Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
But it was lumber that built the town. More than a century and a half ago, the north
woods of Wisconsin extended much farther south than today. In 1848, the first large-scale
sawmills appeared. By the close of the Civil War, about 35 factories were roaring. The res-
ult was constant light showers of wood dust—at times an inch thick on the back streets.
Hence, Oshkosh earned the moniker “Sawdust City.” Excavations along Oshkosh riverb-
anks still reveal marbled layers of compacted sawdust.
This sawdust condemned the city to a painful series of conflagrations; an 1875 fire was
so bad that the city—built of the cheap local timber—finally rebuilt with stone. Ironically,
some of this stone came from Chicago, itself recently devastated by fire and rebuilt mostly
with wood from Oshkosh sawmills.
The state has officially decreed the
EAA Air Adventure Museum
(3000 Poberezny
Rd., 920/426-4818,
www.airventuremuseum.org
, 8:30am-5pm Mon.-Sat., 10am-5pm Sun.,
$12.50 adults) a state treasure, a consequence no doubt of the 800,000 or so visitors who
converge on Oshkosh for the annual fly-in sponsored by the Experimental Aircraft Asso-
ciation (EAA). More than 250 airplanes of every possible type are displayed in the mu-
seum—aerobatics, home-built, racers, and more. Five theaters, numerous display galleries,
and tons of multimedia exhibits make this well worth the admission; kids (of all ages) ab-
solutely adore the many, many hands-on exhibits in the Kidventure Gallery. (I still can't
recover from the g-force machine.) Be there when flights are offered in old-timey planes,
complete with the leather hat, goggles, and wind-blown hair. The museum is located off
U.S. 41 at the WIS 44 exit, next to Wittman Regional Airport. All in all, this is perhaps the
best money spent for a family in the region.
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
Oshkosh aviation pioneer Steve Wittman designed and built racing planes, one of which is
ondisplayattheSmithsonian.HewassoimpressivehedrewtheattentionofOrvilleWright
and other airplane aficionados. Soon after the EAA moved to Oshkosh, a tradition began.
The
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
(
www.airventure.org
)
, once known as the
Fly-In,
is now
a legendary, jawdropping display of airplanes that draws hundreds of thousands of people
from around the world.
And it's certainly a spectacle. The skies in the last week of July and into August are
filled with planes and pilots who'll never shake their appetite for aviation the way it used
to be done—strictly by the seat of your pants. Handmade and antique aircraft are the high-
