Owen's Gift to the City

Owen's Gift to the City (HM1EZ5)

Location: Eau Claire, WI 54703 Eau Claire County
Buy Wisconsin State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 44° 48.187', W 91° 29.996'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 377 views
Inscription
??John S. and Mary Owen's gift of land for a city park in 1913-14 came as Eau Claire's reputation as a "sawdust city" was already fading into memory. The Owen's came to Wisconsin in 1873 seeking opportunities in lumbering. John was hired as a timber scout for Henry C. Putnam, a well-known land speculator and agent for Cornell University. Cornell owned large tracts of Wisconsin pineland. Through this association and staked by family members in Michigan, Owen started his own milling operation in 1874.

??He struggled through years of low prices, and droughts which prevented the floating of logs to the mills. By the 1890s, he owned controlling interests in sawmills at Drummond and Owen. His sawmill at Drummond ran for 48 years. On November 16, 1930, a week after the last pine log had been cut, the mill collapsed. The Owen's again looked westward, this time to Oregon for additional lumbering opportunities.

??The Owen's gift of this land to the City is one of several parks donated to the City by various businessmen during this period of Eau Claire's development. Each has provided park and recreational opportunities for the community and preserved valuable open space along Eau Claire's historic waterways for the public to enjoy. Owen's Park picturesque location along the Chippewa River has made it a popular location for numerous festivals, band concerts and community gatherings since the 1930s when the band shell was constructed.

Sponsored By:
Anton and Rae Schilling-Smets and Family
Details
HM NumberHM1EZ5
Tags
Marker Number7
Placed ByThe Eau Claire Landmarks Commission; Anton and Rae Schilling-Smets and family
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Wednesday, September 17th, 2014 at 2:46am PDT -07:00
Pictures
Sorry, but we don't have a picture of this historical marker yet. If you have a picture, please share it with us. It's simple to do. 1) Become a member. 2) Adopt this historical marker listing. 3) Upload the picture.
Locationbig map
UTM (WGS84 Datum)15T E 618632 N 4962173
Decimal Degrees44.80311667, -91.49993333
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 44° 48.187', W 91° 29.996'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds44° 48' 11.22" N, 91° 29' 59.76" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)715
Closest Postal AddressAt or near 281-299 Chippewa River State Trail, Eau Claire WI 54703, US
Alternative Maps Google Maps, MapQuest, Bing Maps, Yahoo Maps, MSR Maps, OpenCycleMap, MyTopo Maps, OpenStreetMap

Is this marker missing? Are the coordinates wrong? Do you have additional information that you would like to share with us? If so, check in.

Check Ins  check in   |    all

Have you seen this marker? If so, check in and tell us about it.

Comments 0 comments

Maintenance Issues
  1. Is this marker part of a series?
  2. What historical period does the marker represent?
  3. What historical place does the marker represent?
  4. What type of marker is it?
  5. What class is the marker?
  6. What style is the marker?
  7. What year was the marker erected?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?