Wausau station

Wausau station is a former passenger train station of the Milwaukee Road at 270 Grant Street in Wausau, Wisconsin. Wausau was on the Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Valley division and connected with the main line to Chicago at New Lisbon, Wisconsin. The station gained national attention when Wausau Insurance adopted the station as their corporate logo and launched a nationwide advertising campaign. The station ad first appeared in the 16 January 1954 edition of the Saturday Evening Post.[1] Even after passenger service ended in 1970 the station continued to be featured in television advertising on 60 minutes.[2] The station gave a national identity to the city of Wausau and the company thrived in a business that is normally dominated by those in major cities. As of 2022 the station is privately owned and is re-purposed as a cocktail lounge while the former baggage building is now a distillery.[3]

Wausau
Wausau station building in 2007
General information
Location720 Grant Street
Wausau, Wisconsin 54403
Coordinates44.96173°N 89.61989°W / 44.96173; -89.61989
Owned byprivate
Line(s)Wisconsin Valley Division
Platforms1 side platform
Tracks1
History
Original companyMilwaukee Road
Former services
Through train service from Chicago and Milwaukee via New Lisbon
Location

Rail service
Wausau station on the Milwaukee Road Hiawatha service map in 1948.

Train service arrived at Wausau in 1874 when the Wisconsin Valley Railroad reached the city. The first depot was replaced by brick construction in 1880. The Milwaukee Road acquired Wisconsin Valley and commissioned the Chicago firm of Frost & Granger to design a new station in 1902. Sometime in the early 1920s a baggage and express building was added.[4] Two daily trains served the station: The North Woods Hiawatha and The Tomahawk.[5] Marathon County Historical Society researcher Gary Gisselman described the station as, "...quite the hub for passengers as well as freight. A good part of our history revolved around that railroad depot there on Grant Street."[6] In the 1950s service north of Wausau was curtailed. Prior to 1956 service extended as far north as Boulder Junction and Star Lake[7] when passenger service had been cut back to Woodruff.[8] The same year the North Woods Hiawatha name was dropped although service continued as a numbered train.[9]: 139  By 1968 The Tomahawk was discontinued and remaining passenger service terminated at Wausau.[10] In 1970 the former Hiawatha service ended[11]: 91  and the station closed.

The track alongside the station remains in freight service and is now owned by the Fox Valley & Lake Superior rail system.[12]

Adaptive reuse

After passenger service ended the station sat vacant but in 1977 Wausau Insurance bought it. By 1979, the depot had become dilapidated. The company had plans to demolish the old building and construct a replica closer to their corporate campus. Local citizens did not want to lose a landmark for the city and mounted a fund raising campaign to renovate the old station.[13] From 1980-2000 the renovated station was used by the local Boy Scout council. After the council moved to new quarters occupancy changed over several times until 2015 when it again became vacant. In 2018 it was purchased by its current owners.

In 1999 a Boston-based corporation acquired Wausau Insurance. The station continued to be used in their advertising until 2009 when the Wausau brand was discontinued.[14]

Replica station
1980 replica of Wausau station on the former Wausau Insurance company campus.

In 1980 Wausau Insurance built an exact replica of the original station at 1800 Westwood Drive. It never had a physical connection to any railroad but was used for corporate meetings and entertainment. In 2015 it became an event rental facility.[15]

References
  1. Clark, Ben (24 May 2018). "The 1911 Workman's Compensation Act and the Birth of an Industry". Wisconsin 101 Our History in Objects. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  2. "Wausau Drops 60 Minutes". Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  3. "Train Depot History". Timekeeper Distillery. Timekeeper Distillery. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  4. "Property Record 720 Grant St". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  5. Burns, Adam (23 February 2022). "The North Woods Hiawatha". AmericanRails.com. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  6. Moburg, Glen (14 December 2017). "Iconic Wausau Depot To Become Craft Distillery And Cocktail Lounge". Wisconsin Public Radio. Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  7. "September 1910 Milwaukee Road system timetable". Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  8. "January 29, 1956 Milwaukee Road system timetable". Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  9. Scribbins, Jim (1970). The Hiawatha Story. Milwaukee, Wisconsin: Kalmbach Publishing Company. LCCN 70107874. OCLC 91468.
  10. "October 1968 Milwaukee Road system timetable" (PDF). Retrieved 15 April 2022.
  11. Murray, Tom (2005). The Milwaukee Road. Voyageur Press. ISBN 9780760320723.
  12. "Fox Valley & Lake Superior Rail System". Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  13. Uhlig, Keith (24 September 2018). "Maryanne Norton, who saved Wausau's iconic train depot, dies". Wausau Daily Herald. Retrieved 21 April 2022.
  14. "Liberty Mutual Retires Wasau Brand". ProgramBusiness.com. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  15. Lawder, Melanie (22 August 2015). "Wausau landmark replica now open to public". Wausau Daily Herald. Wausau, Wisconsin. Retrieved 19 April 2022.

Original Wausau station artwork as drawn by Everett McNear in 1953

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