Menu

ihs_admn

About ihs_admn

https://iolahistoricalsociety.org

Posts by :

P-HM18-Clifford Thompson Historical Marker

Clifford Thompson

Marker location: 126 N Main St., Iola.

Clifford Marshall Thompson
(World’s Tallest Lawyer, Actor)

Clifford Marshall Thompson, a giant of a man – the “World’s Tallest Lawyer” at 8-feet, 7-inches – once walked Iola’s streets, practicing from a front office in the building now serving as the Crystal Café’s “Family Room.” Born at Silva…

… (learn more by visiting the marker!)

Clifford Thompson

Clifford and Julius

O-HM15 and 16 Iola Hospital and Sanitarium

Iola Hospital and Sanitarium

Marker location: 185 S. Chet Krause Drive, Iola, WI.

Iola Hospital and Iola Cancer & Tumor Sanitarium

There was a short time back in the late 1800s that Iola was home to a renowned cancer treatment center, started by Dr. George Dale. Meanwhile, the Iola Hospital lasted from 1920 until 1990 and had several buildings over the years, including the building that currently stands as part of Iola Living Assistance.

Historic Iola markers No. 15 and No. 16 – actually one marker, with one story

… (visit Iola to read more!)

Iola Hospital

Iola Sanitarium

P-HM17-Helvetia Town Hall Historical Marker

Helvetia Town Hall

Marker location: 210 Depot Street.

Helvetia Town Hall

Built in 1919, Helvetia Town Hall stood abandoned in its original location on Cty GG northeastof Iola in 1994 when the township opened its newly-built town hall just down the road.  

The Iola Historical Society obtained ownership of the original building in 1995, restored it, then had it moved to the Iola Historical Society (IHS) grounds

… (learn more by visiting the marker!)

Helvetia Town Hall Move

N-HM14-Railway Depot Historical Marker

Northern Depot Station No.66

Marker location: 210 Depot Street, Iola, WI.
(Downtown Iola Village)

Norther Depot Station No.66
Built in 1894, the Iola & Northern Railway depot No. 66 served the community until rail service ceased in 1958. The depot remains in its original location and is a centerpiece of the Iola Historical Society’s collection of historic buildings and museums on Depot Street. The depot is one of a few remaining examples of… (visit Iola to read more!)

M-HM13-Slaughter House Ski Hill Historical Marker

Iola Firehouse Historical Marker

Marker location: Iola Winter Sports Club.
(County MM five miles northwest of the village)

Slaughter House Ski Hill
The first recorded ski jumping in Iola occurred on February 28, 1909, when an impromptu scaffolding constructed atop the hill in the West State and North Summit streets area hosted a local competition. The Iola Ski Club was organized on January 11, 1910; its first formalized tournament was conducted on that ski jump 19 days later. (See Historic Iola markers #1 and #9.)
Then, on December 29, 1910, Iola Herald reported; “A crew of carpenters have been busy several days this week erecting a (new) ski slide for the Iola Ski Club on the Taylor property about five blocks east of Main Street, which is said to be one of the biggest and best slides in this part of the state.” This location hosted its first competitive tournament on January 1, 1911, followed by another on February 22, 1911.

A ski jumper was captured lifting from the toe of the Slaughter House Ski Hill scaffold, in this vintage exposure prepared in 1911 by Iola’s W. R. Parks Studio, reputedly “one of the biggest and best slides” in this area at the time.

The new location soon assumed the Slaughter House Ski Hill identity, referencing a slaughter house built directly to its east. This hill was competitively active as the Iola Ski Club’s tournament site for only two years, being succeeded in 1913 by the Knutson Hill, built on the Clarence Knutson farm two miles southeast of the village near Black Lake.
The Slaughter House Ski Hill scaffold was constructed near the hogsback located on the west edge of what is now the Glacier Wood Golf Club course’s second fairway, about halfway between the dogleg sand traps and the green, with the landing bowl being the ice-covered marsh to the west. It remained a local jumping focal point until the Hogsback Ski Hill was developed elsewhere in 1938, being minimally maintained, refashioned and actively engaged by local youth thereafter into the 1950s as their beginner hill.
The legend and lore of Iola’s ski jumping traditions were initially captured at this location; since 1958 they have continued to build at the Iola Winter Sports Club’s Norseman Hill skiing complex, located on County MM five miles northwest of the village. Although the Slaughter House Ski Hill’s last scaffolding remains were removed more than 50 years ago, its namesake structure survives, located in the out-of-bounds area between the second and fourth fairways, serving as a golf course properties and supplies storage and maintenance building.

L-HM12-Iola Firehouse Historical Marker

Iola Historical Marker 12

Iola Firehouse Historical Marker

Marker location: State Street next to Village Hall – Erected: Memorial Day, May 28, 2007

Iola’s Firefighting Heritage
The Iola Village Board at its September and October, 1892, meetings appointed and adopted a fire protection resolution committee report. At its subsequent Nov. 4 meeting it paid a $22.62 bill for the purchase of ladders; at its Feb. 4, 1893, meeting it paid another bill of $6.75 for the purchase of two dozen buckets. Thus, the Iola Fire Department was born as an informal ladder and bucket brigade. Learn more by visiting Iola!