WHAT’S ON TAP WITH THE MAP. A portion of Dick Feeney’s map of local history, with notes and landmarks in text and a numerical key. We’ve added photos overtop of it (Walter’s Brewery (above), Grand Avenue Bridge (left), and a circus elephant (right)) to show some of the items detailed on the map.

As far as random knowledge of the Chippewa Valley goes, Dick Feeney is arguably the champion of it. You’ve probably heard rumor of the East Hill elephants, but did you know there used to be a depot that was made of red stone in the area? Or did you know that there used to be a few airports? These details are just the tip of the iceberg of Feeney’s knowledge of the area – a knowledge that he has passed on through comic books, tours, videos, and now an interactive historical map.

Feeney has lived in the area for about 77 years, and recalls looking in his mom’s box of old news clippings as a young boy. From there, his love of history blossomed.

In high school, Feeney created a comic book about local history. A novel idea, but one that didn’t catch on, and several years later Feeney began giving driving tours of historic places along the Chippewa River, from Eau Claire to Durand. This was another idea that unfortunately didn’t catch on, so Feeney transitioned to bus tours that would leave from the Chippewa Valley Museum. Visitors could choose among the local, down river, and/or up-river tours.

When bus expenses became too high, Feeney decided to make videos of his tours. These videos are now available at the local public libraries and also air on Chippewa Valley Community Television. “Now people can experience the same tours that I gave before from their arm chair,” Feeney explained.

All of his hard work did not go unnoticed, and CTV recently gave him an award for the “Best program of the year generated by one person.” From voice-overs to shooting video, the programming that he created was a one-man show.

    As if that isn’t enough, Feeney’s latest venture is the creation of a map of the Chippewa Valley – but not a map illustrating locales so much as a map of local history. A project several years in the making, Feeney would go in to the public library and look at old pictures and maps, slowly discovering new sites. Once he had an idea of where these sites were located, he would then go out, try to find the sites, and decipher whether or not it was a historic landmark that should be included on his map. Some of the sites took several years for him to find and verify.

After his retirement, Feeney had the challenge of figuring out what he was going to do with his map. He started out by having a few copies made, but thought it was important to create a more official version. This “sophisticated version,” as Feeney described it, includes no-longer-existing historic features in red and existing historic features in black. The map also includes photos from the present and the past along with correlating background information and details of local history.

But why would Feeney dedicate so much time and effort into ensuring that local residents have access to these historical facts?

“More and more landmarks are disappearing,” he said. “I wanted to make a map for people in the future to actually know where these things are and to be able to reference it.”

Feeney has since handed over the map to the Chippewa Valley Museum, and they hope to have a distributable version ready soon. And when locals hold Feeney’s map in hand, in a way it will serve as a type of legacy that he has left behind for future generations.

“The process has been a lot of fun,” said Feeney, with a note of excitement in his voice. “It’s like going on a quest, finding problems, and actually answering them. Proving that things really existed and passing it along.”