General View from the South, Al Ringling Theatre. Photo by Douglass C. Green for HABS (Survey #WI-261), ca. 1970. Albert (“Al”) Ringling was the eldest brother of the Ringling family and was credited with both the creation of the famous Ringling Brothers Circus and…
Usher's Uniform Coat, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society.Usher's Uniform Pants, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society.Usher's Uniform Hat, from the collection of the Sauk County Historical Society. On November 17, 1915, the Ringling Theatre opened…
When the Scottish migrated to the United States in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, they brought more with them then just bagpipes; they brought the growth of curling, a winter sport in which the players slide heavy granite blocks across icy terrain…
How do you bring leisure and fun to a newly founded city? Build a curling club of course! At least that’s what James Otis Eaton did just over a decade after the small Wisconsin town of Lodi was officially founded in 1869.…
A stone slides across the ice as millions of people hold their breath. Furiously, two men sweep their brooms across the ice, attempting guide the hurdling block of granite to its destination. The stone slows to a crawl, hovering across the slick…
More than a century before the Wisconsin Dells became the "Waterpark Capital of the World," it was a famous tourist destination known for its scenic beauty. Guides began taking sightseers in rowboats along the Wisconsin River as early as the 1850s, and…