Category Archives: Counties

for general information about Wisconsin counties

Neillsville Photos

I visited Neillsville on Monday April 17, 2017. It was a beautiful day and Neillsville is a very nice small town: it’s the perfect size for walking. I parked near the courthouse, which was built in the 1960s, and walked around it and the old jail, which is now a museum. then I drove to the other side of O’Neills Creek to visit St Mary’s Catholic Church. Then I drove back to the downtown area for more photos. Actually if I had parked in the downtown area, I could have easily walked to all of the places I was interested in.

: The parking lot entrance and the old jail

: The old jail (1897) is now a museum

: The entrance by the parking lot

: The main entrance of the courthouse

: The new jail entrance

: The back of the building faces O’Neills Creek

: The courthouse was built in 1965

: Back to the main entrance

: A better view of the entrance on Court Street

: The flag pole is dedicated to the veteran from Clark County

: One last look at the main entrance

: The courthouse and the old jail

: St Mary’s Catholic Church

: O’Neills Creek

: Looking across O’Neills Creek to the courthouse

: Downtown Neillsville

: Downtown Neillsville

: Historical marker for General Sturdevant’s house

: The Sturdevant house is now the public library

: The gazebo and the courthouse and old jail in the background

: The Neillsville post office

La Crosse Photos

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I visited La Crosse on Sunday February 19, 2017. It was a relatively warm day, considering it was February in Wisconsin) and sunny as well. I was able to park near the courthouse and wander around the county “campus” where the courthouse, administrative center and the health services center are located. The buildings are very nice and modern office buildings.

Afterward, I drove down to Riverside Park and walked along the Mississippi River before heading home.

: The main entrance of the Courthouse and Law Enforcement Center is a little difficult to reach because of the construction

: The Health Services Center

: The “Fledgling” statue

: The Administrative Center

: A view of the back of the courthouse. Notice that one of La Crosse’s finest has pulled over someone for a moving violation!

: The Health Services Center

: At Riverside Park: the Visitor Center and Museum

: The La Crosse River flowing into the Mississippi. This is downstream from where the Black River joins the Mississippi.

: Hiawatha statue. There is a larger one in Ironwood Michigan.

: Looking downstream toward the Highway 14 bridge

: Looking across the river to Minnesota

: There are many memorials in the park. This one is to the USS Maine.

: Not sure why La Crosse remembers the Maine in particular, but the cannon is aimed at Minnesota.

: Sculpture in the traffic circle at the south end of the park

Sparta Photos

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I visited Sparta on Sunday February 19, 2017. It was a warm and sunny February day – we set a record high temperature and I was wearing shorts during my visit. The courthouse is located just a block or so from the main street in Sparta. Surrounding the courthouse are a number of historic buildings: the Post Office, the Public Library and the old Masonic building which is now the Deke Slayton Space and Bicycle Museum.

A new Justice Center is being built as an addition to the old courthouse. Across the street is the Sparta City Hall and nearby there is a county administration building.

: A nice view of the Monroe County courthouse

: The courthouse is located on Court Street

: Here you can see the new Justice Center addition

: The Post Office historical marker

: The Sparta Public Library

: The historical marker for the library

: The Post Office building

: Looking back to the courthouse and the justice center

: The Deke Slayton Space and Bicycle Museum

: The museum is in the old Masonic Lodge building

: This part of the bicycling aspect of the museum

: Here is Deke Slayton. He seemed kind of short to me, but all of the original Mercury astronauts were short.

: The main entrance to the Justice Center

: The courthouse historical marker

: The plaque on the courthouse marking it as being on the National Register of Historic Places

: Veterans memorial in front of the courthouse

: The main entrance of the courthouse

: The Monroe County administrative building

: Side view of the courthouse and the justice center

: Sparta City Hall – not sure if they are easily seen here, but there are several replicas of old bicycles in front of the building

Sawyer County Links

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Here are my links for Sawyer County:

The Sawyer County official web site
The City of Hayward web site
The Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame and Museum web site
The American Birkebeiner web site
The Sawyer County Historical Society web site. The museum is located in Hayward and is open year round.
The Hayward Area Chamber of Commerce web site
The Chequamegon-Nicolet National Forest page on the USDA Forest Service web site
The Lumberjacks World Championships web site

Rusk County Links

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Here are my links for Rusk County:

The official Rusk County web site
The City of Ladysmith web site
The Rusk County Tourism web site
The Greater Ladysmith Area Chamber of Commerce web site
The Flambeau River State Forest page on the Wisconsin DNR web site

Tyranena Brewery Photos

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I stopped at Tyranena Brewery in Lake Mills on October 16, 2016 on my way home from Jefferson. I have been here several times before but it seemed unusually quiet on this day. I couldn’t figure out why until I remembered that all of my previous visits had been on the day of the Beer Run half marathon. So yes, it was a little more quiet: no big tent, or hundreds of runners milling around, and no big sound system. But it was nice to have a quiet day to have a beer in the tasting room before heading home.

