Cave of Dreams : the Wicklow Mine strikes it big

On this day, one hundred and twenty years ago, the Dubuque Herald reported on a large mineral strike at the Wicklow Mine northwest of Cuba City. Several Cuba City businessmen had a stake in the mine at the time.

Dubuque Herald (September 10, 1899)

One of the most memorable things about this enterprise was its location beside the St. Rose Catholic Cemetery. The cemetery and the Kilbride farm, where the Wicklow was located, are visible on this 1895 Grant County plat map.

A reporter would later comment on the Wicklow's unique location, speculating that the St. Rose Cemetery may need to be moved to accommodate it:

"The peculiar paradox that commercialism invades with remorseless energy even the haunts of the dead is here borne out with remarkable exactness and truth in fact. The shooting of the ground below must shake the bones of the dead as they lie in the quiet little cemetery overhead sleeping their long last sleep." (Galena Tribune, March 8, 1906)

 

The Wicklow Mine as it appeared during Cuba City's mining boom. Published in Skemp & Conley's Complete Year Book of Wisconsin, Illinois and Iowa Lead and Zinc Mines, 1906.