When people think of traveling in Wisconsin, a few places immediately jump into the mind—Door County, Lambeau Field, and Madison. However, scattered throughout the state are fascinating roadside attractions that, if you are feeling adventurous, are naught but a small trip off the main road. Next time you’re traveling across the state, don’t be afraid to venture through these places that my family has discovered through the years. I promise you won’t be disappointed!
Some pictures and information courtesy of Roadside America and Atlas Obscura.
1. Rock In The House, Fountain City
This one is pretty self-explanatory—it is, quite literally, a rock that rolled into a house. While the concept itself may seem staged, it truly isn’t. On April 24, 1995, a 55-ton boulder rolled down a hill and crashed into the house, which was then owned by Dwight and Maxine Anderson. Less than a month later, a real estate investor named John Burt bought the house and turned it into an attraction, where visitors can go see the house, which has been left in the same condition as it was seconds before the boulder crashed into it. On display are newspaper clippings of other Fountain City disasters, including a rock rolling onto a house in the exact same spot as where this attraction now stands in 1901. Additionally, Fountain City is beautiful, and the roads themselves are a reason to visit!
2. Ed Gein’s Grave, Plainfield
Certain members of my family have an unhealthy curiosity related to cemeteries. This find can be attributed to my brother, and while not technically an attraction, there is a sort of morbid charm to being able to say you visited Ed Gein’s grave. Ed Gein, a resident of Plainfield, wasn’t technically a serial killer, but he did kill two women and terrorized the locals after he admitted to doing unthinkable evils to the corpses of women exhumed. He used these bodies—which belonged to women whom he thought looked like his dead mother—to create keepsakes, such as death masks, lampshades, and an armchair made of actual arms. The horrors go on and on, mostly pertaining to various things made of the female anatomy. While he was arrested for his crimes, he was quickly deemed mentally unfit to stand trial and occupied various mental hospitals until his death in 1984. His gravestone is no longer at the cemetery, as it had been stolen in 2000, but you can still find his grave between those of his mother and brother.
3. Jurustic Park, Marshfield
Did you know that during the Iron Age, a variety of iron creatures lived in the McMillan Marsh near Marshfield? I didn’t either, until I visited the excavated remains of said creatures that amateur paleontologist Clyde Wynia discovered. Finding pieces of the creatures and welding them together, Wynia realized that the creatures ranged from tiny, six-inch spiders to a flying dragon weighing two tons. This “menagerie” has remains from over 250 swamp creatures. Also on site is the “Hobbit House,” the studio and shop of Nancy Wynia, featuring her hot glass, fibers, and life-size soft sculptures. If interested in more information, please visit www.jurustic.com.
4. F.A.S.T., Sparta
The Fiberglass
Animals, Shapes, & Trademarks Corporation, or simply FAST, is the birthplace of many of the oversized creations you see gracing the sides of roads and the tops of buildings. FAST has been responsible for many things over the years, including a 12-foot-tall human
heart slide for the Children’s Museum in Appleton, a 25-foot-tall monkey, and a 30-foot-tall cyclist whose home is just a little way away in the “Bicycling
Capital of the World,” Sparta. Visitors are encouraged to walk around the yard and view all the works in progress scattered throughout, and even pop into the workshop to see what the current project is!
5. Chatty Belle, Neillsville
Built for Wisconsin’s exhibit at the 1964 World’s Fair and named during a contest in which the winner won 100 pounds of butter, Chatty Belle now stands proudly in Neillsville. Dubbed the “World’s Largest Talking Cow,” Chatty Belle is a Holstein standing 16 feet tall and 20 feet long. According to reports, the coin-operated voice box at her base no longer works, but she once spouted out facts about herself, Wisconsin cheeses, and cows in general. Even if she no longer speaks, it’s definitely worth it to go and see her, if only to say you’ve seen a Holstein seven times larger than the average Holstein.
