United States » Wisconsin » Counties » Adams » Photographs & Memories

Taylor Brothers Photograph Collection

WISCONSIN, ADAMS COUNTY, FRIENDSHIP TOWNSHIP - The 1,000 photographic images in this collection were taken by the Taylor Brothers photographic studio of Adams County, Wisconsin, circa 1910-1930. Growth and change in rural and small town Wisconsin in the early 20th century are reflected in the photos of the Taylor Brothers. Most of the photos were taken in central Wisconsin, centering on Adams County and the county seat of Friendship. Subjects are varied and include towns, buildings and street scenes in Adams County; construction and dedication of a new county courthouse; teachers, classes, and one-room school houses; marsh dredging; road construction; farmsteads, animals, and agricultural activities. Portraits of people include men, women, children and families; some in formal poses in a studio, others taken at their residences, farms, or businesses. The portraits include images of Native Americans, mostly members of the Ho-Chunk nation, some of which are individually identified. Scenes outside of Adams County include Wisconsin State Guard training, circa 1913-1916, at Camp Williams and Camp Douglas in Juneau County, Camp McCoy in Monroe County, and a few at Camp Dodge in Polk County, Iowa. There are also views of the construction of the Kilbourn dam on the Wisconsin River, at what is now the city of Wisconsin Dells, in Columbia County. Of particular historical interest are images of the John Dietz homestead and Cameron dam on the Thornapple River in Sawyer County, taken after a shootout in 1910 between Dietz and a sheriff