choose another county

"The Gobbler Supper Club, the only one of its kind in all the world, was conceived to enhance the role of Tom Turkey as the all-American delicacy.  The building's rotunda design permits dramatic use of natural lava stone to simulate ruffled turkey feathers and windows form the 'eyes of the Gobbler'...A rotating bar that made a full circle every 80 minutes was the central feature of the building."
- section from Wisconsin Historical Society website

"The town of Rome in the television show Picket Fences was based on an unincorporated neighborhood of Sullivan.  Parts of the town were shown in the opening credits."
- section from 'Oddball Wisconsin' story

  407 Merchants Ave.
Fort Atkinson, WI  53538
(920) 563-7769

hours:
• Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (Tues - Sat)  9:30am – 4:30pm
          (Sundays)  11am – 3pm
• Labor Day thru Memorial Day  (Tues - Sat)  9:30am – 3:30pm

An old grouping of motel cabins sits abandoned in the weeds, looking like they were transported from the dusty roadsides of Route 66.  Actually, they were once visited by guests such as Ozzie & Harriet, the Von Trapp Family Singers, Joe Louis and the ambassador to Australia.  A few years ago, you couldn't find anything about this place on the net, but now it's become a photographer's mecca.

  (in Plank Road Pioneer Barn
on the grounds of the Octagon House)
919 Charles St.
Watertown, WI  53094
(920) 261-2796

hours:
• May 1 thru Memorial Day  (daily)  11am – 3pm
• Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (daily)  10am –4pm
• Labor Day thru October 31  (daily)  11am – 3pm

Also listed in the History section below.

"John Tio has had a lifelong fascination projects using large numbers of items. Using aluminum pull tabs (which he could acquire economically), he invented a system of tab display that eventually covered his weekend retreat and adjacent outbuildings."
- section from Wisconsin Academy Review website

"The Jefferson Computer Museum is an online exhibition of classic computers, featuring the Terak."
- section from the official site

In the book "Strange Wisconsin", there is an intriguing tale about the nearly-forgotten sculptures of the late Irving L. Young, who had a grand scheme in mind for this location which involved the building of a unique chapel and several scrap-material figures (still visible).

"The Jefferson County Indian Mounds include 11 Ancient Indian Effigy Mounds.  They are thought to have survived about 1,500 years...The mounds include bird and conical mounds as well as an old Indian trail.  A turtle Mound is also still visible and used to appear in The World Book Encyclopedia. "
- section from Fort Atkins Chamber website

" There were originally 9 Panthers and 2 bear intaglios in the surrounding area, but only this one in Fort Atkinson remains.  It is in tact except for a small piece of the tail, which was ruined when a drive way was put in.  It is unknown as to why the mound was built, there are many theories, but it was believed to be used for ceremonial purposes at about 1000 AD."
- section from Fort Atkinson Chamber website

A rock formation known resembling a stone elephant was considered sacred by Indians.

The Great Spirit Washbowl was used as a natural drain by Indians to rid themselves of enemies and undesirables.  Full stories in the book "Weird Wisconsin".

Aztalan:  Ancient Mounds & City
at Aztalan State Park

  Aztalan Mound Park
south of intersection of Highways B & Q
Lake Mills, WI  53551
(920) 648-8774

park hours:
(May thru October)  7am – 9pm

Rock Lake Pyramids
"wisconsin's atlantis"

Sullivan & Rome UFO Sightings

"There was also a mentally retarded individual that disappeared from a nearby town, who was medically dependent and could not survive long without his medication. He was gone for four days in late October, and then reappeared 100 feet off of this road, unhurt, suffering only from slight dehydration."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 02-15-01 report

Rain Shower of Worms in 1897

19th century Palmyra citizens discover a squirming surprise on their lawns.

