𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐋𝐎𝐍 - 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐁𝐄𝐆𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆

(𝘍𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 - 1976 𝘉𝘰𝘰𝘬)

In the year 1900 the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was built and it was then Avalon started to develop. The first train ran on June 6, 1901 and the first depot agent was a Mr. Greenfield who was here six months. Mr. Ed Voltz came from Chicago to take over as agent after that. Prior to this time the area was considered a part of Emerald Grove. Mr. Voltz lived in one of the first houses to be built after the railroad; this house was later owned for many years by the James White family. Mr. Voltz who was station master for 50 years died in California in 1949.

There was quite a dispute at the time of the building of the railroad, the people of Emerald Grove felt it should go through their progressive village. However, probably due to the contour of the land it was built farther to the south and thus Avalon developed. The building of the railroad curtailed the use of the old post office at the Smith farm near Carvers Rock.

The Stephen Scott and William Gardiner farms yielded enough land on which the small but thriving community of Avalon started. The Stephen Scott farm was land which is now owned by Lloyd Fall and it also made up what was later known as the Roehl farm directly south of Avalon. The Gardiner Land which runs directly south of Avalon is now a Tracy farm and the Edwin Bobolz family worked the farm for many years before moving to Clinton.

There seems to be no exact knowledge of how Avalon received its name. Many of our eastern states have "Avalons" and no doubt our forefathers brought the time along from their homeland.

The Sherman Clappers first came to Avalon about 1905. They first lived in a very old house west of Avalon on the farm where Erich Bobolz now lives. He built many of the homes in the area and also both of the stores. The Allan Dodge store was built about 1906, and Mr. Dodge came from Fairfield where he had operated a store to run the new store in Avalon. The Louis Lader home at the west end of town was built about 1901 and the first wooden building to be used as a store with living quarters above was built for Mr. N.W. Bunker about 1904. He later built the brick structure which was later purchased by R.E. Acheson & Co. This first frame store building was later used for a garage. It was later purchased by Max Weymouth and in 1946 the wooden structure was demolished.

Other houses built by the Clappers in the early 1900's were the W.A. Dean house built in 1905, the Blauw house in 1906, the Charles Paulson home built in 1918 now owned by the Howard Pottons, also what was known as the Wm. DeLong home which was built for Mr. Rokenfrodt when he ran the Avalon mill. It is noteworthy that the old Scott home, now owned by Lloyd Fall, was the only home right in Avalon at the time of the building of the railroad.

The William Dean family came to Avalon in 1905 from the Dean homestead of 1844 in Emerald Grave. Their first home here was built in 1905. An old shed stood on the lot where the home was built and they lived above this shed until the home was completed. The David Dean house was first built for Roy Dean in 1916. He lived there until 1923 after which time David and Ruth Dean moved in after their marriage.

Several houses were moved into the village. The Van Galder house was moved to its present location from the farm where Robert Kraus now lives. The Miller house was moved from the corner of Emerald Grove and Avalon Roads. At that time it was known as the "Plantz" house and located on the James Plantz farm. The Plantz, who were members of the Methodist Church in Emerald Grove, had one son, Samuel, who at one time was president of Lawrence University at Appleton. Joe Macha's house was also moved in from a field located up a lane north of Highway 140.

We had several very interesting old-time residents in the early days; however, I will mention only two on whom we seem to have found the most information. Charles Jellyman was one of the first Avalon residents and he did the painting in the village. He did not have a home of his own but stayed with various families; namely, the Vollz, Mrs. William Reid, the Paulson and he later built the little house north of Mrs. Reid. In the 1940's, the George Tess family purchased the home and it was later sold to the Alva Herring family. The house burned in 1974 and has not been rebuilt.

A very familiar figure and one of the oldest men in Avalon was Willis Dodge who was 95 years old on June 2, 1926. Mr. Dodge moved to Avalon to the home of his son, Allan, who had the general store. He drove & stagecoach between Darien and Janesville for two years during the days of early settlers.

Mr. Dodge tells of stopping at the old Hyatt House (a hotel) overnight when he made his trips. He left Janesville at 4:00 on many a frosty morning to get the mail to Racine on time.

Mr. Dodge spent much of his time around his son's store in Avalon. He entertained the people of the community who came to trade with his stories. The school children would gather around him and would be fascinated by his yarns, until the school bell rang, signaling a return to their studies.