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Black River Falls

map provided by Delorme mapping software

 

 

attractions & oddities

resources

 

1

Giant Orange Moose Statues

Giant Springing Deer Statue
in front of Arrowhead Lodge & Suites
in Gebhardt Memorial Park

 

location:  Black River Falls
roadside oddities

      

      


While you're here, why not have some "Moose Wings" at the Orange Moose Bar & Grill (located in the hotel)?  The second orange moose can be found there by the road.

  (at the southeast corner of the intersection of Highways I-94 & 54)

  Black River Crossing Oasis
600 Oasis Road
Black River Falls, WI  54615
(715) 284-9471 or (800) 284-9471

Roadside America
www.roadsideamerica.com

Best Western Arrowhead Lounge
www.bwarrowheadlodge.com

Thom.org Gallery
www.thom.org

Roadside Architecture
www.agilitynut.com

New Low
www.newlow.org

Explore Wisconsin
www.explorewisconsin.com

Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine
1. (moose) www.flickr.com
2. (deer) www.flickr.com

book:
"Oddball Wisconsin"
by Jerome Pohlen
Chicago Review Press, Inc. (2001)
page 36

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

book:
"Midwest Marvels"
by Eric Dregni
UofM Press (2006)
pages 392 - 393
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
pages 2 - 3
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

2

Giant Cheese & Cheese Mouse Statue

 

location:  Black River Falls
roadside oddity

Another of the many Mega-Rodents that advertise cheese along Wisconsin's roadways.  This one is found in the parking lot outside the Perkins and BP station near the Orange Moose.

  same location as the moose and deer above

Roadside Architecture
www.agilitynut.com

Feren's Gallery
feren.black-panther.us

New Low
www.newlow.org

Thom.org
www.thom.org

Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine
www.flickr.com

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
pages 2 - 3
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

3

Thunderbird Museum

    

 

location:  Hatfield
museum

photo courtesy of Lake Arbutus website 

Sadly, the home of the 8-legged pig (or was it 6-legged?) closed in 2002.  The remaining artifacts, including stuffed albino animals, a meteorite and what was reported to be an original copy of the Declaration of Independence, were sold off.

  N9517 Thunderbird Lane
Hatfield, WI  54754
(715) 333-5841

Lake Arbutus
www.lakearbutus.com

Roadside America
www.roadsideamerica.com

Journal Sentinel Online
article "Exhibits reflect founder's eye for the odd"

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press  (1st ed., 2000)
pages 198 -199
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Oddball Wisconsin"
by Jerome Pohlen
Chicago Review Press, Inc. (2001)
pages 41 - 42

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

 

4

Mysterious Figures in Field

 

location:  City Point
roadside oddity

      


On this long stretch of desolate road, two humanoid silhouette cutout figures stand near the wood line waving to the passersby.  They look to be of the common kind than you can buy in the home & garden section of any major store.  But why did someone put them here in the middle of nowhere, positioned so far from the roadway?

Any further information would be welcome.

  500 feet away from road on north side of Highway 54 at the eastern edge of Jackson County Forest, 5 miles west of City Point.

 

5

Sampson Steinhaus
10-story-tall beer stein
PROPOSED

 

location:  Black River Falls
potential roadside oddity

Yeah, it's a little exaggerated, but you get the general idea...

A project was underway for a giant beer-stein-shaped retail complex which would have contained 44 stores and would have been topped with a stainless steel roof, but it looks like the entire plan was scrapped.  Shame.

  The Steinhaus would have been located at Highway 54 & Interstate 94

Journal Sentinel Online
1. article "One Big Stein"
2. article "Making of a mighty mug"

La Crosse Tribune
article "Steinhaus project breaks ground"

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press  (1st ed., 2000)
pages 185 - 186
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Midwest Marvels"
by Eric Dregni
UofM Press (2006)
pages 392 - 393
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

6

Merrillan Mystery Ball
private property

 

location:  Merrillan
roadside oddity

What powers doth the Ball hold within?  Perhaps it controls all the orange moose in the region and their ill-favored kin.

2009 UPDATE:  It is with heavy heart that I must report the disappearance of the Mystery Ball.  Did it disapparate by itself or was it removed by its owners?  Did it even ever have owners?  Was it here for evil or for good?  Did it accomplish its purpose?  Was its mystery solved?  We may never know because I was too lazy to get out of my car and ask the guy who owns the place.

  at the southeast corner of the intersection of Highways 12 & 95 across from the Lighthouse Inn

 

10

Big Buck Statue

 

location:  Black River Falls
roadside oddity


Located at the Deer Creek Crossing gift & coffee shop (aka Deer Creek Trading Company), next to the Flying J Truck Stop.

  780 State Hwy 54
Black River Falls, WI  54615
(715) 284-3411

Flickr photo by Mykl Roventine
www.flickr.com

 

11

Vintage Conoco Station
at Double T Quik Stop

 

location:  Merrillan
replica vintage architecture

"Dennis Myher's 1930s replica Conoco station next to modern station"
- section from Old Gas website

UPDATE: The vintage accessories have been removed due to vandalism.  Shame.