6. Walls Of Wittenberg, Wittenberg
For some reason, this has always been one of my favorites, and anytime we’re even kind of near Wittenberg I make my dad drive through town. Starting in 2005, members of the community and artist from all over the Midwest have broughtcolor to the businesses and schools of Wittenberg. As of 2015, more than 24 murals had been painted around the town, depicting anything from the village’s history, their community members of past and present, tributes to firefighters and EMTs, and even to family pets. Whether you want to walk around town or drive, you won’t be disappointed with the glimpses into the past you are given, now with the relatively new tribute to the Green Bay Packers and their fans when you visit the Walls of Wittenberg.
7. Prairie Moon Sculpture Garden/Museum, Cochrane
In 1959, self-taught artist Herman Rusch—who was then 74 years old—built his first concrete sculpture, a planter. By the end of 1974, he had created nearly 40 sculptures, incorporating everything from bricks and iron wheels to seashells, crockery, and glass. Also featured are the works of artists Fred Scholsstein and John and Bertha Mehringer. The gardens, located right off Prairie Moon Road, are open year-round, and the museum is open by appointment.
8. Paul And Matilda Wegner Grotto, Sparta
Emigrating from Germany in 1885 and settling in La Crosse, the Wegners owned a farm and raised five children until 1916, when they turned the farm over to their children. After visiting the Holy Ghost Park of Father Mathias Wernerus in Dickeyville (also known simply as the Dickeyville Grotto, which I haven’t, unfortunately, been to yet), the Wegners were inspired to begin their “retirement project.” In 1929 they began to build fences on their farm, and less than a year later, they had their first sculpture—a 12-foot concrete model of a Bremen Ocean Liner. Building mainly in the summer months between 1929 and 1936, the Wegners brought color into their projects by using all types of glass and crockery, and they even created a little building dubbed the Glass Church, in which Paul Wegner’s funeral was actually held in 1937. Nearby, you can visit the graves of Paul and Matilda, which are marked by monuments reminiscent of their work in their grotto. This is, perhaps, my favorite place we’ve found throughout our journeys, and I believe that it is something that everyone should see at least once in their lives.
9. Rudolph Grotto Gardens, Rudolph
In 1912, Father Philip Wagner was in Europe studying for the priesthood. When his health started failing him, he visited the Our Lady’s Shrine in Lourdes, France, and promised to Mary that, if his health were restored in order to allow him to be ordained, he would someday build her a shrine. Slowly he got better, and the Rudolph Grotto was formed. Assigned to the St. Philomena’s Church in Rudolph, he realized that the place he was looking for was on the new parish grounds, and he started his work, no matter the fact that he didn’t even know how to mix mortar. Edmund Rybicki, a 12-year-old, began to help Father Wagner, and in 1928 the first shrine was completed. Also on the grounds is the Wonder Cave, which is a fifth-of-a-mile passageway featuring 26 shrines based off the catacombs of
Rome. The last project of the Grotto was completed in the spring of 1983. For more information, please visit
www.rudolphgrotto.com.
10. Queen Of The Holy Rosary Mediatrix Between God And Man Shrine, Necedah
Finally, and perhaps one of the
strangest memories I have from our journeys of my childhood, is “Virgin Mary Appeared Here,” at the Peace Shrine in Necedah. In 1949, Mary Ann Van Hoof
experiences the Virgin Mary appearing just outside of town, and for the next 34
years, she received messages pertaining to the youth, the Catholic Church, America, and the world. Most importantly, Vann Hoof was told to “bring the truth to the people.” A visit to the grounds is supposed to bring blessings upon you, and apparently, many people have sent testimonies, recounting conversions, cures, and
miracle witnessed. It is asked, however, that when you visit the shrine that you “observe modesty in dress,” and there are wrap-around skirts available at the information center if women wear shorts that are too short. And just a warning—even if your shorts go almost to your knees, you’ll still be asked to put on the skirt, something that my sister and mother both can confirm. More information is available at
http://www.queenoftheholyrosaryshrine.com/If these types of things aren’t your cup of tea, stayed tuned for my next few articles, in which I’ll discuss things to do in Door County, and natural attractions in our state such as beaches, State Parks, and rock formations!
