Oops, Just a Little More from Baraboo, Dells post #6

     On Wednesday, I thought I’d shown you everything I’d seen in the city of Baraboo last October. Well, going through my pictures, I realize I totally forgot about two little parks.

Attridge Park is a nine-acre park on the west side of the Baraboo River.

Towards the north end of the little park, the Milwaukee Ironworks Bridge, built in 1884, connects it to Lower Ochsner Park.

The other end of Ochsner Park hosts the Baraboo Zoo, but I didn’t head in that direction. Instead, I turned south and found the memorial of the SS Tuscania.

The SS Tuscania was a luxury liner named after Tuscania, Italy. In February 1918 the ship was torpedoed and sunk by the German U-boat UB-77 while transporting 2,000 American troops from New Jersey to Europe.

Part of a convoy of 14 various ships, it had been nearing the coast of Ireland, when the German torpedo ripped through its side. The British destroyers, Grasshopper, Mosquito, and Pigeon, raced to the rescue, taking on board over 1,500 people. Others from the Tuscania were rescued by smaller ships in the area and some managed to make it to shore in lifeboats. 230 men, however, perished that night, 201 of them American servicemen.  

Twenty-one of the survivors were from Baraboo.

Back across the Baraboo River is the current home of the Sauk County History Center. Built in 1917, the building has been operated by the Historical Society since 2007.  

The building was once offices for the Island Woolen Mill. Established in 1863, the Mill complex consisted of multiple connected buildings and was once considered the largest woolen mill west of Philadelphia.

The Mill closed in 1949 and sat empty for decades until a fire in 1969 destroyed most of the buildings

For more information:

On the SS Tuscania - https://www.worldwar1centennial.org/index.php/communicate/press-media/wwi-centennial-news/3988-ss-tuscania-sinking-by-u-boat-in-1918-kills-200-americans.html

Another article on the ship - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SS_Tuscania_(1914)

Monument of the tragedy on the Isle of Islay - https://www.islayinfo.com/american-monument.html

History of the Woolen Mill - https://saukcountyhistory.org/history-center