Oshkosh, Wisconsin is an old river town located at the mouth of the Fox River on the western shore of Lake Winnebago, the largest natural lake completely enclosed by a state in the USA. Wisconsin history includes a heavy lumber trade where logs were floated downriver to the 47 sawmills of Oshkosh to be made into various wood products such as the doors and sashes manufactured by the giant Paine Lumber Company. When the lumber was depleted, the company developed the first railroad car to carry lumber and began shipping lumber out.
Eventually the lumber trade was too depleted to continue and the mill closed down. Eventually the property it covered was sold off to developers, but at least two of the old buildings still stand, converted to other uses. They are the old horse barn (for the Paine's dozens of draft horses) and the machine shop, now River Mill condominiums. Though the horse barn originally stood elsewhere, it has been moved and is now an assisted living facility. Both buildings are on Arboretum Drive, just off Hwy 21 at the Fox River bridge.
In 1925, Nathan and Jessie Paine commissioned a beautiful Tudor Revival mansion from architect Bryant Fleming. The home was to be a beautiful showplace of taste, art and refinement that would be open to the public. However, there is the rumor that the home was to be their private residence but threats on their lives from disgruntled workers being paid in "company script" kept them from ever moving in. This has not been substantiated by this author. Plans to open it as an art center were delayed by the Great Depression when money for construction ran out and the building sat unused for a number of years. Finally Nathan and Jessie were able to finalize their plans and the Paine Art Center opened in 1948, not long after Nathan's death.
The Paine Art Center is reputed to be haunted by the ghost of Jessie Paine, who never had children. The rumor states that Jessie didn't want children in the building and apparently shows her disdain of them in ghostly ways. That she was actually president of the art center for a number of years until her death at age 100 in 1973 is not taken into account by the rumor however and it is unlikely that the center suffers from any ghostly meanderings.
The rest of the area in which the company was located is now mostly commercial buildings, condos, apartments and what is left of the magnificent "gold coast" homes of Algoma Boulevard.
RIVERSIDE CEMETERY
Adjacent to the Paine Lumber Company property is the city-owned Riverside Cemetery, containing more than 20,000 graves. Originally the Blessed Sacrament Cemetery, the property has been expanded to include a potter's field, children's section, GAR memorial, sections for priests and nuns and the public in general. Across Algoma Boulevard is Calvary Cemetery and also the privately owned Lakeview Gardens and Mausoleum (behind which you will find a small pet cemetery). Riverside is home to the graves of well known figures in Oshkosh history including the Paines, the grave of Philetus Sawyer (whose home is now the Oshkosh Public Museum), speedboat racer Edward Mertens and many more. The cemetery is supposed to be haunted by children, especially a little blond haired girl.
WIOUWASH TRAIL
This is a walking/biking trail established along former railroad lines through several counties in east central Wisconsin. The particular portion of the trail that runs behind Riverside cemetery from Arboretum Drive to Marine Drive is reputed to be haunted by several entities, including a bicyclist, a swimmer who drowned off the trail a few years back and a dog.
GHOSTWALKS
The ghostwalk usually covers a portion of the Wiouwash trail and Riverside Cemetery. On occasion we may venture to other parts of the city. To find out more about the Oshkosh Ghostwalks, join the Oshkosh Ghostwalkers group at Yahoo.com.
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