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Travel & Events

Meet Washburn, Wisconsin

by Bob Berg

The brownstones.

The historic buildings almost act as a stop sign along Highway 13, where travelers driving between Ashland and Bayfield, Wisconsin, suddenly find themselves in Washburn and frequently find themselves fascinated by the wealth of brownstone along the roadway.

“Washburn is like the brownstone city of this area,” says Tony Woiak, president of the Washburn Area Historical Society.

Brownstone and water laid the foundations for Washburn, established in 1883. Its waterfront location provided the railroad with a port and the area provided lots of native brownstone for buildings.

Today Washburn is a center of boating, outdoor recreation, art and entertainment.

At first glance, the town doesn’t seem to extend much beyond the curve in the highway. Restaurants, shops and attractions congregate along that strip. But visitors are really missing the boats, if they don’t travel to the waterfront to see the marina and sample the great parks.


Approaching Washburn from the south, Chequamegon Bay is to the right and there’s a sign for Thompson’s West End Park off the highway (more on this later).

The business district contains several blocks of small shops and eateries on both sides of Highway 13, called Bayfield Street, including Lake Superior Big Top Chautauqua’s ticket office and gift shop.

If you take time to walk around town, you’ll find that much of the housing is modest. But there are larger ones, including stately homes on East Third Street built by the DuPont Company for its managers. DuPont also built many smaller homes to rent to workers at its dynamite plant, closed since 1971.

Ask Washburn locals for their “must-see” recommendations, and those brownstones usually top the list.

“Definitely see all the brownstones on the main drag,” says Jana Riordan, director of the Washburn Cultural Center, itself in a corner brownstone that is one of the most impressive examples of those buildings.

The center is open all year and has three gallery rooms, two for rotating art exhibits and one used to sell original artwork, antiques and collectibles. It has a permanent art collection and offers space for classes, meetings, weddings and receptions.

The Washburn Historical Museum, another great place to visit, is upstairs. Open June-September, the museum is packed with fascinating artifacts and displays. One of my favorites is an exhibit about the former Dupont Barksdale Works plant 3 miles south of the city, where explosives were made from 1905-1971. It includes a detailed model showing buildings and railyards. A 1952 news report tells of a plant explosion that left eight men missing and shattered windows in Ashland several miles away.

Originally a bank, the Cultural Center building would have faced a wrecking ball years ago if Paul “Skip” Ungrodt hadn’t spearheaded a project to buy, restore and gift it to the city. Robert Ungrodt, president of the Cultural Center board, says his late brother, Paul, had a dream about preservation of the building. “The town’s got a geat history,” says Robert, who retired from his family’s 122-year-old hardware business started by his grandfather in 1886. “I was the third generation. My brothers and I, we bought the store from the family, so we have a lot of history.” That store is in business today as Washburn Hardware, and is in a brownstone building. ↓Begin Bonus Content

The Washburn Historical Museum and Cultural Center is in one of the impressive brownstones for which the town is famed.

The Washburn Historical Museum, upstairs of the Washburn Cultural Center in an 1890 brownstone at 1 East Bayfield Street, is packed with fascinating artifacts and displays.

There’s a beautiful clock salvaged from the 1905 Sevona shipwreck, whose remains are in 18 feet of water north of Sand Island near Bayfield. A nor’easter forced the steamer hard aground and ripped a hole in its bow, according to Wisconsin’s Great Lakes Shipwrecks’ website, www.wisconsinshipwreck.org, a partnership of the Wisconsin Historical Society and University of Wisconsin Sea Grant. The whole gripping story of the Sevona is available on the website.

During a tour with Tony Woiak, president of the Washburn Area Historical Society, he pointed out some museum highlights, including a display about the ethnic neighborhoods (Finns, Poles and French Canadians) and details about the local quarries.

There’s a tribute to Wisconsin native Tom Blake, a world-class swimmer and surfing legend who invented the hollow surfboard in 1926 and who is credited with adding the stabilizing “fin” at the bottom of the board. Blake also built the first waterproof camera housing used for surf photography and worked as a stunt double in many movies, according to the California Surf Museum. Tony can remember seeing Tom Blake (who is buried in Washburn), surfing on Lake Superior in his later years.

Perhaps my favorite exhibit is the one about the former Dupont Barksdale Works plant, where explosives were made from 1905 to 1971, about 3 miles outside of town. There’s a detailed model showing the site’s buildings and railyards. During World War I, the plant, employing 6,000 people, was reported to be the world’s largest source of TNT. A 1952 news story tells about an explosion at the plant that left eight men missing and shattered windows in Ashland, several miles away.

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If history and walking interest you, the short volume Wood, Stone and Water: Washburn Walking Tour, produced by the Washburn Heritage Preservation Association, makes a great guide to the brownstones, the DuPoint-built homes and other places to visit and stretch.


You can find the book at Chequamegon Book & Coffee Co. just across Bayfield Street from the Cultural Center. The store is in two side-by-side brownstone buildings called Union Block. The corner section was built in 1888 and the addition in 1895. The store has terrific offerings of new and used books, discounted notecards and a coffee shop where you can sit and enjoy a volume.

North Coast Coffee at 509 W. Bayfield St. is another local coffee spot. Other notable brownstone buildings to visit include the public library and the courthouse.

Brownstones and books, of course, are not Washburn’s only attractions. Art lovers should stop at Karlyn’s Gallery to see Karlyn Holman’s enchanting watercolors, or to ask about her classes. The gallery at 318 W. Bayfield St. has been her only location for 41 years.

“At one point, it started out as a pottery studio, and over 30 potters have worked here full time,” she says. “And then in ’91 we decided to just be a gallery, and shortly after that I decided to add the classroom. Really what we’re about now is teaching watercolor.”

The work of another local artist, Jan Hartley Wise, whose paintings of animals and landscapes are beautiful and whimsical, can be found at Woven Earth, 231 W. Bayfield St. Woven Earth sells a wide range of fiber arts, ceramics, textiles and jewelry.

For pleasant strolls, try the two downtown parks. Enjoy the flower gardens at Wikdal Park at Bayfield and Third Avenue West or view the distinctive row of flags honoring veterans at Legion Park on Bayfield Street between the Cultural Center and the U.S. Forest Service station.

Just a couple of blocks off the main drag, there’s much to see along the waterfront. From Bayfield Street, turn right onto Sixth Avenue to reach the lovely, pine-shaded Memorial Park overlooking Chequamegon Bay. It has picnic areas, playgrounds and campgrounds. Steps provide access to the beach.

Boaters who need direct access to the lake should use Thompson’s West End Park, also the site of the biennial Inland Sea Kayak Symposium. Lakeshore Walking Trail extends from West End Park to the ballpark on Pumphouse Road and on to Memorial Park. The first section is wheelchair accessible to Washington Avenue.

The full-service Washburn Marina at 1 Marina Drive offers slips of all sizes and amenities such as restrooms with showers, a clubhouse with cable TV and free WiFi at slips.

One final impressive building in Washburn doesn’t have a long history, but has plenty of personality. The 145-seat StageNorth performing arts center, where you can see live shows, classic movies and concerts, showcases local artisan skills in tile and woodwork.

StageNorth is just another good reason that, the next time you’re on Highway 13, you need to make time to stop and explore Lake Superior’s “brownstone city” by Chequamegon Bay.