Today we drove out into the country to the Wade House, a stagecoach inn on the road from Fond du Lac (center of the state) to Sheboygan (on Lake Michigan). In its heyday, 200 stagecoaches traveled along the plank road every day.
The Wade House (hotel) was halfway between the 2 towns and provided a change of horses, delicious home cooking, and a break from the bumpy, swaying ride in the crowded coach.
Plank roads were made out of long wooden “sleepers” or “stringers” embedded to 1/2 of the earthen roadbed. Running in parallel rows about 3-4 feet apart, the sleepers were capped with 8-foot long oak planks that were a foot wide, 3-4 inches thick, and staggered to make create an uneven edge.
The other half of the roadbed was laid up with soil and gravel. The resulting 16-foot road was wide enough for one vehicle on the wooden surface, and those with lighter loads were required to turn out onto the packed dirt surface to let an oncoming vehicle pass. The uneven edges allowed wagon wheels to roll back up on the road more easily if the wagon had to turn out.
The first floor of the stage stop was a community room where drinks were available and card playing drew in the travelers. Usually just the men used these rooms.
The second floor had small overnight rooms for $.50/night.
The second floor also had suites with a bedroom and a sitting room for family and long-term guests (from a few days to a few weeks).
If the small rooms cost too much, men could sleep on the floor for $.03/night on the third floor open area with heaters at both ends. Small bedrooms for overnight guests were available too.
The Wade family had already been providing room and board for travelers in their own home, so knew what they needed when they built the inn.
On the grounds, volunteers showed us how to do a couple of skills they needed to know. The first was how to dye cotton with walnuts.
Then we saw how to make cider from pressing apples.
They also had a blacksmith shop and a lumber mill.
