Bookmark the Wisconsinosity home page!  www.wisconsinosity.com


go to: official county website

go to Waushara County
go to Adams County

go to Green Lake County

go to Columbia County
       map provided by Delorme mapping software

 

 

attractions & oddities

resources

 

1

Four Man-Made Waterfalls

Miniature Church

 

location:  Montello
roadside oddity

      

The old Montello granite quarry has been converted to a city park complete with waterfalls and a tiny church.

"Four sparkling waterfalls cascade down granite outcroppings into the old Montello granite quarry. They can be viewed in downtown Montello from a picturesque park located on Hwy 23 in Montello."
- section from Montello Area Chamber of Commerce website

  Montello Granite Park
Highway 23 (Montello Street) & Highway 22
Montello, WI  53949

 Montello Library
www.montellolibrary.org

Montello Area Chamber of Commerce
www.montellowi.com

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
Globe Pequot Press
(2nd ed., 2004)  pages 82 - 83
 (3rd ed., 2009)  pages 73 - 74
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

2

Giant Pioneer Statue
 in front of Westfield Pioneer Motor Inn

 

location:  Westfield
roadside oddity

This grizzly, coonskin-capped & buckskin-clad fellow has a pair of large oxen nearby in case some emergency plowing in needed before your meal.

  Pioneer Restaurant
242 N. Pioneer Rd.
Westfield, WI  53964
(608)296-2135

Official Site
www.pioneermotorinn.com

New Low
www.newlow.org

Roadside Architecture
1 (pioneer) www.agilitynut.com
2. (oxen) www.agilitynut.com

book:
 "Oddball Wisconsin"
 by Jerome Pohlen
 Chicago Review Press, Inc. (2001)
 pages 64 - 65
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

book:
"Strange Wisconsin"
by Linda S. Godfrey
Trails Books (2007)
page 160
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

3

Bowling Ball Rosary

 

location:  west of Princeton (Green Lake County)
roadside oddity / yard art
 

Ken & Eunice Soda's yard has become a bit of a tourist attraction for the local devout.  Rather than going with the tacky designation of something like "Paul Bunyan's rosary", the bowling ball-based creation is displayed in a tasteful manner, towering over the comparatively-diminutive statue of the Holy Virgin.

  W 928 County Road J
Princeton, WI  54968

photo courtesy of Robert's Blog
Princeton Official Site
www.princetonwi.com

Robert's Blog
www.stevenspointtapestry.org

book:
"Wisconsin Curiosities"
by Michael Feldman and Diana Cook
 Globe Pequot Press  (3rd ed., 2009)
pages 85 - 87
buy it at Amazon.com
buy it at Barnes & Noble.com

 

 

 

natural feature / altered landscape

resources

 

1

Wisconsin's Largest Tree

 

location:  Montello
champion tree

West of downtown Montello, in the front yard of the historic Le Maison Granit (Granite Mansion), stands a towering cottonwood tree.  138 feet tall, it is the largest tree of any species growing in Wisconsin.

  The tree can be seen next door to the Courthouse on Highway 23 (Underwood Avenue), just west of downtown Montello.

Wisconsin DNR  (2.58MB PDF file)
dnr.wi.gov

Journal Sentinel Online
article "Tall, bark and definitely handsome" or (here)

 

 

 

sighting / phenomenon / morbid curiosity

resources

 

1

Fireballs and Streaks of Bright Light  (1998)

 
UFO
location:  Neshkoro

"The explosion seemed to be very high in the sky, and no report was heard. Within less than five minutes the 'Stealth' came back overhead from a south-east direction and proceeded north-west."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report
UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

2

Westfield UFO Sightings

 
UFO
location:  Westfield

"We saw a large red and black space craft that slightly resembled an oversized earth vehicle. A strange blueish white light appeared from the craft, and what we saw astonished us. We saw two short pale blue aliens."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report
UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

3

Oxford UFO Sightings

 
UFO
location:  Oxford

"One orange-red object flew parallel to truck for 2 minutes."
- section from UFO Wisconsin report
UFO Wisconsin
www.ufowisconsin.com

 

4

Montello UFO Sightings

 
UFO
location:  Montello

"The object, reddish orange in color, was moving at a high rate of speed, was moving from west to east and has no blinking lights and was not a falling object from space for it had no tail."
- 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.

"An enormously chilling ghost was noticed stacking bricks on the water's edge of Buffalo Lake. The spirit spoke about revenging a murder. Several of the people who live in this town allege this ghost takes pleasure in scaring foolhardy people who come trying to find ghosts in Montello."
- section from Ghosts of America website
Ghosts of America
www.ghostsofamerica.com

 

 

 

taste of local history

resources

 

1

Marquette County Historical Society Museum

 

location:  Westfield
museum

"Take a walk through Marquette County's historic past, brought to life in the Historical Society's extensive collection of artifacts, dating from the area's earliest pioneering days through the mid-twentieth century. The Museum's collection is exhibited in three separate buildings: the newly constructed Kerst Exhibit Building, and two historic structures, a railroad section house containing memorabilia of earlier railroad days, and the Cochrane-Nelson House, a stately two-story home with high-ceilings and filigree woodwork constructed in 1903, furnished from top to bottom with antiques and collectibles that were useful and fashionable when the county was young."
 - section from Explore Wisconsin website

  125 Lawrence Street
Westfield, WI  53964
(608) 296-4700 or (608) 296-4094 or (608) 296-2618

                     

hours:
 from the last Wednesday in May through the first Wednesday in September  (Wed & Sat)  1pm – 4pm

Marquette County History
co.marquette.wi.us

 

updated 04-20-09  •  all images excluding those attributed to others are property of Wisconsinosity.com