Property Record
N 899 NEBRASKA ROW
Architecture and History Inventory
| Historic Name: | Dew Drop Inn |
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| Other Name: | |
| Contributing: | Yes |
| Reference Number: | 27335 |
| Location (Address): | N 899 NEBRASKA ROW |
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| County: | Ashland |
| City: | |
| Township/Village: | La Pointe |
| Unincorporated Community: | |
| Town: | 50 |
| Range: | 3 |
| Direction: | W |
| Section: | 30 |
| Quarter Section: | |
| Quarter/Quarter Section: |
| Year Built: | 1900 |
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| Additions: | 1923 |
| Survey Date: | 1992 |
| Historic Use: | house |
| Architectural Style: | Front Gabled |
| Structural System: | Balloon Frame |
| Wall Material: | Wood Shingle |
| 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. Historical Background Having traveled to Bayfield for a few summers previous to seek relief from hay fever, Col. Frederick M. Woods and his family decided to give the island a try in 1897 and asked Mr. Salmon to construct a house for him as he restored the mission. The Woods family arrived in the summer of 1898 and found a "crude affair" with little furniture [378 E. Bojo Lane, 46-24&25]. Col. Woods quickly became enchanted with the island, but just as quickly came disenchanted with Mr. Salmon's notions of propriety. Woods became frustrated with Salmon's refusal to allow the family to build a bowling alley or permit boats to land at his dock on Sundays.[A,B] By 1900, Col. Woods had constructed a new summer home [this property 43-33] and bowling alley [now 908 N. Nebraska Row, 44-7] northweswt of the Village of La Pointe. The area, at that time, was a former pasture; now, known as Nebraska row, it is a lovely tree-lined bluff where several of Col. Woods relatives from Nebraska constructed their own homes during the early decades of the 20th century.[A,B] Historical Significance This was the first house constructed as a summer residence on Nebraska Row. While the main thoroughfare of La Pointe had originally stretched north along this crest to Pointe du Froid, the buildings of that generation had been destroyed in a massive fire. This house contributes to the local significance of the Nebraska Row Historic District in the area of Social History under Criterion A of the National Register of Historic Places. It physically represents the life ways of a class of people able to maintain two distinct residences. In general, womenand children took up residence for the entire summer while husbands visited for weekends and a few vacation weeks. This house, and Nebraska Row in general, reflects the phenomenon of vacationing with an extended circle of family and friends from one's primary business and social environment, in this case, Lincoln, Nebraska. Description This front gabled house has wood-shingle walls under an asphalt-clad gable roof. It rests on a concrete foundation. Fenestration is regular, with narrow one-over-one double-hung wood sash windows with single wide functional wood shutters. A one-story screened porch spans the front and wraps to the south elevation. A one story side gable addition extends to the south. Architectural Significance This house contributes to the locally significant Nebraska Row Historic District under Criterion C of the National Register of Historic Places as the first of the large summer residences constructed on Madeline Island from circa 1900 through the 1920s for a well-to-do extended circle of family and friends from Nebraska. WAS CONSTRUCTED BY LOCAL CARPENTERS. |
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| Bibliographic References: | [A] Nancy O'Brien, 26 August, 1933, Nebraska Row tour with Rebecca Sample Bernstein and Tricia L. Canaday, Madeline Island. [B] Helen Woods Haecker "Early History of Woods Family at Madeline Island," typed manuscript, September 1957. |
| Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin |