The fields here once belonged to M.A. King and Louis Gaard. One of the roads in the area was once named Gaard Road, in fact you have driven on it. The farmers were happy when they had enough sunny days in a row to cut, rake and pick up the hay without any rain on it. Even though the wagon is fully loaded, there is still more work to be done at the barn. If you've ever helped put up hay, you know just how hot and itchy this job is.
Part of the Boyceville-Wheeler “Old Roads” series.
Old maps can be fascinating! Our family has a battered 1915 plat book for Dunn County that has probably been in the family since it was new. You might think that our current roads more or less follow along the routes laid out by the pioneers – until you really look at an old map! In the map montage shown here, you won’t find State Highway 170 at all – the idea of a state highway did not even exist until 1917 when Wisconsin enacted the first numbered highway system in the world. Highway 170 was not extended west of Wheeler until 1947! Maybe there were too many marshes to cross? Instead, there were two routes, only one of which survives today.
As you work your way along this series of mostly easy park and grabs, take a moment to look around and compare today’s view to the 1915 map. Some roads from 1915 vanished seemingly without a trace, unless you are an archeologist.