Raube Road Site - Brandon, WI
N 43° 43.772 W 088° 43.829
16T E 360630 N 4843288
The Raube Road Site is one of Wisconsin's few remaining intact Old Military Road Segments from the state's territorial period. Originally planned as an Army supply and communication route between Prairie du Chien and Green Bay.
Waymark Code: WM37E9
Location: Wisconsin, United States
Date Posted: 02/22/2008
Views: 16
The historical marker reads:
"The Raube Road Site is one of Wisconsin's few remaining intact Old Military Road Segments from the state's territorial period. Located on farmland purchased by Albert and Martha Raube in 1911, this 123-foot-long Military Road segment was part of the first constructed roadway to cross Wisconsin. Originally planned as an Army supply and communication route between Fort Crawford at Prairie du Chien, Fort Winnebago at Portage and Fort Howard at Green Bay, the 234-mile-long road was surveyed and built between 1832 and 1837. Fort Winnebago troops constructed the Poynette to the Fond du Lac River section using oxen and hand tools during the summer of 1835. The road's marshy areas were filled with bundles of brush, tree limbs and stone while smaller streams were bridged with large logs. Preserved by the Raube family. "The Old Road" was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1992."
The Wisconsin Historical Society web site adds:
"The Raube Road site (listed in the National Register of Historic Places June 4, 1992), located in Fond du Lac County, contains the archaeological remains of a portion of the military road that linked Fort Howard and Fort Crawford. The site contains two segments, measuring 65 and 33 feet long, of the original c.1835 roadbed. It consists of a flagstone and corduroy construction that was built to span a low, marshy area and provide a firm surface for pedestrian and vehicular traffic.
The Raube Road site is unusual because it does not conform to military road specifications. It is not 30 feet wide, and flagstones and gravel were used as the base for portions of the remaining segment. This archaeological site provides insight into the actual design, construction, and use of military roads in Wisconsin. Its construction reveals information about road-building materials and techniques in the 1830s, and how the standard designs were abandoned in low-lying and marshy areas.