  302 N Washington St
Merrillan, WI  54754
(715) 333-7650

Old Gas
www.oldgas.com

 

12

Replica Lighthouse
at the Lighthouse Inn

 

location:  Merrillan
roadside oddity

As of September 2009, no ship has run aground near the Lighthouse Inn.  That's a 100% success rate, friends.

  200 Diagonal St.
Merrillan, WI  54754
(715) 333-2801

Official Site
www.lighthouseinn.org

 

13

Driveway Guardians

 

location:  Merrillan
roadside oddity / yard art

Two milk-can armored figures protect a family's home just outside of Merrillan.  They may be diminutive, but their skills with the pole axe are not to be underestimated.

  N2774 Highway 12
Merrillan, WI  54754

      

 

 

 

sighting  /  phenomenon  /  morbid curiosity

resources

 

1

Early Morning Sighting of Bigfoot  (2005)

 
bigfoot
location:  Hatfield

"As I was coming down the road I saw a dark figure half in the road crossing into the other lane. My head lights had hit about half way up it's body. I first thought it could be a deer, but deers are light brown and this was a dark brown. It was walking upright. On two legs."
- section from BFRO incident report

  on County Road K

BFRO (Bigfoot Field Researchers Organization)
www.bfro.net

 

2

Wisconsin Death Trip

 
macabre era
location:  Black River Falls

A notorious period in central Wisconsin history made famous by the book authored by Michael Lesy.


"The book combines photos from the collection of commercial photographer Charles J. Van Schaick (taken between 1885 and 1915) with pieces from the area's newspaper, case histories from a mental institution, excerpts from appropriate writers, and Lesy's own Faulknerian accounts of regional history... Dead babies, diphtheria, suicide (by acid, gunshot, hanging, drowning, and, in one instance, dynamite), murder, armies of vagrants, arsonists, incest, and the mentally unbalanced (or, as one excerpt puts it, the "shack happy") fill the pages of Lesy's book, playing off Schaick's sometimes chilling, sometimes mundane, and sometimes just odd photos to powerful effect."
- section from Onion AV Club review at Barnes and Noble website

book:
"Wisconsin Death Trip"

by Michael Lesy, Charles Van Schaick
University of New Mexico Press (1973)

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

The Movie's Official Site
www.wisconsindeathtrip.com

Black River Falls Official Site
www.blackriverfalls.com

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press  
(2nd ed., 2004)  pages 190 - 191
(
3rd ed., 2009)  pages 181 - 182
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at
Barnes & Noble.com

 

3

Alma Center UFO Sightings

 
UFO
location:  Alma Center

"It was in a shape of a triangle with the nose being rounded in shape.  At the back of the craft were white lights and at the nose was red light. The craft tilted upward and the lights turned off and then it dissappeared! (sic)"
- section from UFO Wisconsin 01-16-04 report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

4

UFO Stalls Car on Highway 12  (2000)

 
UFO
location:  Millston

"It scared the living hell out of me. I did not tell anyone because they would not believe me. I will never travel this road again."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

5

Black River Falls UFO Sightings

 
UFO
location:  Black River Falls

"Suddenly, just above the front yard treetops (miles closer than they previously were) four huge bright yellow lights appeared in the shape of a boomerang starling my parents as they remained on their deck."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 06-06-02 report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

6

"Fire Specter of Black River Falls"

 
ghost
location:  Black River Falls

In the book "Northern Frights", author Dennis Boyer tells of an arsonist spirit that has wreaked havoc in the area.

book:
"Northern Frights"
by Dennis Boyer
Badger Books (second ed., 2005)
pages 188 - 193
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

7

Father and Son Spot UFO  (2001)

 
UFO
location:  Merrillian

"It made a zig zap pattern across the sky. It stopped once and started up again. It seemed to know that we were watching it."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

8

"The Mangy Werewolf"

 
creature
location:  Black River Falls

A story from the book "Strange Wisconsin" tells of a couple who witness a strange-looking creature lurking through yards in town.

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
page 3
buy it at
Amazon.com
buy it at
Barnes & Noble.com

 

9

"UFO and Men in Black Pickups"

 
UFO
location:  Taylor

A story from the book "Strange Wisconsin" tells of a father and his two children having a close encounter in the woods with an unexplained object.

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
page 145
buy it at
Amazon.com
buy it at
Barnes & Noble.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 female with her head separated can occasionally be perceived staring at folks in a Merrillan flat through a keyhole. It's been argued that this particular ghost likes terrifying folks who dare to interrupt the silence in Merrillan."
- section from Ghosts of America website

Ghosts of America
www.ghostsofamerica.com

 

 

 

taste of local history

resources

 

1

Jackson County Museum and History Room

 

location:  Black River Falls
museum

"Jackson County history, including clothing, photographs, artifacts and resource materials for local history research."
- section from the Downtown Black River Falls website


  13 S First St.
Black River Falls, WI  54615
(715) 284-5314

            

hours:
Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (Fri & Sat)  11am – 3pm

Black River Falls Official Site
www.blackriverfalls.com

Downtown Black River Falls
www.downtownblackriverfalls.com

 


updated 09-28-09  •  all images excluding those attributed to others are property of Wisconsinosity.com