Last fall my boyfriend and I planned a camping weekend in Black River Falls, a getaway we nicknamed "Wisconsin Death Trip" after finding the Michael Lesy book of the same name.
Intrigued by this illustrated account of the untimely downfall of almost an entire community during the 1890s, we thought it might be fun to check out the area for ourselves while enjoying the last of the autumn colors and hitting up the antique stores for which we'd read Black River Falls was known.
The town was great -- quaint and cozy as can be -- and while the weekend was a wonderful escape from the city, it wasn't the second-hand shopping Mecca we'd anticipated.
This past weekend, while driving to a cabin in Spooner, we discovered said second-hand shopping Mecca: Hixton. Less than 15 miles northwest of Black River Falls, Hixton is a small town of about 500 with some of the most interesting antiquing options I've seen in Wisconsin.
Hixton School House Antique, 162 Elder St., is an enormous old brick schoolhouse with cows gazing in its pasture and a yard scattered with old rusty farm equipment. Be sure to give yourself time; the interior is nothing less than a maze of levels and rooms revealing ancient treasures of days past.
If you find Main Street -- and it's hard not to in this town -- you'll find Warehouse Antiques, and the Village Peddler of Hixton. Neither stores are as big as the School House, but both provide hours of scouring through old country household items you'd never find in the city for the price.
There are two others in Hixton worth exploring: Millers Antiques & Auction Co., N8779 State Rd. 95 N, and Cobblestone Cottage, 135 Interstate Rd. N.
Happy rummaging.
OnMilwaukee.com staff writer Julie Lawrence grew up in Wauwatosa and has lived her whole life in the Milwaukee area.
As any “word nerd” can attest, you never know when inspiration will strike, so from a very early age Julie has rarely been seen sans pen and little notebook. At the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee it seemed only natural that she major in journalism. When OnMilwaukee.com offered her an avenue to combine her writing and the city she knows and loves in late 2004, she knew it was meant to be. Around the office, she answers to a plethora of nicknames, including “Lar,” (short for “Larry,” which is short for “Lawrence”) as well as the mysteriously-sourced “Bill Murray.”
