choose another county

"Live history at it's best! Black powder shoot and Indian encampment participants re-create the early 1800s in period costumes with authentic clothing, weapons, food, and shelter. Frontier games include tomahawk and knife throwing, shooting, and fire-starting competitions."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website

The top photo shows a stone fountain topped off with a smiling mother Holstein looking down upon her many calves, all of which lay in a ring surrounding her.
The photo on the right will haunt me for the rest of my days.

  on Main Street south of the courthouse

  15245 Highway 23
Darlington, WI  53530

"Take a guided tour of the Badger Mine & Museum. Descend 51 steps with your tour guide into a hand-dug 1827 mine. Marvel at the small side tunnels and wonder how men could crawl into such confined places and still work. See the recreated shops and exhibits of the early mining town. Gaze at the early mining tools, ore specimens and learn the methods used to extract lead with the pick, gad and black powder."
- section from Shullsburg Official Site

  279 W. Estey Street
Shullsburg, WI  53586
(608) 965-4860

hours:
Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (daily)  10am – 4pm

Shullsburg Gravity Hill

A great example of how the landscape around can can distort your sense of direction...or is it really that simple?  Cars roll "uphill" when parked facing "downhill".

White-Haired Beast Observed  (1970)

"The School House Specter"

In the book "Driftless Spirits", author Dennis Boyer tells of a schoolhouse-dwelling ghost that continues an old teacher's routine.

"Spirit of the Blood Lake Rendezvous"

In the book "Driftless Spirits", author Dennis Boyer tells of the mascot ghost that appears off and on at this yearly event.

  Black Hawk Memorial Park
2995 County Road Y
Woodford, WI  53504
(608) 465-3472

  The rendezvous is held the first full weekend of May.

Also listed in the Attractions section above.

Small, Triangular-Shaped Crop 'Circle'  (1981)

"A Ghostly Glossary"

In the book "Driftless Spirits", author Dennis Boyer tells of a visit with a cataloger of the ghost world.

Alleged Alien Abduction  (1988)

"Darlington's Courthouse Ghost"

  626 Main Street
Darlington, WI  53530
(608) 776-4850

Blanchardville UFO Sightings

"The girl told the dispatcher that when she and her siblings went to the barn to tell their mother, the lights followed them. The kids got scared and went into the basement where they heard tinkling noises."
- section from UFO Wisconsin 08-17-88 report

"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.

"Tour two of Wisconsin's First State Capital buildings, restored to recall the days when the State Legislature met here for 46 days in 1836. The Council House, where frontier lawmakers wrangled over passage of 42 bills, has been refurbished in the style of the period. A museum in the Supreme Court Building depicts life in the 1830's on the Wisconsin frontier."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website

  (about 3 miles northwest of Belmont)
18904 County Highway G
Belmont, WI  53510
(608) 987-2122

hours:
Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (Wed - Sun)  10am – 4pm

"The depot now stands as a monument to those who built and operated the railroad. The building's interior and exterior have been restored since 1983. The museum exhibits railroad memorabilia, model trains, oil paintings of Lafayette County, and railroad maps from 1874, 1898 and 1906."
- section from Portal Wisconsin website

  525 Main Street
Darlington, WI  53530
(608) 776-8340

hours:
Memorial Day thru Labor Day  (Mon - Fri)  1:30pm – 5pm
(Saturdays)  9am – Noon

"Named after a nearby ridge where miners stole lead from each other's diggings, Swindler's Ridge Museum features three sites in the original mining complex, including two mines restored as working models."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website

  25 W. Main St.
Benton, WI  53803
(608) 759-5182

hours:
Memorial day thru Labor Day  (Fri - Mon)  10am – 4pm

"The 1851 Benton School House Museum allows visitors to visit the past through class photos, vintage books, desks, alumni memorabilia and a collection local newspapers. Call to arrange visits."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website

"A small stone church built in 1861 and a collection of five stone buildings are all that remain of Jenkynsville. Located four miles north of Benton, this abandoned mining village was first settled in 1837. Homecoming services are held on the last Sunday in June. Call to schedule a visit."
- section from Explore Wisconsin website