Wisconsin 101

UW-Eau Claire & The Council Oak Tree

Oak Trees have been regarded for centuries as a symbol of strength, moral, and knowledge, and throughout history have been represented in different mythologies to show these attributes. And for the original Council Oak Tree, grown in Eau Claire, it also held…

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October 5, 2021

Read more about the article Christopher Latham Sholes

Portrait of Christopher Latham Sholes posing at a typewriter, n.d., Courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID 3218.

Milwaukee / Milwaukee County / Education / Related Stories / 1800-1820 / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / Global Connections / 1860-1880 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1880-1900 / Region 8 - South East / Sholes and Glidden Typewriter

Christopher Latham Sholes

Christopher Latham Sholes worked with his brothers at a Green Bay newspaper after having completed a printing internship in 1837, and in 1840 he moved to Kenosha to serve as the owner and publisher of the Southport Telegraph for a number of…

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September 22, 2021

Marathon / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Marathon County / Manufacturing & Trade / 1880-1900 / Region 2 - North East / Marathon Brewing Company "Superfine" Beer Bottle

The Marathon Brewery’s Chain of Calamities

In the early 1880s, Franz Sindermann, who was trained as a brewer in Germany, formed a brewery in Marathon, Wisconsin with his brother, August, along with a third partner, Charles Klein. The brewery got off to a good start, producing 300 barrels…

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September 14, 2021

Read more about the article The Heileman Family: A German Immigration Story

John Gund Brewing Company postcard, c. 1911, courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, Image 35952.

La Crosse / Ethnicity & Identity / Related Stories / Global Connections / 1840-1860 / Manufacturing & Trade / La Crosse County / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / Region 3 - Center West / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000 / King Gambrinus Statues of LaCrosse

The Heileman Family: A German Immigration Story

The G. Heileman Brewing Company is often remembered by historians as the vision of the two ambitious men who founded the brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. At the height of its popularity in 1983, Heileman’s was the fourth largest brewery in the…

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August 17, 2021

Read more about the article The Hearthstone House and Electricity to Wisconsin

Front view of historic house in the summertime c. 1974. Photo courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society, ID# 28719.

Appleton / Home Furnishings / Hearthstone House Chandelier / Related Stories / 1880-1900 / Outagamie County / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East

The Hearthstone House and Electricity to Wisconsin

Built in 1882, the Hearthstone House operated using the first system of central electricity designed by Thomas Edison and it was the first private residence in the nation powered through hydroelectricity. The house was originally known as the Henry J. Rogers House,…

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June 7, 2021

Read more about the article OBJECT HISTORY: Hearthstone House Chandelier

Hearthstone House chandelier. Photo courtesy of Trase Tracanna, 2021.

Appleton / Home Furnishings / Object Histories / Hearthstone House Chandelier / 1880-1900 / Outagamie County / Science & Medicine / Region 5 - Center East

OBJECT HISTORY: Hearthstone House Chandelier

Known as Edison Light Fixtures, the original lighting fixtures of Appleton’s Hearthstone House, were created by Bergmann and Co., in association with the Edison Company for Isolated Lighting, out of New York. They designed the electric lights with the same general components…

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June 7, 2021