Wisconsin Trivia & Tidbits - Page 4

Looking for Wisconsin trivia? Try our list Wisconsin little know facts, tidbits and trivia.

—Traveling salesman Peter Gilbert of Glendale (pop. 13,367) permanently parked his car, a 1989 Saab 900 SPG, at the Wisconsin Automotive Museum in Hartford (pop. 10,905) last year after it logged more than 1 million miles. The Saab, with most of its original parts, survived eight deer collisions.

first appeared: 4/22/2007

—Founded in 1922, Allen-Edmonds Shoe Corp., headquartered in Port Washington (pop. 10,467), is one of the last shoe manufacturers in America. The company presented President George W. Bush, who is a regular customer, with a pair of red, white and blue wingtip shoes when he visited the factory last year.

first appeared: 4/8/2007

—The Ice Age National Scenic Trail meanders more than 1,000 miles across the state and offers scenic evidence—in lakes, river valleys, rolling hills and ridges—of the glacier that covered much of North America 15,000 years ago.

first appeared: 3/25/2007

—Founded in 1904 in Chippewa Falls (pop. 12,925), Mason Shoe Co. got a foothold in the business by manufacturing sturdy leather boots for the region’s lumberjacks. Today, the family-owned company no longer makes shoes, but is one of the nation’s largest catalog and online footwear retailers.

first appeared: 3/11/2007

—Ron Poast of Black Earth (pop. 1,320) builds Hardanger fiddles, a nine-stringed violin that is the national instrument of Norway and was popular among early Norwegian-American immigrants.

first appeared: 2/27/2007

—In 1995, a 55-ton boulder fell from a bluff and crashed into the bedroom of Dwight and Maxine Anderson of Fountain City (pop. 983). The unharmed Andersons moved, but entrepreneurs Francis and John Burt bought the home and began charging $1 to see The Rock in the House. About 22,000 people toured the house the first year.

first appeared: 2/11/2007

—Colby (pop. 1,616) is the birthplace of Colby cheese, created in the 1880s by Joseph Steinwand. The cheese is milder and softer than cheddar.

first appeared: 1/28/2007

The “Toilet Paper Capital of the World” is Green Bay, home to the Quilted Northern brand. In 1901, Northern Paper Co. produced its first tissue. Named Northern Tissue in 1902, the product became splinter-free in the 1930s, two-ply in the 1960s and quilted in the 1990s.

first appeared: 1/14/2007

—Guests at the Taylor Inn Bed and Breakfast in Clear Lake (pop. 1,051) can stay in Aunt Bee’s room, Opie’s or Andy’s. Marsha and Dave Scheuermann are such fans of The Andy Griffith Show that they’ve re-created the TV show’s set as their own home and inn.

first appeared: 12/17/2006

—In the 1890s, prankster Eugene Shepard of Rhinelander (pop. 7,735) concocted an elaborate hoax about capturing a horned beast called a hodag. He displayed the wood creature covered with animal hide at fairs where he controlled its movements with concealed wires. The town built a sculpture honoring the hodag.

first appeared: 12/3/2006

—One of the state’s oldest houses of worship, St. Augustine Church in New Diggings (pop. 473), was built in 1844 and is now being restored. The wooden church was established by the Rev. Samuel Mazzuchelli to serve lead miners.

first appeared: 11/19/2006

—A group of Cistercian monks in Sparta (pop. 8,648) combines commerce with a higher calling via LaserMonks. The thriving Internet business sells office and printer supplies and donates a portion of the proceeds to people in need.

first appeared: 11/5/2006

—Known as the “father of Social Security,” economist Edwin Witte developed the plan for the federal insurance program while serving as executive director of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Committee on Economic Security in 1934. Witte was born on a farm near Watertown (pop. 1,876) in 1887.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

Stonefield estate in Cassville (pop. 1,085), once the site of the elaborate home of the state’s first governor, Nelson Dewey, now offers a glimpse of the past with a reconstructed rural farm community of the early 1900s, an 1893 house built on the ruins of Dewey’s home, which burned in 1873, and historic farm tools in the State Agricultural Museum.

first appeared: 10/22/2006

—A student team from the University of Wisconsin in Madison won the 2006 National Concrete Canoe Competition in a 162-pound vessel that it designed, built and raced. Sponsored by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the competition challenges students to use physics and math principles to build floatable concrete canoes.

first appeared: 10/8/2006

In 1986, Pleasant T. Rowland created the popular American Girl books and dolls, which represent specific historical time periods. She sold the Middleton (pop. 15,770) company to Mattel in 1998 for $700 million.

first appeared: 9/24/2006

During World War II, when many minor league baseball teams disbanded, the All-American Girls Baseball League was formed by Chicago Cubs owner Philip Wrigley in 1943. The league was a hit, especially the Racine Belles, who won the first championship.

first appeared: 9/10/2006

The world's longest Main Street without an intersection is in Potosi (pop. 831). The town sits in a long, narrow valley, and Main Street winds for three miles.

first appeared: 8/27/2006

Many visitors arrive on two wheels at Sparta (pop. 8,648), the "Bicycling Capital of America." The town is home to the north end of the Elroy-Sparta State Bike Trail and a 30-foot-tall monument of an old-fashioned high wheel.

first appeared: 8/13/2006

Author Sterling North's books, including Rascal, his 1963 memoir and later Disney movie about a mischievous pet raccoon, continue to charm all ages. North's boyhood home and museum is in Edgerton (pop. 4,933). Open for tours on Sunday afternoons from April through December, the home and museum contain North's desk and typewriter, family artifacts and other memorabilia.

first appeared: 7/30/2006

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