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attractions & oddities

resources

 

1

Albino 8-Point Buck
at the Wild Rivers Interpretive Center

 

location:  Florence
genetic oddity

photo courtesy of Florence official site

"An excellent example of the educational exhibits in the Interpretive Center is the albino buck. A 7 1/2 year old true albino whitewall buck like the one on display at the Florence Wild Rivers Interpretive Center is extremely rare. Few deer live out their potential life span of 11 or 12 years. Very few bucks even reach their prime of 4 1/2 years. A true albino occurs in about one of 100,000 births and very few survive beyond the first year of life. For an albino to live over seven years is extremely unusual. This albino whitetail buck that was seen near Florence between 1987 and the fall of 1992 and was killed on the last day of the 1992 deer/gun hunting season is a one in a million occurrence. All cases of true albinism are due to the lack of pigmentation in the hair, skin, and, in the case of deer, the iris of the eyes, pink or blue, and the hoofs a pale gray. This particular buck because of his unusual age weighed 225 pounds and had an eight point rack with a 22 inch spread, making it among the larger deer killed in the 1992 gun season. Since all white deer are protected in Wisconsin, the shooting of this albino was illegal. Recognizing the rarity of this whitetail as a biological specimen and the importance of this animal to the people of Florence, the conservation warden immediately took it to North Star Taxidermy to be properly preserved. He then contacted the agency heads at the Florence Natural Resources Center to determine if they would find it a home in the Interpretive Center. On November 6, 1993, at the Wild Rivers Interpretive Center the full seven foot mount was unveiled to the public where it can still be viewed today."
- section from the official website

  4793 Forestry Dr.
Florence, WI  54121
(888) 889-0049

Official Site
www.florencewisconsin.com

 

 

 

natural feature  /  altered landscape

resources

 

1

Virgin Timber Forty

 

location:  Florence
forest

"In this 40-acre forest preserve, 200 year-old northern hardwood trees stand as magnificent reminders of the old-growth forest that covered the county long before the logging era began."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website

call: Florence Natural Resource and Wild Rivers Interpretive Center
(888) 889-0049

  The Forty is located on Highway 70, seven miles west of the junction of Highways 70 & 101.

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

 

2

Artesian Well

 

location:  Florence
well, well, well...

"The artesian well was discovered while drilling for a new campground well in 1968. The water literally bubbled out of the 6 inch casing. Now a masonry and stone structure encases the well. The flowing artesian well produces about 15 gallons per minute of cold, clear water."
- section from Florence Official Site

  From Florence, head west on Highway 70 for 15 miles.  Turn left (south) onto Dream Lake Road (FR 2450).  After 1 mile, turn left onto Chipmunk Rapids Road (FR 2156).  Follow for about 3 miles until you reach Chipmunk Rapids Campground. The well is on your left after you enter the campground.

Florence Official Site
www.florencewisconsin.com

 

3

LaSalle Falls  •  Myers Falls  •  Bull Falls
on the Pine River

 

location:  Florence
waterfall

  • Myers and Bull are located 8 miles west of Florence on the south side of Highway 70.
• LaSalle is located 5 miles southwest of Florence about 4 miles west of County Road N.

Florence Official Site
www.florencewisconsin.com

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine
www.wnrmag.com

book:
"Wisconsin Waterfalls"
by Patrick Lisi
Prairie Oak Press (2000)
pages 48 - 72

buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

4

Washburn Falls  •  Little Bull Falls  •  Big Bull Falls  •  Jennings Falls
on the Popple River

 

location:  Fence
waterfall

  • Washburn and Jennings are located about 5 miles northeast of Fence east of Highway 101.
• Little Bull is 1 mile northwest of Fence west of Highway 101.
• Big Bull is 3 miles north of Fence west of Highway 101.

 

 

 

sighting  /  phenomenon  /  morbid curiosity

resources

 

1

Teenagers Hear Screams & See Ghost in House

 
ghost
location:  Florence

"A few minutes later, a white-looking apparation (sic) appeared. Interested, we went to the front door for a closer look."
- section from The W-Files report

The W-Files
www.w-files.com

 

2

Lights in Sky Move in Strange Manner  (2001)

 
UFO
location:  Spread Eagle

"This last object was pulsating like someone using a 'dimmer' switch. It also grew larger and smaller. The three objects hovered in a triangle formation."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

3

Hunters See UFO Near Lake Emily  (2001)

 
UFO
location:  Florence

"In all my years of star gazing I have never seen an event as strange as this object."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

 

"Ghosts of America" Haunted Location Reports
(take with a grain of salt)

 
ghosts
location:  statewide

The reports on this site are presumably fiction, using random Wisconsin place names in the stories listed there.  Even so, you might get a kick out of reading them.

"A guy having an axe in his head is repeatedly distinguished in the center of Cody Creek carrying a headbone. Residents who have observed this ghost assert this ghost can be the soul of a person who lived here who died here in Fence in the past."
- section from Ghosts of America website

Ghosts of America
www.ghostsofamerica.com

 

 

 

taste of local history

resources

 

1

1889 Florence County Jail and Courthouse

 

location:  Florence
museum

"The picturesque buildings, with red tile roofs, crenelated (sic) towers and elongated, arched windows, stand as solid reminders of the County's affluent lumbering and mining era."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website


  501 Lake Street
Florence, WI  54121
(715) 696-3700

     

hours:
(Mon - Fri)  8am – 5pm

Portal Wisconsin
www.portalwisconsin.org

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

 

2

Goodman Grade

 

location:  Florence
historic site

"Once used to transport logs from the Goodman Timber tract, this historic railroad grade runs north/south through the entire county...The railroad grade is an impressive remnant of the area's logging era."
- section from the Explore Wisconsin website

  8 miles west of Florence on Highway 70.  The grade runs north to south.

call: Florence Natural Resource and Wild Rivers Interpretive Center
(888) 889-0049

North Central Wisconsin
www.northcentralwisconsin.com

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

 

3

Finn Town

 

location: Commonwealth, south of Florence
historic site

"Early settlers of Commonwealth were mainly of Swedish and Finnish descent. The Swedish people built homes, each with their own gardens, in the town of Commonwealth . The Finnish families chose to settle on farmland in Finn Town , located at the crossroads of County Highways N & D in Commonwealth."
- section from North Central Wisconsin website

  intersection of County Roads N & D south of Commonwealth

call: Florence Natural Resource and Wild Rivers Interpretive Center
(888) 889-0049

North Central Wisconsin
www.northcentralwisconsin.com

 

More Florence County historical attractions listed at:

Explore Wisconsin.com

North Central Wisconsin.com

 


updated 01-23-09  •  all images excluding those attributed to others are property of Wisconsinosity.com