Flying Trapezoid Observed Above Highway J  (1993)

"The craft was approximately 40-50' wide, 20-30' in height, and a monstrous 200' in length."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

Friends Spot Moving Light  (2005)

"I then noticed that it was not moving in any particular direction but that it was in fact moving, althought (sic) most of the time it remained still as far as I could tell. It moved in a circular motion sometimes, and sometimes it went left to right, forward and backward."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

Paradise Road

"You can almost always hear noises that are not that or everyday sounds, hear footsteps, or what we think are footsteps, and you can catch shadows moving around, I do not have an explanation for any of it, but can tell you its the same thing all the time and we have been there several times..."
- section from The W-Files report

Red Cedar Lake Dragon

"Rocky" the Rock Lake Monster

Watertown UFO Sightings

"It was three amber circles enclosed with an amber line; so it made it look like an amber rectangle with three circles in it. Instead of gliding straight through the atmosphere, it glided on an angle. I watched it for just a few seconds and it appeared to simply disappear."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 11-20-03 report

Bigfoot or Werewolf?  (1992)

Sphere Observed  (1952)

"One silver-white sphere became an ellipse as it turned and climbed away very fast."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

Johnson Creek UFO Sightings

"Suddenly the light seemed to break apart into 2 lights. One started falling at a pace perpendicular to the ground, the other followed the trail it was previously was on."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 01-27-01 report

Lake Koshkonong Monster

Woman Sees Object Hovering Over Trees  (1988)

"She said she didn't bother to wake her husband, or call the police.  Who would have believed her?"
- section from UFO Wisconsin report

"Watertown's Elbedritzel"

In the book "Giants in the Land", author Dennis Boyer tells of the German version of the Snipe known by settlers in the Watertown area.  Unsuspecting folk would be tricked into spending a lengthy period of time looking for or hunting the imaginary bird.

"The Jefferson Couple Who Found God and Glowed"

In the book "Strange Wisconsin" is a story about an elderly couple whose spiritual beliefs manifested into a visible aura.

"The Bluff Monster" / "Bluff Man"

Folks traveling by the bluffs near Highway H have witnessed a seven-foot-tall hairy humanoid prowling about for several decades.

"The Phantom Rider of Pumpkin Hollow"

An altercation leads to the death of an Indian, whose ghost has been seen riding on his pumpkin-bedecked horse on the south line road.

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

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.

"The Ghosts of Jefferson County"

In the book "Milwaukee Ghosts" is a assemblage of Jefferson County haunts, including the Rock River, Paradise Road (listed above), and the Concord House entertainment venue.

St. Coletta of Wisconsin

Founded in 1904, the campus of St. Coletta is devoted to the support of people with developmental disabilities.  One of the on-site residential dormitories, Serra Hall, is reported to be haunted.

"Located in an old church and a collection of log cabins 2 miles East of Lake Mills, the Aztalan Museum contains displays of many items representative of the pioneer settlement of this area, as well as artifacts of prehistoric Indian culture."
- section from the Lake Mills Official Site

  N6264 Hwy Q
Jefferson, WI  53549
(920) 648-4632 or (920) 648-4496

hours:
 May 15 thru September 30  (Thurs - Sun)  Noon – 4pm

"Visit the reproduction of the 1832 stockade built by General Henry Atkinson during the 1832 Blackhawk War. Originally named Fort Koshkonong, this authentic replica is located on Riverside Drive in the city later named after its founder, Fort Atkinson."
- section from the Johnson Creek Chamber website

  226 W Main St.
Palmyra, WI  53156
(262) 495-2412

hours:
(Sat)  10am –  2pm

"The five-story Octagon House is one of the largest single family residences of the pre-Civil War period in Wisconsin. Completed in 1854, the house was designed by John Richards, a Watertown pioneer. Its original construction includes central heating, running water and a ventilating system. A spiral staircase rises from the first floor to the tower room, or cupola. The Watertown Historical Society opened it as a museum in 1938; it previously served as the Richards family residence. Watertown was the site of the first kindergarten in the United States, started in 1856 by the German educator Margarethe Meyer Schurz. 100 years later the kindergarten building was moved by the Watertown Historical Society to its current site."
- section from Portal Wisconsin website

Also home of the Noodled Goose, listed in the Attractions section above.

"The Plank Road Pioneer Barn was built in 1848 by Wenzel Quis and was originally located at the western terminus of the Watertown- Milwaukee Plank Road, across the Rock River yet only a short distance east of its present site. Moved to the grounds in the early 1960's, it now houses a collection of pioneer tools and farm implements."
- section from the Watertown History website