Stage stops serve varied purposes

The McLellan State Station, once located near Foster, served as a stopping place for travelers, a site for sances and political meetings and at one time for church service. (Courtesy Mrs. William Goede)

     Stage lines and their attendant hostelries were very important in the mid 1800s for transportation and social life of the communities they served.
     The McLellan Stage station at Foster served this area from the early 1850s until 1871 when the railroad arrived. The station provided a stopping place and hotel for travelers and was the site of dances, political meetings and for some years church services. George B. McLellan, grandson of the owner George McLellan, described the early years of the station, saying in winter people came the nearly 15 miles from Eau Claire by horse and sleigh for the social events.

Once three buildings

     McLellan reminisced about the building. It consisted originally, he said, of three separate buildings which were combined in 1899 in a remodeling project. The smallest building was originally part of the main building but in 1899 was set apart to be used as a bar room.
     The stage stopped at this spot to unload passengers. The station included on the ground floor, a sitting room, dining room, pantry, kitchen and four small bedrooms. On the upper floor a dance hall reputed to be big enough to hold five sets for square dancing.
      None of the original buildings remain. The structure including the roof boards, was of almost clear pine. It was plastered inside. L. T. Randall of Augusta tore the inn building down after the era was over.

Located on old Sparta Road

George McLellan	Lucy McLellan

     The elder McLellan, who ran the stage station, then listed on Old Sparta Road, Town of Otter Creek, came to Wisconsin in 1856 remaining in the southern part of the state, then running the stage station at Osseo, known as Beef River Station owned by George Silkworth. The McLellan Station was opened around 1850. An abstract dating to the early years says the land was deeded to Lucy A. McClellan in Nov., 1858.
     The station manager told stories of the early years. He said that during the civil war, the Old Eagle Co., of Eau Claire stopped to dinner and asked "Aunt" Lucy McLellan if she wished to see the famed eagle Old Abe. She did and was led to the cage, the floor of which she found lined with chicken feathers the same hue as her favorite off-colored hens. She'd treated Old Abe to his dinner.

Breakfast for more than 100

     The stage line kept four horses at the station in a barn across the road, build with hand-hewn clear pine timbers 10 by 10 inches and 30 feet long. Mrs. McClellan recalled to her nephew preparing breakfast for 100 or more who had arrived by ox team, mule teams and the stages. The station's dances were quite popular. The charge was $1 per ticket, which included the dance, supper and space for the team in the big barn.
     Now to reach the McLellan station, it doesn't seem like a proper 15 miles by ox team, stagecoach or horseback. It's just a quick ride out of Eau Claire south on Hy 53 to Foster, and 1.4 miles east of Foster on CTH HH. After the elder George B. McLellan's death in 1936, the property was sold and in 1945, the buildings were torn down. Operation as a stage station ceased there in 1871, after the railroad came through from the south.

Extracted from the Eau Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.