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Preservation of nature conservancy a community effort

Photo at left: In the 1800s, passenger trains from Chicago arrived in the area that is now the Kishwauketoe Nature Preserve. More Mystery Place photos are GALLERY

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The Kishwauketoe Nature Conservancy is located in Williams Bay in the northeast section of the intersection of Wisconsin Highway 67 and Geneva Street. It encompasses 230 acres of wetland.

The Potawatomi name means “clear water” or “lake of sparkling water.” There are more than four miles of trail through this protected land where you can see prairie land, glacier-formed kettles, a deciduous forest, a trout stream and more. A map and trail guide can be obtained at the village hall. Park at the lot near the Lions Field House, then walk to the conservancy. It is located about a block north of the field house, on the west side of Highway 67.

The Lions clubs in the area have done much to restore and preserve this wetland. Friends of Kishwauketoe Ltd., Kish Kids, the Lake Geneva Garden Club and a host of volunteers are helping to preserve this treasure. And they always are looking for more volunteers.

The railroad depot was located on the north side of Geneva Street, close to the north end of the bay. This is where the “Millionaire’s Special” train arrived from Chicago.

It was a branch of the rail line from Lake Geneva, bringing many of the lakeshore property owners from their Chicago businesses to their summer homes.

The families would move up each summer and the men would commute to Chicago daily.

Private yachts would be awaiting their owners to take them from the depot to their luxurious mansions. The Chicago and Northwestern Railway Company made this one of the terminal stations.

The first trains arrived and departed June 1, 1888. Actually, the railroads came to Williams Bay in 1856, but the tracks were so bad that train service was discontinued. In 1873, rail service was again initiated, and Chicagoans, came to the area during the summer.

The station, now gone, was located in what is now the nature preserve.