Empire in Pine Museum

Several historic sites of note include the Mabel Tainter Memorial, Wilson Place Museum, and the Dunn County Heritage Museum in Menomonie, the Caddie Woodlawn Roadside Park and the Empire in Pine lumbering museum in Downsville. The Empire in Pine Lumber Museum earned the State Historical Society's "Distinguished Service" award in 1982. The award winning display exhibits the rich logging history of the Red Cedar Valley. It's part of the past of many and many people come in all the time and say 'my granddad worked in the quarry'. It's the historical society's job ot preserve the history of the past so this is a part of what we do.

Relive the logging camp and sandstone quarry eras of Dunn County's early days. Visitors will be treated to displays depicting Knapp, Stout & Company Co. operations, then the largest white pine milling corporation in the world. Also on the premises are a village jail and the 1865 Louisville Post Office. Nearby is the Knapp, Stout Pay Station.

The Empire in Pine Museum (limited hours in fall), which details the days when one of the world's largest lumber companies called the city home, a cook shanty used by workers at the lumber camps, the history of Knapp, quarry tools and stonecutting examples; Dead Man’s Corner; a fur trader encampment, wagon rides, pottery and stone-cutting demonstrations, bake sale, dunk tank, lumbering tools, post office, jail, blacksmith shop, muzzle-loading bunks, rare up-and-down saw, Knapp and stone quarry exhibit and can be found six miles south in the small community of Downsville ,about 4 miles south of Menomonie on Hwy 25; operated by the Dunn County Historical Society.

Among other activities will be a bean cooking contest, live music in the pavilion, and kids’ activities that include a pedal tractor pull and coin hunt. Several interesting shops and the Creamery, a well-known gourmet restaurant, can also be explored on the streets of Downsville.

Location and direction:

Empire in Pine Museum
County Hwy. C
Downsville, Wisconsin   54735

Contact Info:

Empire in Pine Museum
PO Box 437, Menomonie, WI   USA  54751
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
Phone: (715) 232-8685
Website: http://www.discover-net.net/~dchs/siteep.html

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