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From top left: Milwaukee Ave and Pine St. in 1908, Badger Hotel at the corner of Chestnut and Milwaukee Ave. in the early 1920’s, Brick and Tile Company in 1908. Right: Lower Chestnut St. sometime between 1910 and 1915.
BURLINGTON Through the Ages
The first “jack-knife” claim on Burlington was made around December 15, 1835, when Moses Smith and William Whiting carved their names and date on trees. Since then Burlington has continued to grow and has become known for many reasons including the Underground Railroad, the Burlington Liar’s Club, Tony Romo of the Dallas Cowboys and of course Nestle USA and ChocolateFest.
In the early to mid 1800’s many people in Burlington were connected with the “underground railroad.” The first “passenger” through Wisconsin was 16-year-old Caroline Quarles, who ran away from her mistress in St. Louis in 1842 and made her way to Milwaukee where she was befriended and then betrayed by a former slave. With bounty hunters closing in, Quarles was brought to the Spring Prairie area where she was sheltered on farms near Burlington for several days before being taken by buggy to Detroit where she crossed into Canada. The last known “passenger” in this area was Joshua Glover, also from St. Louis, who had escaped to Racine in 1852 and was living and working near there when, in 1854, he was arrested and taken to the Milwaukee jail. Hearing of his capture, a crowd used a battering ram to break him out of jail. Because no safe ship was immediately available at Racine, Glover was brought to the Burlington area and hidden for several weeks before being taken back to Racine and put aboard a Great Lakes ship, which took him to Canada.
Burlington is also famous around the world (some say the universe), as the home of the Burlington Liars Club. The club, receiving tall tales from as far away as New Zealand and China, meets on New Year’s Eve to select a championship lie for the year. In honor of this tradition, celebrating this unique brand of American humor, the Tall Tales Trail came into existence. The Tall Tales Trail is a collection of some of the championship lies from over the club’s 80-year history on bronze plaques clearly displayed throughout the Burlington area.
Burlington has also gained a reputation and a name as Chocolate City, USA. In 1987, Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson and the Wisconsin state legislature officially designated Burlington as such, in honor of the Nestle Chocolate and Confection Company’s 20-year anniversary in our city. Since that time, Burlington has celebrated America’s favorite flavor with a Chocolate Festival each year over Memorial Day weekend. Music, children’s activities, a Chocolate Parade and of course, CHOCOLATE can all be found at the festival! ChocolateFest is a wonderful family activity as well as an event in which the entire community participates.
Although Burlington continues to grow, it maintains its small town charm. Increased interest in the historic significance of the city’s buildings has led to efforts to preserve Burlington’s historic past.
BURLINGTON THROUGH THE AGES
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