Wednesday, October 12, 2011

(Not So) Wordless Wednesday - Post 174: The Four-Mile House in 1930

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I've been posting old family photographs from my collection on Wednesdays, but now I want to post some current photographs. This is not a wordless posts like others do - I simply am incapable of having a wordless post.

On Day 10 of the Seaver Family History Mystery Tour four weeks ago, I just barely made it to the Dodge County (Wisconsin) Historical Society in Beaver Dam before it closed.  The visit was recommended by Anita, the librarian at Beaver Dam Community Library, and it yielded one of the "prizes" of the trip:


This print from the original in the historical society archives is of the Four-Mile Inn as it stood in Rolling Prairie in 1930.  The typed caption below the picture says:

"Four-Mile House, Built in 1853 by Raslow Smith, Rolling Prairie,
and operated as a "Stage Coach Tavern" for service between Water-
town & Fox Lake before the R.R. came through.  S.W. corner Water-
town Plank Road (now County I) and Town Line Road just north of
now Rolling Prairie.
Stage changed horses here and for a time stopped for Noon Meal.
[rest cut off]"

This was a three story building with a basement.  The curator at Old World Wisconsin told me that the public rooms were on the first floor, the bedrooms were on the second floor, and the third floor was used as a dance hall in later years.  

4 comments:

Kerry Scott said...

Ohhhhhh WOW! I can't wait until my first-grader gets off the school bus today so I can show her this. We were at Laura Ingalls Wilder Day in July, churning butter on the porch of that very house.

SO cool!

Kay Strickland said...

What a delicious AHA! moment that must have been for you! Great photo, great find! ~Kay

Dawn said...

So how's this for another coincidence: I just got back from our local library with a new (to me) title in the Little House series. It's called Old Town in the Green Groves by Cynthia Rylant inspired by an unpublished manuscript of LAW. It's been a long time since I read any of the Little House books. Wish I still had the calico dress and bonnet I had my grandma make for me back then...

Dr. Bill (William L.) Smith said...

Love these finds... thanks for sharing! ;-)