The Devil's Teapot Historical

The Devil's Teapot Historical (HM1XE6)

Location: Muskego, WI 53150 Waukesha County
Buy Wisconsin State flags at Flagstore.com!
Country: United States of America
Buy United States of America flags at Flagstore.com!

N 42° 54.03', W 88° 8.811'

  • 0 likes
  • 0 check ins
  • 0 favorites
  • 1243 views
Inscription
In 1904, the coming of the interurban electric railway (TREM&L) made railroad travel possible between downtown Milwaukee and East Troy, WI. At this very location, a railroad trestle was constructed to bridge a two-acre pond/waterhole in a pasture on the Kingston farm. It appeared to be just an ordinary little farm pond where a person could catch bullheads and carp in the 20-foot deep marsh bordering the pond. A 200-foot long trestle was built over the sinkhole, but as interurban cars passed over it, strange groaning and gurgling sounds came from the trestle. John I. Beggs, supervisor for the TREM&L system nicknamed it the "Devil's Teapot."
On Friday morning, April 20,1917, after a westbound interurban car had just passed over it, the trestle collapsed into the sinkhole. From then on, people traveling westbound would have to get off at the Muskego Centre station, just east of here on Pioneer Drive, walk along a boardwalk that was constructed over the sinkhole, board another interurban car and continue westward to Big Bend, Mukwonago and East Troy. In the evening, lanterns were placed along the boardwalk so people could find their way across the marsh.
The TMER&L Co. tried everything to stabilize the trestle. They laid 16 foot oak planks across the sinkhole but the water oozed right up over the tracks. The company then
decided to fill in the sinkhole and lay the tracks directly across it. The company hired 26 workers from Milwaukee to work on it. Now the Devil's Teapot would really earn its name.
Within the next year various items were pushed, dumped, tossed and disappeared into the sinkhole. Dump cars full of gravel were used to fill the hole, but it all sank out of sight. Ten thousand old railroad ties were sucked into the bottomless pit. A thousand hand-cut trees from Big Bend were deposited into the hole. During the entire year the sinkhole kept up a gurgling and bubbling and swallowed everything fed into it. Then, one Friday night, seven railway dump cars loaded with gravel were left on the track, ready to unload. By next Monday morning, all seven had rolled in and sunk and were never recovered!
A year later the sinkhole was finally filled in and tracks were laid directly across the trembling ground, but every year the tracks would sink, and every year the workers had to raise the tracks another foot.
Finally, as modern highways were improved for cars and trucks, the electric interurban faded into history. Now all that remains of the legend is the roadbed that you are standing on and the story of the DEVIL'S TEAPOT.
Details
HM NumberHM1XE6
Tags
Year Placed2014
Placed ByMuskego Historical Society
Marker ConditionNo reports yet
Date Added Tuesday, March 21st, 2017 at 9:02pm 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)16T E 406370 N 4750403
Decimal Degrees42.90050000, -88.14685000
Degrees and Decimal MinutesN 42° 54.03', W 88° 8.811'
Degrees, Minutes and Seconds42° 54' 1.8" N, 88° 8' 48.66" W
Driving DirectionsGoogle Maps
Area Code(s)414, 262
Closest Postal AddressAt or near Muskego Recreation Trail, Muskego WI 53150, 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. Does the marker have a number?
  8. This marker needs at least one picture.
  9. Can this marker be seen from the road?
  10. Is the marker in the median?