How Lumber Made the Chippewa Valley: An Eau Claire Driving Tour

The story of the Chippewa Valley and its lumber industry has many chapters. On this driving tour, I’ll show you the sites where history was made, giving you the unique opportunity to visit each one and unravel the seldom heard tale of America’s former lumber capital.

Starting in front of the Sonnentag Event Center and Fieldhouse, you’ll take a leisurely drive through Eau Claire. You’ll see important landmarks that made the city, and this area, the nation’s lumber epicenter in the late 1800s. As you drive along the Chippewa River, which was the workhorse that drove the area’s lumber production, I’ll show you where the city’s first sawmill was located and where other mills popped up over time. You’ll go to Hobbs Landing, where you’ll hear about the ingenious way the early lumbermen steered their logs into nearby Half Moon Lake, one of the largest holding ponds in northern Wisconsin. You’ll cruise around Phoenix Park and learn about the human-made water channels known as flumes as you make your way to High Bridge. The tour finishes at Carson Park, the jewel of the city’s parks system, where you’ll hear what it was like to be a lumberjack in northern Wisconsin, cutting down the mighty white pine that made this area the nation’s lumber capital!

Along the way, you’ll have the opportunity to:

• Enjoy the best views in the city from historical High Bridge
• Admire the pride of Eau Claire: The Pablo Center at the Confluence
• Visit Carson Park Baseball Stadium for one last tale before the tour ends
• Hear the story of Dells Pond, the largest holding pond in northern Wisconsin
• Encounter some of the largest sawmills and lumber companies in the world that were right here in the Chippewa Valley!
• Take in Randall Park and its statue, along with the story of its famous sculptor, Helen Farnsworth Mears
• Find out why Ivy League University, Cornell, has ties to this area’s lumber history
• Visit a lumber camp, and learn more about our lumber history at the Wisconsin Logging Museum

Not only do you get to hear fascinating stories of Eau Claire’s lumber era, you’ll also see dozens of pictures of the city from that time. To top it off, you’ll get some nice discounts on food, drinks, ice cream, and shopping from local vendors along the route. These vendors include Lazy Monk Brewing and The Valley Burger Company. Check out eauclairetours.com for more information about this and other tours, then join us as we bring Eau Claire’s past to life.

Photo Credit:
The black and white photos used in the tour and on the eauclairetours.com website, are courtesy of the Chippewa Valley Museum.