VIEW From 1908

Looking through old photos of Alma, Wisconsin I found this picture from 1908.  Can you spot the building that is now the Blue Door Inn?  Look for the long porches.

This view from the hillside above Alma also shows three of Alma's most iconic buildings.

• Lower edge middle is the Buffalo County Training School built in 1902.  This building is still standing and is now the Alma Area Museum.  Visit their website.
• Buffalo County Courthouse just above the School.  Building was demolished in the 1960s to make way for a new modern courthouse building. 
• Alma Area Public School is above the Courthouse.  Building was also demolished to make way for a parking lot and the Courthouse Annex.

Loss of such iconic buildings prompted the citizens of Alma to form the Alma Historical Society and in 1982 they applied for designation as a National Historic District.  They became Wisconsin's first historic district and today 300+ acres and over 220 buildings are protected from demolition and enjoyed by 1000s of visitors each year.

HOMAGE to the Tritsch Brothers Blacksmith Shop

The original owners of the Blue Door Inn's building were the Tritsch Brothers (Franz & Johann) from Baden, Germany.  They opened a blacksmith shop in Alma and later a hardware store. They were quite enterprising ending with an entire block of businesses known as Tritsch's Brick Block.

The front door of the Inn is now 30" above the sidewalk and the original front door (gone for almost 100 years) has been restored.  That's another story but let's just say that the step out the door is a big one!

I've been think about installing a Juliet balcony but then I found this great 19th century John Deere wooden spoke wheel with an iron rim and decided that it would make a great balcony rail and would pay homage to the roots of the building ... the blacksmith shop. 

MISTY DAY on the Mississippi

Misty day on the Mississippi ... the 2013 season at the Blue Door Inn has come to an end, we'll reopen on February 1, 2014 for Bald Eagle viewing in Alma, Wisconsin.  100s of eagles on the Mississippi River ice and in trees on the island across from the Blue Door Inn will be spectacular!

Check out our 2014 specials at www.bluedoorinnalma.com.  2014 lodging reservations made before May 1st will be honored at our 2013 rates.  2014 rates will take effect for reservations made after May 1st.

2008 TRITSCH Homestead Slated For Restoration

Over 150 years after the TRITSCH brothers settled in Alma, Wisconsin their property at 331 South Main Street was purchased by Katherine GOODMAN in February of 2008 and slated for restoration.  The building had been subdivided into 3 apartments, much of the original architectural detail was gone or hidden, all of the mechanical systems were ancient and the house had been covered with harvest gold siding since the 1970s. 

But you could tell that under all of the siding their was brick & stone and a jewel was waiting to be revealed.  The presence of a stone house was argued by many, but there are 12-30 inch deep windows & doors in some areas ... a true sign of a stone building.

I had often dreamed of an old house that I could fix up for retirement and it would be wonderful to live on a river.  Who knew that would be the Mississippi River?  After looking at several properties in the dead of winter with my sister and her husband I settled on this one.  Now I had to return to Washington DC, pack up everthing and relocate to Alma, Wisconsin in April. 

1850s TRITSCH Brothers Settle In Alma, Wisconsin

Twelve Mile Bluff, later renamed Alma, Wisconsin, was settled August 20, 1848 by Swiss immigrants who traveled by riverboat from Galena, Illinois.  They settled the area with a "familiar" bluff to their right and the Mississippi to their left and began "getting out" wood for the riverboats that traveled the river.

A few pioneers joined the men over the next few years including the TRITSCH brothers from the Grand Duchy of Baden, Germany in 1856.  Franz Xavier & John Adam, along with John's wife Louisa KOEHMEL TRITSCH, purchased a city lot from the Probst & Wenger addition at 331 South Main Street that included a one-room stone house circa 1853.  One of many land purchases to come, they began their blacksmithing business on the banks of the Mississippi River in the new river town and built a two-story stone house addition circa 1856 with the blacksmith shop on the 1st floor with living quarters above. 

1880 Panorama Drawing of ALMA, Wisconsin

By 1868 the TRITSCH Brothers had erected a grain warehouse on the river and in 1872 a mercantile store & grain exchange.  When the blacksmith shop burned down in 1875 they built a brick addition to the property that housed a hardware store on the 1st floor with living quarters above.  The area became known as TRITSCH's Brick Block. 

North Street (now County Road E) in Alma is a link between the town's two streets.  Main Street runs along the Mississippi River.  Second Street is above, running just below Alma Bluff.  This area is known as TRIITSCH's Hill.  See a trend here?

Closer View From 1880 Panorama of ALMA, Wisconsin
BLUE DOOR INN Is On The Bluff Side of Main Street, Across From The Mississippi River
Lower End of North Street Is To The Right, Can You Find The Porches???

There was a boat landing at this point of the Mississippi River and Native Americans continued to fish, hunt, trap and gather wild foods on nearby river islands.  They often camped on the islands and occasionally they would camp next to the TRITSCH operation when they came to Alma to trade their furs with the TRITSCH family.