Other Preservation Projects
The Fond du Lac Chapter, NSDAR, has been involved in historic preservation projects since its birth in 1900. See below for a summary of two of the larger projects our chapter has spearheaded.
Street Car Waiting Station
Lakeside Park, 250 North Main Street
The Street Car Waiting Station, which now sits on the corner of North Main Street and Frazier Drive in Lakeside Park, was restored in 1988-1989 as a project of the City of Fond du Lac Advisory Board, with City Council approval.
Research has failed to determine the architect for the building. However, we have been told that it is the last Street Car Waiting Station of its kind in the State of Wisconsin, and possibly in the nation.
Photo by: Joellyn Dahlin
1899: The City granted to the Fond du Lac Street Railway and Light Company a strip of land 50 x 200 feet west of the park to erect a pavilion (Street Car Waiting Station). (Daily Reporter, May 5, 1899)
1900: The Street Car Waiting Station was built, in what was then a marsh, where the current restrooms, west of North Main Street, now stand. The enclosed station then faced north.
1909: The Waiting Station was moved north to within 50 feet of the lake, because the tracks through the marsh which made the loop of Arndt Street and Doty Street were removed. The tracks then were laid straight out north in Lakeside Park.
1923: The Waiting Station was moved about 150 feet south to approximately where it stands now.
1931: The Waiting Station ceased to be used for street cars. When bus transportation began, the bus did go to Lakeside Park and stopped at the Street Car Waiting Station.
1936 – 1937 – 1938: The Waiting Station was moved back to its former location near the lake. This was a temporary location to keep it safe while the marsh (which is now the children’s playground) was filled in.
Historic Toll Road Marker
The history of the trails and roads which made transportation and commerce possible across the country began with the first Good Roads bill passed by the Ninth Congress and signed by President Thomas Jefferson on March 29, 1806. This bill provided for the government to build the ‘Old National Road’ which stretched from Cumberland, Maryland, to the Ohio River.
What followed were many other roads and trails used by pioneers, the military and others establishing communities, trading posts and miliary forts expanding the United States to the West.
One of these trails was the Military Trail that crossed into Fond du Lac.
On the back is written: "This marker was dedicated May 22, 1932 by the Daughters of the American Revolution on the Military Trail and the old toll gate lot, east shore of Lake Winnebago.
Mrs Jennie S McKinney shown left from center of marker was elected Regent of the Fond du Lac chapter early in the spring. She took sick July 15, 1932 and passed away" [text cut off]
To commemorate part of these transportation routes, a granite boulder was situated at the northwest corner of Garden Drive along US Highway 151, the site of the Toll Road Gate on the Military Trail and Old Plank Road, on May 21, 1932. To identify this site, a bronze plaque was positioned on the boulder which depicted the likeness of the road, house and Toll Gate with the following inscription:
“This tablet marks the site of the Toll Gate on the Military Trail and old Plank Road. 1835 to January 10, 1916.” Also included on the plaque was the DAR Insignia and “Placed by the Fond du Lac Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. 1932.”
The original site was located on the corner of Garden Drive and Winnebago Drive, the former Highway 151. Over the years as roads improved and horses and wagons were replaced by motor vehicles. In 1985 the Wisconsin Department of Transportation moved the original monument to its current location in Roosevelt Park in Fond du Lac.
