Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center Has Videos on Barksdale History One of my blog followers recently contacted me about the recent availability of information on the historic Barksdale explosives plant (built by DuPont in the early 1900s).  According to my source, "The Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center conducted a volunteer program a few years ago where we interviewed various individuals who were involved with the Barksdale plant. Contact the archivist in their library research room if you would like to see any of these  (video) interviews."  The abandoned Barksdale plant site, which was closed in 1971, is located on Highway 13 between Washburn and Ashland, Wisconsin. I wrote about this historic site in another blog post on ActiveRain dated October 23, 2007. Ever since I blogged abou... 01/04/2016

  Madeline Island Neighborhoods Visitors to Madeline Island regularly ask us about neighborhoods on the Island.  Specifically, they want to know "where Nebraska Row is" or "how do I find Grant's Point"? Here's a brief guide to some prominent Madeline Island neighborhoods: Mission Hill includes the area between the Madeline Island Marina & Yacht Club and what is known as Coole Park, along Old Fort Road. Homes in the Mission Hill neighborhood don't often reach the market.  Often, these estate properties sell to family members and close friends. Grant's Point is exactly where the name indicates on nautical charts.  It is an area around Old Fort Road and Equaysayway Lane, with a shoreline that is, for the most part, a large area of accreted sand beach.  Water depths off Grant's Point are ex... 12/25/2011

Ashland, Wisconsin has received a $200,000 grant to evaluate sites that contain potentially hazardous substances.  The grant was awarded by the Environmental Protection Agency last week. Ashland is one of seven Wisconsin communities to receive such a grant from EPA.  The city plans to use the funds to evaluate a handful of key sites, including the Clarkson coal dock.  An earlier assessment of the same area revealed contamination by coal dust, oil residues and wood treatment chemicals. The city of Ashland is taking steps to reclaim its waterfront from many decades of industrial use.  The lure of tourism has done much to spur City and County officials to expand their efforts to clean up formerly industrial zones along Chequamegon Bay. 04/20/2008