Grant County – Adventures in Driftlessness

Wisconsin is known for beer. Part of what makes our beer so great is the expertise of the brewers who came here, but, as those brewers have said in many places, another reason is the purity of the water and the way its filtered through the unique geography of the area. It also doesn’t hurt that the same properties that make the area’s rolling hills also make it easy to store and chill beer barrels in the many caves throughout the area.

We have breweries all over, but there is one that really stands out as a pillar of the community its a part of: the Potosi Brewery. that is, unless you don’t find brewing for charity, town-wide taste testing, or beer raining from the sky terribly interesting! If you’re like most Wisconsinites, I know you’ll enjoy Potosi Wisconsin and their brewery.

The brewery began in 1852 by Gabriel Hail Sr. and his sons, Gabriel Jr. and John. Though they were brewing in 1852 they didn’t have an actual brewery building until 1854 when they had one built. Potosi was a perfect place to start a brewery back before refrigerators and modern transportation for several reasons. The building was built with direct access to the inside of a cave that was naturally around 46 degrees. It was a perfect place to store the beer. Potosi also has a stream of spring water that they could use for brewing. They stopped using the spring water several years ago and then they switched back and people have said that the beer is crisper and more flavorful. In addition to all of those amenities for brewing, Potosi is also very close to the Mississippi River which allowed them to ship their beer easier back when the brewery was starting up thanks to the Potosi steamboat.

World's largest beer — The “world’s largest beer” in Potosi, Wisconsin, located across the street from the pavilion in the preceding photo.

The brewery changed owners around 1882, it was then bought by Adam Schumacher in 1886 and exploded in popularity due to his skills in brewing German lager and it officially became “The Potosi Brewing Company”. The brewery went through prohibition, and then some growth and changes until sadly in 1972 they closed their doors. That wasn’t the end however, in 2008 they reopened their doors thanks to the hard work and dedication of the citizens and now it stands as a major tourist attraction and home to the “National Beer Museum”. They also donate their proceeds to charities such as a Platteville scholarship fund, local boy scout troops, and other organizations.

A photo of my father and I before the tour started. Photo by Lauren McMicking.

One weekend this fall, I decided to invest a mere $13 to take a tour. As soon as my father heard about it I was obligated to bring him along! Then my brother heard and encouraged his girlfriend to also come with so he could have the house to himself and enjoy his new video game without interruption. So then, after having paid for both of them and myself, we set off. Lauren brought her camera and my father brought his winning smile.

Tours are every weekend and include a look at the production facility, town history, and most importantly…free beer. For the responsible adults there was a fine selection of craft beers to choose from and you could responsibly sample a few. However of course, we were irresponsible adults with no need to be anywhere for the rest of the day so we decided before we even got there that we would try everything we could see. Then we were given a free pint of whatever we wanted to take with us on the tour and they shoved us on the tour so we wouldn’t drink them dry.

Potosi’s long history meant there were plenty of fun and interesting facts. For instance, in 2007 before they reopened, they had a small but important problem. The facilities had burned down and the recipes were lost. So, the town bravely banded together and drank from batch after batch until they had settled on what they believed was the original recipe. The beer in question is called “Good Old Potosi”, which is described as “a Golden Ale with a delicate malt flavor and sweet finish. Light in body, full in flavor.”. In my opinion it’s a fairly boring beer but it tastes just like an old beer should. One of my favorites was the Steamboat Lemon Shanty which has a light color and crispy lemon flavoring.

We also learned that it wasn’t always a cake walk working in the brewery. They used to have a pipe to send the beer from the production facility to the bottling facility (both original facilities are now re-purposed for other things) and this pipe spanned over the street. However, the beer sometimes had trouble staying in the pipe. When semis rolled through town they would hit the pipe and cause it to burst, sending a shower of beer down on the town.

There’s a lot more to Potosi than just beer. There’s beautiful scenery, great people, and …. there’s wine.

A painting by a Kingfisher by Wes Hilmick.

