A Random Stop Along the Road

I feel like I was all over the map this past summer, but probably not physically as much as mentally. Here we are, over a week into October, and I am still trying to chronicle the past four months. I finally finished writing about my camping trip in July, and was ready to move into August, when I realized there was more left of June. Maybe it’s a good thing that summer isn’t longer for me. I would never get caught up.

The end of June, Hubby and I drove down to our son’s for an overnighter. Quite a while back I blogged some about the day we spent with Nick, but nothing about the ride down there. Any trip should be about the journey and not just the destination.

Nine miles east of Redgranite and seven miles north of Berlin, is a blip in the road called Auroraville. I had to have driven through here before, because many years ago, I photographed this near Poy Sippi, just up the road.

Auroraville, in Waushara County just south and east of the center of the state, has a negligible population. The only businesses we saw are Mimi’s on Route 49 restaurant and Olsen’s Feed Mill. (Neither of which warranted a picture, by the way.)

But I did find something of interest.

“The Auroraville Fountain has been providing water to this community since just after the Civil War. The land surrounding Auroraville is abundant in natural springs called artesian wells. In 1867, John Keneister of Auroraville bored this natural spring well in the center of town. Heading north or south, many travelers and their teams of horses refreshed themselves at this location in the 19th century. Originally, the fountain was built as a wooden trough, but by 1927, it had deteriorated and was replaced with a copper vat from a local burned-out cheese factory. In 1936, the Works Project Administration (WPA) built the ornate stone enclosure around the copper tank. The Auroraville Fountain, now part of the Waushara County Parks System, remains as it looked in the 1930s, and still stand as a unique stopping place at the center of town.” (taken from Wisconsin Historical Markers on Waymarking.com)

And, yes, I did try the water. It was cold and clear and excellent.