Interactive Design II Project 3

Wilson Place Mansion

Wilson Place was the home of Captain William Wilson, the man who founded Knapp, Stout & Co. Company, which became the world’s largest lumbering operation in the late 19th Century. Wilson also founded the City of Menomonie, as well as becoming the city’s first Mayor, and one of Western Wisconsin’s first state senators. As you can see, the origins of area history begins with the family who lived in this house.

Captain William Wilson

Captain Wilson had been a steamboat Captain and he loved that job so much, he insisted on being called “Captain” even after he was a state senator. Wilson came to Western Wisconsin with an eye toward making a big business out of the massive pines in the area. He first arrived in what was the Wisconsin wilderness in 1846 with his second wife and 4 children, and across the river from where we are today built a log cabin similar to this one (Image). He lived there for 13 years as he founded his company with John Holly Knapp and Henry Stout. It was called the Knapp, Stout Company and then the

Knapp, Stout & Co. Company. Wilson was a silent partner as he had had financial difficulties in the past, and did not want that to effect his new business venture.
By the late 1850’s the lumber business was very prosperous and Wilson purchased 22 acres from the company and built this Federal Style home in 1859. We believe the current house is on these same foundations. The Wilson’s definitely needed the room, as family was growing rapidly. He had 7 more children, making in 11 total, although not all lived to adulthood.

The impact of the Knapp, Stout & Co. Company on Menomonie’s growth and development cannot be overstated. The money from this business helped Menomonie grow, attracted other businesses, as well as the fact that the jobs provided by a large lumber concern brought many workers and their families here to settle permanently.

Angelina W Stout

Captain Wilson and his wife, Angelina Hale, lived in this house until their deaths. In 1893 their tenth child, Angelina Wilson Stout and her husband James Huff Stout moved in. Just a year later, Stout became a State Senator, and they realized they would have to remodel the house so that it would be big enough for all of the guests they would have, and all of the entertaining they were expected to do. They made the house bigger in 1894 and again in 1896(picture). In 1891 Stout also started the school that would become the University of WI Stout. The Stout family was in residence until 1910, when James Huff Stout died. His surviving family moved into another home in town, leaving the mansion empty, but cared for for more than 10 years.

Evaline Stout

James H Stout and Child

Evaline James jr and Billy Stout

After the Stout family, Captain Wilson's grandson, and nephew to the Stouts, George LaPointe Jr. moved in. The house is being passed through the women in Captain Wilson’s family, and that is why everyone has different last names, even though they are from the same family. George LaPointe and his wife Irene moved into the house. They chose to remodel, as, in the 1920’s the style of the Victorians was thought to be overblown and gaudy, and they wanted to embrace the modernist movement and make the house clean and new and fashionable. Keep in mind, although we may look back now and see this remodel as a tragedy, in the 1920’s there was no romance with the past - World War I as well as a massive killer flu epidemic were what many saw when they looked back. Looking forward showed clean lines, and scientific improvements for everyday living. They took off the western two thirds of the house, installed Linoleum floors, “exotic” decor and a stucco exterior that contained mica chips that literally sparkled in the sun.

George LaPointe Jr.

Irene La Pointe lived in this house until she passed away in 1974. The Dotseth family purchased the house with the idea of turning it into an assisted living facility, until they learned of it’s storied history. They then purchased all of the contents and spent two years refurbishing the house, opening Wilson Place Mansion as a museum in 1976, and running it privately for the community ever since.