Friday, August 16, 2019

Matz Farmstead Ruins

This property is a nice bit of local history. Homesteaded by a German immigrant named Matz in 1852, this farmhouse was built with stone locally sourced after the owner, Friedrich Matz, returned from the Civil War.
Here's a photo of the farmhouse from 1907.


Matz spent time at Camp Randall—go Badgers—before going off to war as a private in the 11th infantry.


The house burned down in 1949 and I haven't seen much more information about the ruins than what's on the Historical Marker Database.
It's part of the Dane County Halfway Prairie Wildlife Area and although often photographed, I thought this building would look good in black and white.
There are more remains out of shot to the left shown in this post from last fall.  

11 comments:

  1. That's quite the amazing place, if walls could talk!

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  2. Black and white is the perfect choice for this lovely old building. Thank you for all the fascinating information!

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  3. I do like this in B & W....enjoyed the other post, too.

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  4. Black and white is perfect for this ... interesting history. We were fascinated by the stonework we saw when we first traveled out of the PNW ...not something we had seem much around home.

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    1. I'm guessing the kind of stone out there isn't good for building? I did think it cool that local stone was used, but then again where else would it be from for an immigrant farmer building the whole thing himself after the Civil War.

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  5. What an interesting history! Love his determination to homestead after having fought in a war:):)In Europe most houses were built with stone/brick (in contrast to here in the USA where most houses are (and were) built with wood/logs. Great you shared this piece of history with All Seasons and hope you'll have a great turn out for Say Cheese on Tue!

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  6. Oops, I think I clicked for my blog, before I went through the chapta to publish my comment here. So, I'll give it again, just in case. Interesting to know the endeavor of this immigrant to build his house after fighting in the Civil War! Most houses in Europe were built with stone (it's customary), not with wood or logs like here in the USA. Thank you for sharing this historic detail with All Seasons! Hope yo have a great turnout tomorrow with Say Cheese:)

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  7. Love the window shot a lot. My brain is on a fritz. I'm imagining the Hulk came out of the window.

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