On July 4, 1911, Thomas G. Moses wrote, “Mama and I went to Kilbourn, Wisconsin, to get away from the noise and heat. I think we ran right into it. I have this written up elsewhere.” Moses is referring to his travelogues and their visit to the area now known as the Wisconsin Dells. Many artists and their families escaped the heat of Chicago during the summer, venturing beyond city limits to nearby lake resorts and summer homes. Without any effective way to cool the air in homes or businesses during the early twentieth century, cooler breezes near a lake or river offered much needed relief to those who could afford venturing north. This is one of the reasons that Chicago’s Palette & Chisel Club members established their summer camp near Fox Lake Camp 1906.
Kilbourn, Wisconsin, was due north of Baraboo, home to the Ringling Brothers Circus at the time. Moses repeatedly visited Al Ringling in Baraboo from 1904 until 1915 when he was designing elaborate settings for the Ringlings’ grand circus spectacles. The city of Kilbourn was located in the area, along the Wisconsin River. First identified in public records during 1856, the city named after Byron Kilbourn. Kilbourn was a surveyor, railroad executive, and politician who was also significant in the founding of Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
The town of Kilbourn was an ideal location, the midway point on the railway between Chicago and Minneapolis. It was also a well-known resort area known for the picturesque landscape. In 1875, landscape photographer H. H. Bennett established a studio in the Kilbourn, where he captured the nearby sandstone formations that helped publicize the resort town. He distributed his photographs and stereoscopic cards across the United States, promoting the area as a destination location for sightseers. He also offered souvenir pictures of visitors, and was an ever-increasing asset to the area’s tourist trade. The old H. H. Bennett Studio is now a historic site operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The name of Kilbourn City was officially changed to Wisconsin Dells in 1931. Home to boat tours and a variety of popular amusements, the area continues to attract a mass influx of visitors every year. It is also the home to Tommy Bartlett’s Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show (est. 1952), later known as the Tommy Bartlett Show. Tourism remains a major contributor to the economy, now advertised as the “Waterpark Capital of the World.”
To be continued…
