This cache is located at the busiest corner of South Milwaukee's
Yellowstone Trail, at 10th Avenue and Milwaukee, near the site of
one of the five South Milwaukee businesses that is still in
operation that operated in the 1920s. The business here was once
known at the U R Next Barber Shop, and is still a barbershop today.
There is now a small park on what was a busy corner of the
Yellowstone Trail, that has several nice benchs, right next to the
Barbershop. The other businesses in South Milwaukee that provide
the same service they provided in the 1920s are the South Milwaukee
Arcade Bowling Alley, Bobbie’s Saloon (one of South Milwaukee’s
most historic buildings, it was listed as a “soft drink parlor”
during the Prohibition years), Grant Park Garage, and,
Bucyrus–Erie.
There were still dirt roads in South Milwaukee when the
Yellowstone Trail first came through town in 1915. The
intersections of Milwaukee Avenue at 10th and 12th Avenues were
widened, and new, gas-filled ornamental streetlights replaced the
old magnetite arc lights along Milwaukee Avenue. Local “Trailmen”
R.H. Knoll, Leo Joerg, or Charles Franke routinely appeared before
the South Milwaukee Common Council. On May 21, 1921 the city paid
its 50 “assessment” to the Yellowstone Trail Association.
On September 4, 1920 South Milwaukee’s newspaper, The Journal,
reported the opening of a new, modern design Deep Rock filling
station at 10th and Rawson, noting that “Few cities have more
through traffic of automobile tourists than ours. An artistic
filling station, situated as this is on the main thoroughfare,
advertises our city as one which takes a civic pride in its
appearance.” Later, The Journal would print “South Milwaukee is
especially favored above many cities with an unusual number of
tourists.”
This is one of several caches I have placed along the route of
the historic Yellowstone Trail. The trail is a historic motor route
that went across Wisconsin from 1918 to 1930. The Wisconsin portion
of the Yellowstone Trail is 406 miles long, starting at the state
line south of Kenosha and going north, and then west to Hudson.
More information on the Yellowstone Trail, including maps can be
found at http://www.yellowstonetrail.org/id18.htm
November 20, 2005 update: In the 1920's many towns along the
Yellowstone Trail had a representative known as a “Trailman”, whose
duties included providing information to travelers along the way.
In the 1919 Yellowstone Trail route folder, Trailmen were described
as being “…businessmen of standing in their communities, and will
always be glad to welcome tourists and serve them in any reasonable
manner.” Uncle Fun has offered to serve as the trailman for the
Yellowstone caches in this area.
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