: The Tyranena bus

: The brewery itself

: Let’s go into the tasting room…

Jefferson Photos

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I visited Jefferson on the afternoon of October 16, 2016. The courthouse is easy to find on Main Street, but the interesting thing is that the main entrances to both the courthouse and the law enforcement center are at the back of the building on Center Avenue. the building has obviously been remodeled several times. Across Main Street is the Jefferson Public library and just a block away in the direction of the river is the Jefferson Historical Museum and Jefferson City Hall. I walked down to Waterfront Park to see the Rock River.

: The Jefferson County courthouse with the K-9 memorial

: I like the idea of having a memorial to the K-9 officers who have served the county

: Still on the Main Street side of the building; this used to be the main entrance

: The Civil War Memorial is on the Center Avenue side of the building

: The main entrance to the courthouse. It’s on the “back” of the building facing Center Avenue.

: The front of the building on Main Street

: Veterans Memorial at Waterfront Park

: Waterfront Park looking downstream on the Rock River

: Waterfront Park looking upstream towards the Milwaukee Street bridge

: Waterfront Park

: Jefferson City Hall

: The Historical Museum is next to the City Hall building

: The Jefferson Public Library on Main Street

Elkhorn Photos

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I visited Elkhorn on the morning of October 16, 2016. Elkhorn is a pretty nice town, though I had some trouble getting there; I missed the turn on US Highway 12 due to road construction so I had to turn around and make another pass. The “Judicial Center” is located in the new county government campus on the outskirts of town. It is kind of a stark building; to me it almost looks like some sort of military installation because there are so few windows. I think that when the trees in the landscaping reach maturity that should soften the appearance of the building. Built in 2004, it is a striking building and I like it; it does take some time to get used to it though.

I also visited downtown Elkhorn to see the old courthouse which is located in the central square. This building was built in 1962 and is now used for some of the county’s administrative offices. The city of Elkhorn’s police and municipal court occupy the rest of the building. The grounds are Veterans Park and there are memorials to the people of Walworth county who gave their lives in service to our country.

: The courthouse (or Judicial Center) is kind of an interesting building

: There are not many windows, except on the front side, but it is kind of cool

: The building was built in 2004

: The main entrance to the courthouse

: At the far left you can see the sheriff’s offices; another part of the new county “campus”

: Not many windows on this side of the building!

: One last look at the courthouse

: The old courthouse is located in the main square in downtown Elkhorn

: Some county administrative offices are located here

: There are also several veterans memorials here; this is for the Civil War

: I think this one is for World Wars I and II veterans

: This is for more recent conflicts

: The City of Elkhorn police and municipal court is also located in the building

: This is the back of the old courthouse; this is the Court Street side of the square

: The grounds on the front side of the building are called Veterans Park. It’s very nice and well maintained.

: Not sure what happened to the old bank, but it’s a nice little park now.

: Veterans Park and the county admin building

Waukesha Photos

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I visited Waukesha on the morning of October 16th, 2016. It was a quiet and cloudy Sunday morning, so I had time to take plenty of photos. I visited the new (1959) courthouse and then drove a short distance to the old courthouse which is now the county museum.

: Veterans Memorial in front of the courthouse. The USS Waukesha is mentioned – it was an attack cargo ship that served in the Pacific Theater during World War II.

: Main entrance of the courthouse.

: The courthouse was built in 1959.

: The landscaping makes it difficult to get a good picture of the whole building.

: Back to the main entrance

: The garden in front is quite nice.

: The building is used by the sheriff’s office as well.

: It’s a very nice building and very well maintained.

: The old courthouse is located just a few minutes drive away.

: The old courthouse is now used as the county museum.

: It was built in 1893 and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

: It’s a very interesting building.

: Waukesha markets itself as “Guitar Town” because it is the home town of Les Paul.

Roche-A-Cri Photos

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After my stop in Friendship to visit the Adams County courthouse, I drove north on Highway 13 for a few miles and visited the Roche-A-Cri State Park. I parked in the winter parking area and took the trail across the prairie and then spent about an hour hiking in the park. I climbed the stairs t the top of the bluff and also saw the Native American petroglyphs. It’s a small park but it’s very nice.

: Looking across the prairie to the Roche-A-Cri bluff

: On the trail crossing the prairie heading towards the bluff

: On the bridge crossing over the creek

: The State Historical Marker for the park

: At the foot of the trail heading to the top of the bluff.

: At the top

: I was lucky that the weather was so clear today

: It really is a beautiful view

: The viewing area on top is small because the bluff is composed of soft sandstone and allowing free access to the entire bluff would cause a lot of erosion.