Happy New Year!

Winter has finally settled in. The Play Ball exhibit has been tucked away, artists are dropping off their pieces for Venture & Voice, and volunteers are busy building activities for the Tall Tales children's gallery at the Wisconsin Logging Museum. We are off to a quick start.

Open House for New and Current Volunteers

Wednesday, January 24, 11-12:30pm

Hear how you can expand your engagement with the museum! See the museum, hear about volunteer opportunities, and get a deeper look at how volunteers make a difference to the life of the museum. 

Drop in any time from 11:00-12:30 and connect with Tim Hirsch, the museum’s AmeriCorps member serving as Program Assistant. Staff will also be on hand to answer questions. At 11:30 AM, Tim will provide a 15-minute overview on the volunteer program and ways to expand your engagement with the museum.

RSVP to Tim at t.hirsch@cvmuseum.com or call the museum at 715-834-7871.

New Exhibit Opening January 23
Opens January 23, Reception January 30

The 2024 Winter Art Exhibit features 3D wall-mounted art and sculptures made by eleven local artists. Venture & Voice, put on by Empty Walls Art Collective, runs January 23 - March 23. 

Aubrey Hogan • Barbara Koppang • Christy Skuban • Don Gaber • Jeff Nelson • Karen Scarseth • Michael Peterson • Ray Kaselau • Scott Von Holzen • Susanna Gaunt • Terry Meyer

Meet the Artists!

Artist Reception, Tuesday, January 30, 6:00 - 7:30

 An opening reception for Venture & Voice will be held at the museum from 6-7:30 pm on Tuesday, January 30. Meet the artists participating in the exhibit and enjoy live jazz music with Jeremy Boettcher and Josh Gallagher from 6:15-7:15 pm. Light refreshments will be on hand, along with a cash bar featuring local wines and beers. This event has no admission fee, courtesy of sponsor Xcel Energy.

Reserve your free tickets by clicking "register" below.

In the event of a weather-related closure, the reception will be rescheduled for February. 6th

Winter Art Experiences

Back for a second year, the Art Experiences series includes artist-led gallery walks and opportunities to make your own art. All programs require pre-registration. 

Folk Arts Festival

February 24, 12-5pm

On February 24 folk artists and cultural practitioners will fill the museum with all varities of folk art. Watch for details on the museum's website cvmuseum.com and social media.

COST: $12.00 per Adult/ $10.00 per Senior (62+)/ $5.00 per Student/
$5.00 per Youth (5-17)/ Museum Members -- Free with your membership

Purchase advance tickets using the button below.

Major support for the Folk Arts Festival comes from Visit Eau Claire and Volume One.

2024 holds lots of promise. Just reading this newsletter shows you're interested in what's happening at the Chippewa Valley Museums. Thank your for sharing your time with us.

Peace,
Carrie Ronnander
Executive Director, Chippewa Valley Museums

PS: Old Nort update: community members have contributed $24,000 to the Old Nort humidifier retirement fund! We are still a few thousand short of our $31,000 goal which means we still need your help. Thank you to all who have given to this special appeal. To make a new year's gift mail a check to Chippewa Valley Museums, PO 1204, Eau Claire, WI  54702 or use the online button below.

PPS:  "Gentlemen, all I have to say is you better get something going unless you all want to move out, for you have seen the last sawmill built in Eau Claire." -- City Alderman George Buffington, 1885

A life-sized cutout photo of George Buffington stands in the Changing Currents exhibit. His warning words to the 1885 Eau Claire City Council ring out whenever a visitor walks by this photo. 

Despite Buffington's rock star status in the exhibit, I've never spent much time looking into George Buffington's history. That changed when I became curious about the location of the house he supposedly built in 1856. Today, that location is the northeast corner of Lake Street and Second Ave, right on the edge of the Eau Claire County government complex. There was nothing there in 1856 and it was blocks from the ferry, government, and any businesses. 

And down, down the research rabbit hole I fell. 

1875 map showing the Buffington house in the lower left corner of block 8.  The Buffingtons built this house in 1867.

I emerged from the rabbit hole without an answer to my initial question. I did discover that an early local historian conflated the construction of the Buffington forever home in 1867 with George's first appearance in Eau Claire in 1856. A researcher in 1997 straightened those dates out. By 1867, the Second Ave location makes sense because there was a growing business district on Bridge Street (now West Grand Ave). 

Some of my fact gathering made it into to last week's social media Then and Now post. Here's some of the material I left out.

Born in New York (like so many lumbermen), George Buffington migrated west looking for opportunities on the frontier. In 1846, at age 19, he moved to the Illinois prairie with his folks. He married Pluma Jones, also from New York,  few years later and "opened" a farm (that's really what his 1881 biography said). George and Pluma were off the farm by 1849. Over the next seven years the Buffingtons moved further north while George tried out different career paths.

The Buffingtons arrived in Eau Claire in 1857 (George scouted out the area in late 1856) with three children and enough capital for George to invest in business start-ups, to use today's language. They purchased land west of the Chippewa River and moved into a log house, location unknown. 

George built a steamboat and captained that for a year and a half. Then he bought a hotel along Water Street and moved his family in there. He also tried his hand at being a dry goods store owner. In 1859, he purchased a one-half share in a sawmill. That was the decision that made him. The sawmill became the Valley Lumber Company, not the largest of sawmills, but darn right respectable. His business acumen resulted in an estate valued around $7.4 million in today's dollars at the time of his passing in 1893. 

1876 map of Eau Claire. 1= Buffington House. 2= Valley Lumber Company, site of Buffington's original mill. By 1876, William Carson (namesake to Carson Park) was the majority owner of Valley Lumber Company.

There were lots of other little Buffington stories I wandered through on my day off, and questions I still have, but won't bother answering. The one I want to know, but never will, is -- what was Pluma's story? She raised three children, ran a household (with the help of domestic servants), lost one child in 1860, and in 1887 died at home at age 61. That's all we really know. I always get a bit sad when I can't recover someone's story.

And now for the story about the Buffington House shared on social media:

George and Pluma Buffington built this house in 1867. It was blocks away from George’s sawmill south of Half Moon Lake. It was also a respectable distance from the industrial bustle along the Chippewa River as well as the workers who lived near this bustle. 

By the 1880s, George Buffington was one of the wealthier men in the city. He was also active in local politics, having served as coroner (3 times!), mayor (1875), city alderman, and county supervisor. But, unlike many of the other lumber baron families, the Buffingtons didn’t compete in the great mansion building boom of the 1880s and 1890s. By the times of their deaths (Pluma in 1887 and George in 1893), the Buffingtons were living in one of the smaller lumber baron homes.

The house stayed in the family until 1917. Frank Buffington Carney, the Buffington's great-grandson, sold the house to a development company in 1929. The company planned to tear it down, but at some point those plans changed and the whole house was moved to 115 Ann Street. There it stood until about 2010 when it was torn down for the Eau Claire County jail expansion. 

Below is the multi-family house that stands where the Buffington house used to sit.

Like local history? Start your Adventure in History by becoming a member of the Chippewa Valley Museums