They’re also home to the Whispering Bluffs Winery. The winery is located in what used to be the bottling plant of the old brewery before it was renovated and reopened. All their wines are made in Wisconsin, from Wisconsin grapes. All the wines are inspired by local birds. The painting on the left is the same as the picture on the bottle of wine. The painting itself was done by the owner of the winery, Wes Hilmick.

Just down the hall from winery is a woodworking shop called Bright Idea. The shop is also located in the old bottling plant. Lining the walls of the hallway between are framed articles of the local paper that tell the history of the brewery. Bright Idea is owned and operated by a father and son carpentry team, Gary and Tyler David. They sell tables, candle holders, and other beautiful work that they hand crafted themselves. They own their own sawmill and harvest all of their lumber locally. Bright Idea has a website, as well as Facebook and Instagram where they promote and sell their products as well as tell their interesting, Wisconsin grown, story.

Kingfisher wine, featuring the same painting by Wes Hilmick

Potosi is home to a brilliant brewery, winery, and a carpentry shop. In my opinion, a small town doesn’t get much better than that. They have a fun tour of the brewery where you have plenty of chances to try their specialty beers. Then you can enjoy wonderful food at the attached restaurant. The bottom line is, if you’re looking for something fun to do in Southwest Wisconsin Potosi is the place to be and best of all it’s all local, local ingredients, owners, products, and it helps Wisconsin thrive. Schedule tours or look at the craft beers here at the Potosi Website.

Experience the grandeur and prestige of Cuba City’s heritage

Lincoln sign — Along Cuba City’s main drag, one sees silhouettes of every U.S. President. The red, white and blue shields also include the state that person was born in, the years he served, and the which “number” President he was.

In the deep north of America’s bread basket lies a tiny town of about 2000 people called Cuba City, Wisconsin. The town is nestled snugly between the bustling and collegiate Platteville metropolitan area (pop. 11,000) and a cluster of even smaller towns like Hazel Green, WI (pop. 1256) to the south and Dickeyville, WI (pop. 1060) to the west. The town is fundamentally a strip of road lined with businesses which are surrounded on both sides by a grid of single story houses that stretches for a half mile outward in all directions.

Cuba City Welcome Sign — Cuba City’s welcome sign

Along this strip of Highway 80, one immediately notices the signs with silhouettes of U.S. Presidents: all of the U.S. Presidents. One may also soon see the focal point of this, the main strip of Cuba City’s main street: a tourist attraction called the “Presidential Courtyard,” a monument to the city’s nickname, “The City of Presidents.” Cuba City is a time capsule of small town America filled with relics from the Cold War age of patriotism.

Presidential Courtyard rock — Part way through the main strip, you’ll see this rock marking the “Presidential Courtyard,” or the related red caboose pictured below. Photo by Jacob “Vinny” Klang.

Questions about the naming of Cuba City are so common that many shops have hung signs explaining how the city got its name. Every store, retailer, and restaurant has these signs which are written by the city, perhaps to help visitors get more confused.

Cuba City History Questions Sign — Some storeowners have put up signs to let visitors know how Cuba City became known as the “City of Presidents.” Photo by Jacob “Vinny” Klang.

Around town there is a theory regarding the evolution of the town’s name: the town was originally “Yuba City” but since there was already a “Yuba” in Richland county, “Cuba” was chosen as an alternative.

How did “Cuba City” then become the “City of Presidents”? Let’s start there and work our way backwards to the presidential signs.

The official title was chosen in 1993 when the city’s common council changed the slogan from the “Parade of Presidents” by popular vote. But the patriotic naming scheme started in 1975 when the village was preparing to celebrate the United States Bicentennial Anniversary. The titular parade referred to plywood sigils featuring those silhouettes of every American president referred to earlier, which were and are still hung on every lamp-post along Cuba City’s main street. The sigils have since been replaced with durable weather proof plastic, and joined by the “Presidential Courtyard” near the center of the strip, one I’ll talk more about in a moment.

