Property Record
SMALL POINT OF LAND ON S SHORE OF LAC COURT OREILLES
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | WISMO CLUB |
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| Other Name: | BARTLETT CABIN |
| Contributing: | |
| Reference Number: | 18285 |
| Location (Address): | SMALL POINT OF LAND ON S SHORE OF LAC COURT OREILLES |
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| County: | Sawyer |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | Sand Lake |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 39 |
| Range: | 9 |
| Direction: | W |
| Section: | 2 |
| Quarter Section: | SW |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: | SW |
| Year Built: | 1917 |
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| Additions: | |
| Survey Date: | 1975 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Rustic Style |
| Structural System: | |
| Wall Material: | Log |
| Architect: | |
| Other Buildings On Site: | |
| Demolished?: | No |
| Demolished Date: |
| National/State Register Listing Name: | Not listed |
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| National Register Listing Date: | |
| State Register Listing Date: |
| Additional Information: | A 'site file' exists for this property. It contains additional information such as correspondence, newspaper clippings, or historical information. It is a public record and may be viewed in person at the Wisconsin Historical Society, State Historic Preservation Office. ROUND LOG CONSTRUCTION W/ MORTAR CHINKINGLARGE EXTERIOR SEMI-COURSED COBBLESTONECHIMNEY WIDE OVERHANGINGEAVES WOOD SHINGLED DORMERS W/ EXPOSED RAFTER ENDS WISMO CLUB FOUNDED IN 1905 BY WEALTHY MISSOURIANSWISMO CLUB MEMBERS EACH OWN CABIN & WOODLAND POINT In the early twentieth century, groups of friends sometimes established their own summer resorts in Wisconsin’s lake country, where they could fish and relax. In 1906, F. P. Cronkhite, a dentist and avid fisherman, assembled friends and their families to form the Wismo Angling Club along the south shore of Lac Courte Oreilles. The club’s charter members all hailed from St. Joseph, Missouri; the name "Wismo" combined Wisconsin with Missouri, but later members came from other states. To enhance the romance of their summer getaways, they employed Ojibwe (Chippewa) guides and joined in dances at the reservation nearby. A romantic spirit also infused the architecture of the Wismo Club. Drawing on a rustic aesthetic that articulated romanticized notions of the pioneer past, their resort buildings featured log, wood, and stone. The initial clubhouse consisted of a one-story log building (expanded to two stories in 1909). Later, the members added a boathouse and log and weatherboard cabins. The Bartlett Cabin (7045 N. Wismo Ln.), in particular, exemplifies the rustic architecture popular for Northwoods resorts. Built around 1910, the cabin consists of half-round logs, chinked with mortar and joined at the corners with saddle notches. Gabled dormers with shingled walls and a fieldstone chimney pierce the side-gabled roof. Perhaps the most important feature for Wismo guests was the screened sleeping porch across the front, which provided insect-free shelter while allowing visitors to feel that they were in the great outdoors. |
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| Bibliographic References: | Buildings of Wisconsin manuscript. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |