This is just the beginning! Our collection holds over 300 years of history, including rare newspapers, obituaries, marriage records, birth records, and so much more—most of which you won’t find anywhere else!
Dousman House Once Famed Hotel
Prairie du Chien's historic Dousman House built after the Civil War near the riverfront served as a 51 room hotel with a cupola and artesian water. Managers included J. F. Williams and Charles Hufschmidt who ran it with strict order, staffing, and a self contained slaughter house for meats. The hotel hosted Native chiefs in 1880 and famed guests, but decline followed rail terminal shifts and closure in the late 19th century, later becoming Armour and Co. facilities.
MENTIONED IN THIS ARTICLE
Prairie du Chien
Iowa
Minnesota
Dousman
Hercules Dousman
Villa Louis
J. F. Williams
Virginia
Williams
United States Navy
Spensely Brothers
Dubuque
Dan Mackin
Eclipse
Mississippi River
W. D. Carroll
Armour and Co
Madison