves. In a fast-moving literary style this book probes into sixteen ghost towns - what created them, how they boomed, why they died, and just what will the visitor see today!...[I]ncludes scores of photographs, some old, some contemporary, a dozen pencil sketches, and maps."
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting Read on Obscure Wisconsin Lost Villages,
By
This review is from: Ghost Towns of Wisconsin (Hardcover)
Bill Stark's _Ghost Towns of Wisconsin_ reflects a personal adventure into obscure Wisconsin history. Written in his lucid, easy-to read style, Bill traverses the state covering hamlets and towns that once were, but are no more. Sometimes, the adventure is a little too personal and too obscure. The author neglects to locate for us several minute points of interest described in the text (roads, monuments, and so forth)... and one might think deliberately so. There is simply not enough here to help one find Gratiot's Grove, for example, or even to attempt to retrace some of the author's steps in the Shullsburg area. Yet he goes to great length in providing details of the area surrounding the Blue Mounds, and even includes a rough map of the area! Despite the generally inadequate text, the black and white pictures are generally good. The line drawings that head each chapter are terrible, and represent a woeful lack of understanding of the clothing of early Wisconsinites circa 1830-1895. Persons interested in using this book to locate specific locations, rather than general locations, may be dissappointed.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great weekend fun!,
By "pcdoc991" (Central Wisconsin, USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Ghost Towns of Wisconsin (Hardcover)
This book has long been a part of my weekend life here in central Wisconsin. It has been a blast traveling around the state and looking first hand at what is found in the pages of "Ghost Towns of Wisconsin".As an example... The location of the ghost town "Gratiot's Grove", it's just 3-4 miles south of Schullsburg just south-east of the intersection of Rennick Rd. and Cty. Hwy U. There are still some cellar holes visible and if you use your imagination, you can see where the city roads were using the size of the massive oaks as an indication. I found Gratiot's Grove using the book. There is also the Gratiot house which is on the north side of Rennick Rd. It's the 4th oldest private wooden structure in all of Wisconsin. It had partially burned sometime in the 1930's but the main structure is still intact.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Interesting reference,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Ghost Towns of Wisconsin (Hardcover)
This is a well written and very readable account of research into a subject that most of us would otherwise be unaware of. I ran across it at the local library, but felt compelled to own my own copy, especially for use on trips around our beautiful State of Wisconsin.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
So You'd Like to...
Look for Similar Items by Category
- Books > History > Americas > United States
