5 people who lent their names to local landmarks

Tom Giffey |

Banbury Place. Photo: tylerholmes94
Banbury Place. Photo: tylerholmes94

You've heard the names. You've seen the places. But who exactly are these people forming the fabric of existence we call The Chippewa Valley? Read on to learn about people whose names are familiar, even if their lives are not.

1. Fernley H. Banbury

You probably know that Banbury Place, the vast mixed-use facility in Eau Claire, used to be the Uniroyal Goodrich Tire Co. plant. You probably didn’t realize that its name was inspired by the tire-making that used to go on there. A Banbury mixer is an industrial machine used to compound rubber and plastic; it takes its name from its inventor, an early 20th-century British engineer.

2. Charles Dunn

You likely haven’t heard of this guy, either, though you use his name all the time (at least if you live in Menomonie). Dunn was the chief justice of the Wisconsin Territorial Supreme Court from 1836 until Wisconsin became a state in 1848. He was a big enough celebrity at the time that folks decided to name a whole county after him in 1854. He later served in the state Senate and lost a bid for U.S. Congress.

3. James Huff Stout

No, the public university in Menomonie didn’t get its name because its students are husky. In 1891, wealthy lumberman James Huff Stout founded the Stout Manual Training School (kind of what we now call a tech school). Stout later served in the state Senate, and the institute he founded went through four name changes to become today’s UW-Stout.

4. Hallie Sherman

Not many things got named after women back in the day, but here’s an exception: Hallie Sherman’s name lives on in the form of a village, township, and lake in Chippewa County. She was the daughter of Capt. Arthur Sherman, who after the Civil War operated a sawmill known as “Blue Mills” on what came to be called Lake Hallie.

5. William Irvine

William Irvine is the guy you have to thank if you’ve ever enjoyed the zoo, splash pad, band shell, or anything else in Chippewa Falls’ beautiful 318-acre Irvine Park. Like many of the men who lent their names to parks, buildings, and institutions around here, Irvine made his fortune in the lumber trade.