Gallagher Foundation

Scattered across the Sandhill property are remnants of pioneer farm homesteads built after drainage ditches were dug through surrounding marshes in the early 1900s to create cropland. Farming proved nearly impossible because of killing frosts, poor sandy and peaty soils, and high water tables, and by the mid-1930s high drainage taxes, the Great Depression, and frequent wildfires had driven most farmers from the land. The Gallagher family lived here until they could no longer afford the taxes, and around 1930 the farm became tax delinquent and reverted to the county. The house was later moved to a Babcock townsite. The remaining foundation, now hosting rare cliff brake ferns and providing cool, dark shelter for hibernating salamanders and other creatures, endures as a reminder that this land was poorly suited to farming.

Dexter, Wisconsin · United States