A jewel of a small town....Ashland WI.

If you would like to take a fascinating walk through a small town's history, you should definitely visit Ashland, Wisconsin, and do the mural walk in the downtown business district. What started out as a "one-only" mural to celebrate the state sesquicentennial celebration has resulted in an entirely different purpose. The mural was so popular that the mural artists, Sue Martinsen and Kelly Meredith, were commissioned to do more and it blossomed into more than 11 murals over 12 years. It has turned Ashland into the Mural Capital of Wisconsin and the mission now is to promote art, history, and tourism to the area. The 8 block main street business district, where the majority of the murals are located, is listed on the National Register for Historic places. The murals display the history of Ashland i.e., founders of Ashland, lumberjack industry, WWII veterans of the town, area lighthouses, early storefront establishments, 1940's waitresses, 1950 icons, and the iron ore docks to name a few.

Aspah Whittlesey Mural depicts the founder of Ashland and other early settlers in front of the Ashland State Bank as it existed in 1892.

The Storefront Mural depicts 13 retail, banking, and entertainment establishments from Ashland's past.

This mural depicts 3 lighthouses located within the Apostle Islands and their lighthouse keepers

The icing on the cake is that there has never been a problem with graffiti on the murals and the artists feel safe in just leaving their painting gear when they leave the various sites. It is always there and untouched when they return. Perhaps the murals are treated with respect because the community as a whole feels such a strong a sense of pride in them.

We stayed in Kreher Park, which is right in Ashland, located on Lake Superior and is an RV only campsite. We had a beautiful site right on the water and had awesome sunsets. It is a lovely park with very reasonable rates.

Our campsite @Kreher RV Park in Ashland WI

The Northern Great Lakes Visitor Center is a don't miss stop, 2.5 miles west of Ashland off Highway 2. Interactive exhibits, multi-media theater, museum, gift shop, and 5-story observation tower. And while in the area, don't miss the Apostle Islands which is another story in itself....