A horse-drawn wagon in Eau Claire from the late nineteenth/early twentieth century, courtesy of the Chippewa Valley Museum.
A pair months in the past, whereas poring over my favourite historic map on the Chippewa Valley Museum, I ran throughout a web site on the college campus labeled “Ghouls Hole.” Naturally, I needed to examine.
What I uncovered led me into the unusual world of the Horse Cemeteries of Eau Claire’s Previous. An editorial from the Chief-Telegram dated June 5, 1873, lamented the “dismal ditch” on the jap finish of Water Road, the place residents had been disposing of useless horses.
The author instructed a reputation for the positioning – Ghouls Hole – which caught. Eleven years later, an article talked about the horse cemetery: Because the editor of the paper was strolling throughout the Water Road Bridge, the wind took his hat.
He later recovered it “a brief distance above Ghouls Hole.” The Dec. 17, 1874, version of the paper contains one other editorial scolding residents for the “publicity of a useless horse on the decrease finish of Third Avenue, close to the Niagara Home.”
It simply so occurs the Niagara Home was throughout the river from the mouth of Little Niagara Creek, which – in fact – positioned it within the space of Ghouls Hole. For those who’re searching for one thing spooky to do that Halloween, would possibly I recommend a stroll alongside the Chippewa River, starting at Owen Park and heading south?
You could end up haunted by the ghosts of horses of the previous. And, subsequent time you’re on the Pablo Middle on the Confluence, you may additionally consider Mike Smith – proprietor of a livery secure – who bumped into hassle with the legislation when he buried three horses on that spot in 1880. We wouldn’t suggest you try this in 2021, in fact.
Jodi Kiffmeyer is an archivist on the Chippewa Valley Museum. To take a look at extra in regards to the historical past of the Valley, go to cvmuseum.com.
