A general store and tavern comprised this small hamlet in 1880, but with the advent of the Chicago Madison and Northern railroad passing through the east edge of the community in 1888, growth became inevitable. In 1889, the small village was platted along the railraod line, and was given the name Basco after a town in Illinois. Also locally known as Paoli Station, it became the shipping and receiving point for the area. By the turn of the century, supported a post office, feed mill, lumber yard, cheese factory, ice house, cooper shop, stockyard, blacksmith, and tavern with a dance hall where people met to catch up on the news discussing the crops and weather. This is amazing considering the size of this burg.
Henry Road, the one road through town, is named for E.J. Henry who owned and operated the general store in Basco at the turn of the century.
Today, Basco is a quiet, small burg with a handful of residents, a tavern named “Dots”, a custom woodworking shop, and the Badger State Trail runs where the railroad once breathed life to this town at the turn of the twentieth century.
The cache is a medium bison tube hidden along the bike trail. Please bring your own pen or pencil. For the first to find, look under the faded Diet Pepsi can and you will find a token for the local watering hole.
The Geocache Notification Form has been submitted to Brad Bates, Badger State Trail Manager of the Wisconsin DNR. Geocaches placed on Wisconsin Department of Natural Resource managed lands require permission by means of a notification form. Please print out a paper copy of the notification form, fill in all required information, then submit it to the land manager. The DNR Notification form and land manager information can be obtained at: http://www.wi-geocaching.com/hiding
