Another "Welcome to Menomonie" mural update from Menomonie native and artist Dale Manor:
One more week to go. We are trying to get everything put together for the "Welcome to Menomonie" mural project. There is a fair amount of prep work to do since we are painting the mural about 80 miles from our home base. I usually tend to overpack, hopefully we will have everything with us that we need.
We have travelled to mural events (by plane) as far away as New England, California, Florida, and Canada so it is nice to be able to bring what we need in our own vehicles. We have projectors, brush boxes, mural and background paint, tables, canopy, coolers, stereo, and the list goes on.
This week we are featuring the final letter in Menomonie and the historic Marion Hotel. Thanks again to the Rassbach Museum for doing the research.
E --- WILSON CREEK
Wilson Creek was a popular recreational site for about 90 years in the early history of Menomonie. Except for an occasional washout, the waters of the creek were held back by a dam a few rods upstream from its mouth. After most of the white pine standing along the banks of the stream had been cut and processed by the Knapp, Stout & Co. Company (the company’s three headquarter mills were located at the confluence of Wilson Creek and the Red Cedar River) the creek became a popular spot for boating, fishing, picnicking and camping. The mill pond, created by damming the Red Cedar River, was a log reservoir that made pleasure boating impossible.
On the west bank of the stream north of the railroad bridge was Doyle’s boat livery where it was possible to rent a boat for a few hours on the two-mile stretch of the creek that extended from the Wilson Creek dam upstream to Heller’s mill (where Heller Road crosses the stream today).
HOTEL MARION
The Hotel Marion began its service to Menomonie as the Hotel Royal in March 1886, built by the Menomonie Hotel Company in response to the community’s desire for a first-class hotel. It soon became a source of pride to the city and achieved a high reputation with the traveling public.
In late 1925 the building was remodeled and expanded and reopened in February 1926 as the Hotel Marion. The three-story structure offered 48 guest rooms, housed a coffee shop, a floral shop, a barber shop, a writing room, a recreation parlor for billiards, snooker and bowling, a ladies’ parlor, and a kitchen to serve the dining and banquet rooms as well as the coffee shop.
I hope to publish one more post next week to share some of our other mural work and perhaps a bit of an artist bio for my wife and me. Take care.
Dale Manor owns Studio in the Sky in Minneapolis. Check out his artwork on the Studio in the Sky website and on Dale's Facebook page.
