Muscoda: A Small Town in Wisconsin

July 21, 2007

Wisconsin is unlike any place I have ever lived since it has real waterways. Southern California's rivers are seasonal and short and Georgia's Chatahoochee River is hardly inviting. I was reminded of this Wisconsin trait as I drove across the state yesterday on my quest to reach the Effigy Mounds National Monument, located just over the border in Iowa. A good portion of my trip was along the Wisconsin River, which I followed until it flowed into the Mississippi River. Much of the Wisconsin River flows through areas that remain natural and it would be easy to take a canoe down a stretch of river and camp out on its sandy banks (in fact I spotted a group doing just that).

When I conceptualize Wisconsin I do so by means of roads, which connect all the main cities within a web of map lines. Traveling along the Wisconsin River I thought about the way rivers once functioned as the freeways that connected the most important places. Early settlements in many states followed the snaking line of a river.. and the mental map of early arrivals would have been formed by rivers more than overland roads. Today we hardly notice rivers.. our best clue as to their whereabouts being the little sign one passes before crossing a bridge: "Crawfish River". Where that river goes and where it came from is mostly unknown.

Along the Wisconsin River were a number of small towns. The one with the funniest name had to be "Gotham".. which was by no means the shadowy crime-infested world where Batman works. Another town was named Muscoda (pop. 1,400). I stopped for lunch here and got a chance to think about small towns in Wisconsin.

The town was off the beaten path.. and I assume that auto and bike tourists are an important source of income in the summer (i.e. people like me who were mostly out for an enjoyable ride). I make a habit of walking through historic downtowns taking note of the kinds of businesses that survive in them still. In Muscoda I saw the requisite bars, a hair salon, an "energy store" that had exercise equipment, a chiropractor, a couple of small cafe's offering food, and finally a hardware store. Small downtowns survive by offering goods and services that do not compete with WalMart.

In Muscoda and other small towns I was surprised how few national chains there were. Of course the gas stations were recognizable, but McDonalds and Cracker Barrel had not yet moved in. It is refreshing to get off the larger freeways with their common national pit stops. and see something different.. even homemade signs.