In the late 1800s, the Silsby Company created the Steam Powered Pumper in New York. This technological advancement made the lives of firefighters everywhere easier. They no longer had to rely on bucket brigades to fight fires. This impacted communities all over the country, including in Berlin, Wisconsin.
The 40-inch refracting telescope at Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, contains the worldâs largest refracting lenses. Built in 1895, the telescope contains two lenses, one made of crown glass, and one made of flint glass. The lenses are each 40 inches in diameter, weigh 500 pounds, and have a 62-foot focal length. The telescope and observatory…
The Wilson Place Mansion front door was crafted at the turn of the twentieth century, likely by a well-known Arts and Crafts Movement blacksmith named Thomas F. Googerty. Wilson Place Mansion was the home of James Huff Stout, a lumber baron, longtime state senator, and philanthropist. Area tradition has it that the door was fashioned to honor Stout,…
The expansion of Wisconsinâs dairy industry in the 20th century not only altered the economy of the state, but it also influenced the structure of the very barns that housed the bovine champions of the industry. Barns must be adapted and altered…
Bicycles entered the United States on the East Coast from Europe in 1869. By 1880, bicycling in the U.S. had become so popular that the League of American Wheelmen (LAW) was founded. One of LAWâs objectives was âto promote the general interests…
One of the biggest impediments to the progress of the popularity of bicycling in the late 19th century was bad roads. Wisconsin roads in the 1880s were âplagued by mud, poor signage, and crumbling bridges and sidewalks.â[1] This persisted throughout the 1890s…