*Presidential Caboose sits in the Presidential Court yard. Grant County, Wisconsin (where Cuba City is located) is named after President Ulysses S. Grant.*

All of those signs seem like a lot of work for the 1976 Bicentennial Celebration, especially for a town of 2000 people. One theory about why the town leaned into such heavy participation in the bicentennial was that they wanted to ward off any suspected affiliation with communist Cuba. At that time in global politics, Cuba was a bastion of socialist thought and was the source of a much anxiety in the American consciousness (and had been so since the Bay of Pigs in the early 1960s.). Having this unpatriotic tie to Cuba would not have been good for the city’s tourism so they may have doubled-down and made a very American tourist attraction to counteract this association.

Is this true? One retired history professor commented that she had also heard this speculation, as had the editor of this blog. But neither could link it to documentary evidence, so a speculation it remains. In any case, since the original presidential signs in the 1970s, the idea has taken on a life of its own.

Since then, the Presidential Courtyard has been built upon a patch of grass along Main Street where the sigils ended. But of course more presidents have been added to the parade since the late seventies so the courtyard is now about two-thirds down the street.

The best and easiest way to experience the displays is to drive into town and park along the main street near the edge of town where you can casually walk the stretch of road at your own pace. There are benches to rest on along the way and plenty of shops and bars to sit or get distracted in. If you’re worried about parking on a busy street you can park in the residential neighborhoods for the same effect (remember to note what street you’re on so you can find your way back later). For the travelers short on time there is also a free and public parking lot at the Presidential Courtyard itself.

By the time you’ve soaked in the sights, sounds, and smells of the flowers you’ll find yourself back at the “Presidential Courtyard.” This courtyard was assembled from scratch in 2006 as an addition to the Parade of Presidents and it contains a bright red train caboose, several potted plants, informative signs, and a stray cat with a tuxedo pattern on its fur.

As you enter the courtyard from the front you will notice a large refurbished clock hanging above you like it has hung over Cuba City since its construction. Inside the clock is a time capsule made by the Cuba City high school and is scheduled to be opened on the 50th anniversary of the courtyard’s construction in 2056.

The train caboose is a refurbished and well maintained train car. Along with the portrait of Ulysses S. Grant, one sees a variety of informational signs. Next to the train on the same track is a utility cart with a display of railroad tools. Opposite the track is a gazebo optimized for family picnics and a few benches, all of which have more signs for visitors to learn from.

The caboose acts a mini-museum of presidential history. Also, one of the presidential sigils hangs here in the corner instead of on the street: the one with a silhouette of George W. Bush, the only U.S. president to actually visit Cuba City. President Bush signed it when he visited in October of 2004.

A leading figure in Cuba City, Joe Goeman, explained that it was “one of the biggest things to happen to Cuba City [when] the president came to visit. Of course, that didn’t happen by itself. We had people write to the presidents for several years until finally it happened.”

bush sigil — George W. Bush presidential sigil replica housed in Presidential Courtyard Caboose signed by former president George W. Bush. Photo by Jacob “Vinny” Klang.

The rest of the caboose has displays of memorabilia from presidential campaigns and other Americana. The caboose is open to the public on Saturdays between Labor Day and Memorial Day and also on the third Wednesday of every month or by appointment.

Behind the caboose is a smaller car called a “Speeder Car” which has a tray of tools hitched to the back. The speeder car adds depth to the train display by showing the variety of tools needed to build and maintain a train network and implying the hard work and skill needed for America to have such powerful industry. Opposite the speeder car is a milk trolley with a trio of vintage milk canisters on one side. The milk trolley has plenty of room for visitors to climb up on and take photos as a family. The milk trolley is included as part of Wisconsin’s history of milk processing.

The tool cart outside of the Presidential Courtyard. Photo by Jacob “Vinny” Klang.

This location is a fun place to visit firstly as a relic of 1970’s patriotism, secondly as a testament to Cuba City’s talent of maintaining public works projects, thirdly as a unique slice of Midwestern culture, and lastly as a unique place to discover by oneself or as a group of domestic explorers.

Tag: Grant County

The Potosi Brewery

The City of Presidents!

Experience the grandeur and prestige of Cuba City’s heritage