Walking through the History of Eau Claire

Our mission this week was walking around in the most prestigious neighborhood in Eau Claire, the Third Ward. There we found a lot of historical houses where important people lived, like politicians, architects, doctors, bankers.

Visited places in red

The first place we visited was the Schofield Hall, it was the first place because it is in the campus area. The Schofield House is used by the university nowadays. It is the biggest place we had visited. It is located in the Garfield Avenue in the final part of the campus.

In spite of being a 1890s building, the Bryon Buffington House is very preserved. The simplicity of the construction and the white color makes it one of the most beautiful of the State Street.

As part of the National Register of Historic Places, we expected more of the N.B. Rundle House which wasn’t well conserved. But the higher tower and the different style of the roof make the house stand out among the others.

Due to its brick style and its size, David Drmmond House is pretty impressive. The funny party when we were taking pictures of this house, the people who live in the house was staring at us.

Addison Cutter House 

Roy Wilcox House is one of the more preserved houses we found, the House had an amazing garden and a nice front view, and the place had some trees in the front part and more trees in the back. This House is located in the beginning of the Wilcox Street.

In the way of the Wilson Park, we take pictures of the Dean-Griffin House, this house was one of the less preserved places in the tour, the garden had a tall grass and the red painting was almost brown, but actually the house was amazing in the same way, just to know that this places have been preserved for all of those years. The Dean-Griffin House is in the corner of Farwell Street and the Newton Street.

The last place we visited was the Orlando Brice House, the garden in this house have big trees and a lot of flowers, in the entrance it have a little wall too, just for decoration, The Orlando Brice House is located in the corner of the Wilcox Street and the Marston avenue, in the side of the Wilcox House.

We have been in the Wilson Park too, the park is really lovely, a familiar place to spend some time, with tall trees and some sits and a fountain in the middle.

It was an amazing experience because we had seen a part of Eau Claire’s history. And we also knew a little more about where we are living.

Get historically wiser and amazed with a biking time in Eau Claire

Hello again everyone!
And here we are again trying to show you a little bit more about this receptive city called Eau Claire.
Our mission was to discover part of the history of the city riding a bike. We went to the West Side neighborhood and visited five of the historic places located there.

The group ready to explore safely protected

First we went to the Randall Park, a place very easy to be gotten because it’s close to one of the most famous spots in Eau Claire: The Water Street.

Lifting our bikes and showing our energy to explore the city

By the side of the park is possible to see a huge tower that makes part of the First Congregational United Church of Christ.
 

Enjoying the peace of spirit that only a religious place can provide

Looking for even more peace, we went to visit The First Baptist Church right on the west side of the Park.

An image of the church with a good perspective

On the corner with Broadway Street and 4^th Avenue we stopped to check the John Pinkum House, a construction with a lovely design.
 

Just like in a movie we were gifted with a rainbow

Then, we decided to move a little more, contemplating  the charming neighborhood and the last building visited was the Mrs Dewitt Clark House.

A moment to rest and cherish the beauty that surrounded us

As a tip, we recommend you to take the Chippewa River Trail, a flowered path with breathtaking views. A great place to enjoy nature! 

 

Our squad is amazed to have helped you again to figure out what Eau Claire hides

See you in the next adventure!
Luiz Bernardo Levenhagen / Mahira Araujo / Paula Freitas / Vinicius Alves

Taking a bus to the CULTURE!!!

Eau Claire Sculpture Tour

On July 11^th our group of explorers went on a tour to see the sculptures that are scattered in Eau Claire. On our last adventure we went on a bike, however this time we got to take a bus in a city that we do not know a lot. It was like a challenge that we were kind of lost.

Riding a bus, kind of lost hahaha!

The outdoor sculptures are an attraction of the city and we got to see five sculptures. The first one was "Percussions III", a weird one in our opinion.

Percussions III, by Cynthia Anderson, Minnesota.

The second one was the Sculpture "Emma by the Water", who looks like a homeless child looking for something at the horizon.

Emma by the Water, by Betty Branch, Virginia.

