History is Kept Alive in Cedarburg

5-13-13 and 6-23-13

This was our first time in Cedarburg together, my first in about 17 years. It’s in Ozaukee county, 20 miles north of Milwaukee. We arrived at 8:45 AM and our first stop was Covered Bridge Park.  This is the last covered bridge of this design in Wisconsin, crossing Cedar Creek.

After the park we went to their Washington Ave. Historic District. Over 200 buildings in Cedarburg have been preserved and restored, bustling with many interesting businesses.

The city used to have a train called the Interurban that took workers to Milwaukee. The train is long gone, but the original train depot is still there. There was a Little Free Library designed to look like the depot. The train track corridor is now the Interurban Trail for bikes and pedestrians. It’s 30 miles long.

Two impressive structures are side-by-side on Columbia  Road. First is  Landmark Feed, Seed and Supply, first a grist mill constructed in 1855. It’s 5 stories high and towers above Cedar Creek.

Next to it is The Pagoda Fine Jewelry store.

Here is some interesting history on the mills and Cedar Creek.

The nearby Fire Department and Municipal Building are also in historic structures.

We continue down Washington Ave to the Cedar Creek Settlement.. It’s a group of historic industrial buildings that now house about 30 shops including three restaurants.

We had lunch at the Anvil Pub and Grille there. It is the former blacksmith shop, and anvils were scattered throughout the restaurant.  Our food was delicious!  A stone hearth oven cooks the food now instead of softening iron for blacksmiths. They had historic pictures of when it was a working blacksmith shop.

We had a great visit here, this summary barely scratches to surface of our 5 1/2 hour visit.  I encourage you to come if you can, the shopping is fantastic!  I leave you with this mural I found painted on a wall.

Related articles and Sites

• Joe’s 9 Month Photo Session {Cedarburg, WI Photographer} (kimhopfphotography.com)
• Chamber of Commerce
• Cedarburg Festivals
• Cedar Creek Settlement
• Anvil Pub and Grille
• Pagoda Fine Jewlery
• Landmark Feed, Seed and Supply (The BIG Mill)