History

NOTE: This narrative was most recently updated Thusday afternoon, Aug 12, 2010 and is not yet finalized. Please contact a member of the association board with your critique, comments and corrections!

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The name "Waunona" was coined by Frank Weston, a former resident, from the first syllable of "Waubesa" and the last two syllables of "Monona." Pioneer settlers recalled occasional visits from the Ho Chunk (formerly Winnebago Indians), whose summer village was in woods around the east end of Squaw Bay and the Yahara River outlet. Arrow points were still being found at the east end of Waunona Way into the 1970s.

The Waunona area extends approx. 1.5 miles west to east along Lake Monona from Turville Bay to the Yahara River, including the south shore of Squaw Bay and extending approx. 0.2-0.4 mile south as far as Lake Point Drive and the South Beltline. The latitude is approx. 43° 3’ N and the longitude approx. 89° 21’ W. The highest point is 925 feet above sea level near Quinn Circle (named for former Esther Beach Road resident Edgar Quinn.) Lake Monona's surface is 845 feet above sea level; 5.4 square miles in area, its deepest point is 75 ft.

Various parts of the area were bought from the government by the first settlers between 1835 and 1837. For example in Raywood Heights (for location see below) – land records document sales from United States Land Office to Francis R. Tillou in 1835 and from United States Land Office to Lucius Lyon in 1836.

The eastern end of Waunona was owned by John Griffith and still bears the plat name Griffith's Beach. The oak forest on the land was cut to furnish fuel for Camp Randall during the Civil War. From the 1850's to 1966 it was the Herd farm and much of it is now Wild Oak Circle, Waunona Woods condominiums and Monona Shores apartments.

West of the Herd farm as far as Raywood Road was the 70 acre farm of William Weber (source of the name for Weber Drive), who planted 1400 trees along the lake front. Most of the farm was subdivided in 1904 and sold. Weber's daughter Elsa, with the donated time and skill of local trade unions, remodeled the family residence into a convalescent home for children with rheumatic fever, the first such home in the state and a forerunner of "Kiddie Camp" later sponsored by The Capital Times newspaper. The house subsequently became an American Legion hall; apartment buildings now occupy the location.

The western end of Waunona was characterized by avenues of tamarack and pines, circles of cedar and squares of hemlock planted by George V. Ott and an English gardener, James Bull, in 1866. The tamarack lane lined a path to a lakefront spring where residents came for water. Some of these trees still stand. At the beginning of the 20th century, "Redhouse" (3037 Waunona Way, later the long-time residence of Mrs. H.W. Harriman for whom Harriman Lane is named) was the home of author Honore Willsie Morrow, who referred to the great lanes of trees in one of her novels.

"Hollywood at the Beach" was a dance hall at the foot of Esther Beach Road, to which Madisonians came by boat in the first decades of the 1900s. U.S postal service delivery also was by boat until about 1925; summer residents picked up their mail at the dance hall. In the winter, Madisonians traveled overland to go ice skating at the beach. Another popular spot was the "Davis Dining Room" on the highway (now Broadway) between Raywood and Esther Beach Road, famous for Sunday chicken dinners.

Before 1914, the road to Madison was a dirt road, following part of what is now Badger Road. In that year a one-lane concrete road was laid that followed the section lines with right-angle turns, crossed the railroad tracks on a wooden bridge, and paralleled the tracks to Lakeside Street. The concrete was mixed by hand; mule teams hauled the materials. It is said that the first quack grass to the area came in the straw bedding for the mules. It is also believed this was the state's first concrete road. The present 4-lane Broadway was first laid in 1936, the current Beltline dates from the mid-1980s.

Also in 1936, Henry Turville began planting water lilies, American lotus (Nelumbo Lutea), in Turville Bay (east of Olin Park and Turville Point.) After 10 years they became well-established and for many years the bay was blanketed by the blooms. From the mid-1960's powerboats and waterskiing caused too much turbulence and while none remain in the bay today, there is a colony of them emerging in Wingra Creek (Olin Park to Lake Wingra.)

In 1930 when there were 4 or 5 permanent families with children, the eastern half of the area detached from Nichols School to form a rural school district, children were taught by Mildred (Mrs. B.H.) Ashman. Between 1935 and 1940, the number of year-round residents grew to outnumber summer residents. The western half of the area detached from Badger School and by 1942 children attended Madison schools (Franklin School through 8th grade, and Central High School.)

The first telephones were 5-party lines installed before 1920, and required ringing "Central" to ask for a phone number such as "Oakwood 12R5." The first electric power line to serve Waunona dates from about 1927 (the first along Broadway came much later and the ATC high-transmission lines are planned for the Beltline 2011-2013).

The water main along Waunona Way was installed in the early 1930s as a federal government Works Progress Administration (WPA) project. Before then, each house had its own well. (It is reported that when some of the deep wells near the Yahara River were drilled, old wood that was brought up was similar to some that had been Carbon-14 dated to be pre-glacial, perhaps 25,000 years old.) A sewer district was formed in 1945-47, and sewers laid about 1951.

House numbers were assigned in 1937. Formerly situated in both the Town of Madison and the Town of Blooming Grove, Waunona was annexed to the City of Madison in 1954, and paved streets with curb-and-gutter first came in 1960.

Over the years street names were both established and changed. The western end of the area, Ethelwyn Park (and subsequently Ethelwyn Road), was named after the daughter of Col. W. J. Anderson who lived there, and platted in 1899. That segment of Waunona Way itself was called Frazier Avenue at that time. The present Frazier did not exist but is today an extension from what was then Frazier Avenue.

East of Ethelwyn Park was Raywood Heights, platted in 1900; its main street was called Rex Road. In 1856 Esther Beach road was labeled the "Road to Madison by Ferry" and in 1900 it was named "Lake Street" Raywood Road was called Clark Street. In the 1980s Mrs. Bertha Speranza was the lone "Broadway" resident who had to change her address as a result of the Beltline realignment; she proposed Nana Lane for the name her grandchildren called her.

East of Raywood Heights was the Hoboken Beach area, platted in 1904. Waunona Way was called Monona Avenue. Fayette Road has remained unchanged and was apparently named for Fayette Durlin who directed the survey and platting in 1904. Hoboken Road was called Edwards Avenue. Simpson Street, now Lake Point Drive, was named for Hoboken Road resident Eugene Simpson.

Esther Beach was established by the Blooming Grove Town Board about 1940 and the Red Cross first provided the life guard. Madison Community Recreation offered swimming lessons in the 1960s to Waunona children. Originally intended to be the site of a neighborhood elementary school, Waunona Park was also established and staffed by Community Recreation in the 1960s. Thut Park, its core property a bequest from former Woodley Lane residents Sam and Mildred Thut, was developed over two decades and dedicated in 2010.

The Waunona Garden Club social organization was formed in 1953 with Mrs. Betty (Nashold) Williams as first president. The Waunona [Neighborhood] Association grew from a need to serve area residents in matters of school, beach, sewer, zoning, highway, and other concerns. All Waunona residents are members of the Association.

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This history compiled August 2010 by JoAnn Tiedemann (nominal resident since 1957) from 1964, 1972, 1976, and 1984 editions prepared by BENJAMIN H. ASHMAN (teacher, Waunona resident and apple orchard owner for 58 years), which appeared in the Waunona Directories of those years published by the Waunona Garden Club. Additional information provided by residents Mary Caulfield, Doris Lang, and Mary Brandes.