The third one, the most beautiful one, is called "All in the Same boat" and represents a boat with some buildings in there, like it was a town in a ship.

All in the Same Boat, by Kyle Fokken, Minnesota.

After the most beautiful one, we went to a different one, a sculpture of flying fishes, that's amazing We've never seen this before.

Reel Thing, by Lee Badger, Virginia.

  Finally the great one, the most imprecise in our humble view, "Prairie Ship", that looks like a Pirate Ship, was so cool to enter the ship that we are thinking about visiting it again.

Prairie Ship, by Greg Mueller, South Carolina. 

The local is very easy to find. For our excursion by bus, we need to use two buses to go and two more to return. The buses that we catch to go to the place near the sculptures was number 6 and 12, but the buses to return to the university was another ones. The route numbers were 8 and later the 15. However, they do not stop in the right place that we need to go, therefore anybody who wants to go there will need to walk a little like we see in the photo of the map.

If you wants to go there and need to see the bus schedule, you can go to this site:

www.eauclairewi.gov/departments/transit/maps-schedules/maps.

They have in this site all the bus routes and their schedules.

If you want to learn more about the Sculpture tour you can visit this website and see more informations:

http://www.sculpturetour.org/

There is some extra photos of our tour, we hope enjoy it!

Mr. Anabe, a sir that we met during our tour. We had a little talk and he showed us his Ford T Ford 1925.

Funny moments, hahaha!

Our group at Mayo Health System.

TREASURE HUNT AT NORTHSIDE

Hi buddies,

On Friday, 11^th of July, we’ve gotten into another adventure in Eau – Claire, but now instead a bicycle, we took a bus to go to the North Side of Eau Claire.

In the bus stop

First of all, we’ve planned the whole itinerary in google directions to organize our time. So we took a bus on the bus stop located in State and Mckinley to take another bus at Transfer Center. There are a lot of options to go to this place, it can be the route 6, 7, 15, and 20. Once we got there, it took a long time to the bus’ arrival, because of that we decide to call the (715) 839-5111.

In the amazing Bus!

In the Transfer Center we continued our route taking the bus number 4. The bus was awesome, there were air conditioner and fast wi-fi, so we were really excited about the tour.

            After a few minutes, we’ve gotten to the North Dewey and Birch’s bus stop, and started our Treasure Hunt. The first building that we found we found was the Former Sacred Heart Hospital located at 550 North Dewey St.

Former Sacred Heart Hospital's Park

            The Sacred Heart Hospital was erected by sisters of St. Francis, from Springfield Illinois, in 1890. In the beginning, this building contained 17 rooms and accommodations for 50 patients. However, this place discontinued its operation at this site in 1964 and moved to another facility on Claremont Avenue. Nowadays, the Former Sacred Heart Hospital became Eau-Claire academy, a child and adolescent treatment center, in 1967.

In front of the Eau Claire Academy

            Next to the Hospital we found the Sacred Heart Church situated in 418 N. Dewey St. This frame church was erected by 6 German-speaking families, in 1880 and the present church building was completed in 1928.



The Sacred Heart Church



Selfie at the SHC

           

After a long walk we found the Sears Cattalog House, which is located in 1403 Omaha St. This building represent an old company named Sears that started to sell catalog homes in 1908. This place was constructed based on a floor plan that was the precursor of a home that was later called the “Clyde”.

Sears Catalog House

Front of Sears Catalog House

In the end, we took the same route to the transfer center and then to the campus. We spent 3 hours to do this adventure. It was AMAZING /O/!   

Biking around the East Side Hill!

Hi folks!!! We are starting another adventure!

On Thursday, 10th of July, it was a nice day to ride a bike.  We ride a bike 1.5 miles from university of Wisconsin-Eau Claire  to  Forest Hill Cemetery. This was an exciting and physical activity. This journey was visiting three points a little bit far away from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire where we live. We went to the Putnam Memorial Chapel (in the Forest Hill cemetery), Second Ward School and a typical bungalow. They all are located in the East Side Hill in Eau Claire. Moreover, we had the opportunity to meet some places in the Eau Claire's downtown, like bars, coffee shop and restaurants. Keep reading and watch our new adventure!!

