If, perchance, one dwells in a town where the inhabitants do not keenly appreciate the pleasure derived from rare old trees, or where the authorities have destroyed many a precious one, the visitor will be charmed with the beauty of the streets of Baraboo. In many places grand old elms arch the thoroughfares, giving wondrous beauty to the vista and shade in the mid-summer season.
The gnarled burr oak nearly opposite the garage, standing at 708 Oak Street, is without doubt the oldest living thing in the town. An appreciative magazine editor once graced the pages of his publication with a story of this old oak and since then it is often spoken of as the "Magazine Tree."
Church With Memorial Windows
On the northeast corner of Oak and Sixth Streets is seen Trinity Episcopal Church, a charming edifice of Gothic design, adorned with several memorial windows. A bronze tablet on the interior speaks of the long service of out of the rectors, Rev. Samuel B. Cowdry.
A Giant of the Town
A few paces on the opposite side of the street towers a giant cottonwood, one of the largest trees in town. It stands nearly in front of the residence at 821 Oak. Here Mrs. August Ringling, the mother of the circus brothers, enjoyed the evening of life and died in 1907. The daughter, Mrs. Harry North, and her family resided here until the spring of 1919 when they moved to the stone mansion at 617 Broadway.
Diagonally across the way, 107 Seventh Street, is the home of the late J. J. Gattiker, one of the early residents of the town. It is now occupied by his two daughters. This delightful old home, with its luxurious shrubbery and garden, its extensive library and pipe organ, has long been a gathering place for the literary and musical folk of Baraboo.
Passing up the street one block brings the stroller to Eighth, and to the left about two blocks, number 234, is the late home of A. G. Ringling, the first of the seven brothers to answer the call of death. The home is now occupied by Mrs. Ringling.
Relatives of a Movie Star
Just east of the Ringling residence, 218 Eighth Avenue, a small house is half hidden behind a group of pines, the place where Clara Kimball Young's grandparents, Professor and Mrs. J. S. Kimball, resided for many years. The parents of the movie star, Mr. and Mrs. Edward M. Kimball, dwelt there with the professor and his wife for a year or more when the daughter was in her infancy.