01/11/2026
A History book is just a book after all. Like a diary that records names of people, names of places, dates, facts, photos, maps. The people mentioned, could be the ones that the places were named after. As years go by, those names are just names. But in fact, each and every name may still be written in stone on a building, might be the name of a road, a park, it might be the name of the person whose family still lives in the area that the History Book has written about. Those people who wrote that book are interested in giving credit where credit is due to those people.
Newcomers might wonder why the house is named the Lady Smith House. How Menasha Avenue got its name.
Back in 1955 Rusk County Historical Society was brought to life by a group of people who wanted to celebrate the history of Rusk County. These names included O.J. Falge... (you're right just like the park by the south east corner of Ladysmith.) Bob Inabinit (photographer and reporter for the Ladysmith News). Chester Burt who came from Nebraska just after the Dust Bowl days settled here and bought the Rusk County Reporter from Al Johnson. Chester's wife was a teacher at Tony Schools. Elmer Hill, Marilyn Hanson, Rita Berge (teacher at Flambeau School), Elna Mincoff, Irene Brown and Magdalene Serly.
OJ Falge was instrumental as he was the first President of the Rusk County Historical Society. Research into the history of logging and the building of railroads were of interest back in the early days of the Museum. Those trains which brought jobs and supplies into the area, also brought people who came here to homestead the cutover land left by the logging companies. Our Grandparents and Great-grandparents.
In the late 60s a new group of people like Bernice Dukerschein (Artisans), Norman Maxon (Maxon Road), Louis Hill (teacher in Flambeau School District, Don McEtheron, Jim McCabe (historian), Bob Miller, Phil Swentonowski and Bill Jipson, took over the former members positions or added their voices, stories and names to the history of the Museum.
This group was instrumental in the Historical Map of Rusk County, the moving of the Little Red School from rural Glen Flora/Tony area to Ladysmith, and restoring the Appolonia Church.
Their list of projects soon gathered objects that needed to be displayed where the public could see them. A place where people could access their history.
Henry Golat and others later initiated the building of the Welcome Center and the Log Cabin, and bit by bit year by year more buildings were added. The Veterans building, the Vintage building, the Farm and Logging building, the Twenty's House, the Plow Museum, the teachers cottage, and the Gates Court house.
John Terrill, also a photographer and reporter for the Ladysmith News, was the man who brought the history of the railroad in Rusk County in his books about the Soo Line and acquisitions of railroad memorabilia that are on display at the Museum. Curator's, Betty Silvernale, Janet Platteter and now Jim Woelfer have added wonderful things to the museum as they acquired and displayed each and every object that you see.
In 1983 a book was proofread and the final draft printed called "The History of Rusk County". In it are hundreds of stories submitted by first settlers of Rusk County, household names to those of us born and raised here. Not everyone was mentioned, some did not participate, but those that did told the stories of how they came to Rusk County, what their life was like, how many brothers and sisters they had, and added stories about their early days in the area.
Some came with the first settlers in the late 1800's, working in the logging camps, or on the railroad, or building dams. They set up homesteads, cleared the land built a barn for the cow and the horses. They plowed, tilled, raised crops, and ran trap lines. Later, they built one room school houses and sent milk from a barn that had more cows than just one to the Cheese Factories that dotted Rusk County. General Stores and Feed Mills sprang up in the landscape, blacksmith shops, gas stations. Many of these tiny towns had their own newspapers.
The History of Rusk County is preserved within the pages of that book printed in 1983, within the plat books and first hand accounts of Rusk County's first residents and within the walls of the Museum. The stories of those that served their country in the Civil War, the First and Second World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and Desert Storm, Desert Shield. We celebrate yesterday, show you where we started and how far we come...and honor those hearty souls that gave Rusk County the greatest of start's. Give our Curator Jim Woelfer a call at 715-532-6576 leave a message and let him know how we can help you find information about our area and stories about ancestors of yours that called Rusk County Home. We are open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and by appointment.