Riding a bike in the Forest Hill cemetery.

Enjoy our moment!!!!

Putnam Memorial Chapel



Forest Hill cemetery and international students at Putnam Memorial Chapel.

Forest Hill Cemetery since 1908, is  a large public park or ground laid out expressly for the interment of the dead, and not being the ‘yard’ of any church. the chapel was funded by a bequest from Jane E. Putnam, wife of Henry C. Putnam, for the people of Eau Claire. The Putnam's were Civic-minded people who donated land, money and time to improve the community.

You can find Forest Hill Cemeteries at 822 Emery St, Eau Claire, WI.

Second Ward/ Boyd Elementary School

Second Ward School building at East Side Hill, Eau Claire.

  One of the places that we visited by bike was the Second Ward School that is located at 1105 Main Street. This building was made by an architect from England who immigrated to United States in 1889 and moved to Eau Claire in 1915. Edward Hancock designed a number of landmark properties (the most important buildings and places of a city).

     This school was renamed Boyd Elementary School in 1951 recognizing Robert Boyd.

     The amazing building is a great example of the Collegiate Gothic style (you can find more about this kind of architecture by clicking on the link).

     Next you can see a picture of the group at the Second Ward School, the school was closed in the spring of 2002 and now people live there with their families.

International students at Second Ward School.

Typical Bungalow

 





                     A scheme of a bungalow-house. Font: http://www.eauclairewi.gov/home/showdocument?id=1092

The last point of our adventure was the Bungalow District, located at the Emery Street. The Emery Street Bungalow District was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983. The street has a lot of bungalow-house, a type of middle-class house built between 1915 and 1930. Firstly popularized in California, because your simplicity and convenience and easily recognized by your broad and sloping roof, and normally made of wooden or stucco.



International students at a typical bungalow-house.



So, it was our adventure!! I hope you enjoyed our trip!
Never forget: you have to use your helmet when you ride a bike and mainly, you must pay attention in the traffic! Keep calm and be safe!

Thank you folks!


Kawaree, Gabriela, Matheus Fonseca, Rafael and Thiago.

Are you feeling hot? Do you want to cool off in the summer? Go to the Fairfax Pool!!

Hello friends

If you want a place to go with your family and friends to enjoy the sun and have a good time in this warm weather, the Fairfax Pool is the right spot for you.

The Fairfax Pool is located at the Fairfax park on 4200 Fairfax st Eau Claire, close to the Oakwood Mall. It is very easy to go by car and Eau Claire has 3 bus routes (5, 6 and 15) that stop very near the location.

The place has 2 swimming pools, a snack bar, a sand volleyball court, a waterslide, 2 trampolines and a huge and beautiful lawn that a lot of people make picnics. 

The larger pool has between 1 and 6 feet in depth depending of where you are and it is where the waterslide is. This pool is very huge and is used both for adults and children.

The small one has 13 feet of depth and is the spot that has the 2 trampolines.

The price to enjoy all this fun is $4.00 for adults and $3.00 for children. The time that the pool is available is:

Days	Opening time	Closing time
Monday - Friday	11 am	7 pm
Saturday	11:30 am	6:00 pm
Sunday	1:00 pm	6:00 pm

There are a couple of activities available as:

Activity	Days	Schedules
Deep water aerobics	Monday and Wednesday	6:00 pm - 7:00 pm,
Deep water aerobics	Monday, Wednesday and Friday	10:00 am - 11:00 am;
Shallow water aerobics	Tuesday and Thursday	10:00 am - 11:00 am;
Lap swim	Monday to Friday	4:00 pm - 6:00 pm;
Adult lap swim	Monday to Friday	10:00 am - 11:15 am

This was a great opportunity to meet a new tourist attraction in Eau Claire and We hope to return to it for we can actually swim in the pool. 

Enjoy!