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1116 E BROADWAY ST | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society

Property Record

1116 E BROADWAY ST

Architecture and History Inventory
1116 E BROADWAY ST | Property Record | Wisconsin Historical Society
NAMES
Historic Name:
Other Name:
Contributing:
Reference Number:127586
PROPERTY LOCATION
Location (Address):1116 E BROADWAY ST
County:Columbia
City:Wisconsin Dells
Township/Village:
Unincorporated Community:
Town:
Range:
Direction:
Section:
Quarter Section:
Quarter/Quarter Section:
PROPERTY FEATURES
Year Built:1965
Additions:
Survey Date:20032025
Historic Use:lodging-hotel
Architectural Style:Contemporary
Structural System:
Wall Material:Stone - Unspecified
Architect:
Other Buildings On Site:
Demolished?:No
Demolished Date:
NATIONAL AND STATE REGISTER OF HISTORIC PLACES
National/State Register Listing Name:Not listed
National Register Listing Date:
State Register Listing Date:
NOTES
Additional Information:November 2003-Constructed c. 1965, the two story Trails End Motel features stone walls, a side gabled roof, and a concrete foundation. The motel is oriented perpendicular to Broadway Street. Along the main side of the motel, there are three evenly spaced, swept-back gabled pediments with decorative brackets from which large globe lights hang. Vertical wood siding is present in the gabled ends. Three sets of interior stairs accessed through doors with decorative surrounds provide access to the balcony, which runs the length of the main façade. Fenestration is a combination of patio-style doors and small fixed-pane windows. Neon signs reading "Office" are located on the northwest corner. A detached garage is located off the southwest corner. A detached garage is located off the southwest corner. A modern house constructed in 1988 is located at the rear of the property and serves as the current motel office. October 2025: The hotel located at 1116 E Broadway is a two-story, rectangular building constructed in a Mid-Twentieth-Century Modern motel style. The building’s exterior walls are composed of ashlar-patterned stone and the structure is capped with a gabled roof clad in asphalt shingles. The roofline is distinguished by three broad, cantilevered overhangs. The building’s primary façade faces the parking lot and adjacent pool area. Guest room entrances are oriented toward the parking lot and are accessed directly from the exterior. Ground-floor rooms open directly onto the paved parking area, while second-floor rooms are reached via a continuous open-air balcony that spans the full length of the façade. The balcony is sheltered beneath the deep eaves of the cantilevered roof. It features a white-painted iron railing with simple vertical balusters. Currently known as the Trails End Motel, the building located at 1116 E Broadway Street was built ca. 1965. It was owned and operated by William Parfievich and his wife, Gwen. Little was found specifically relating to the Trails End Motel. A post card from the 1960’s depicts the motel and its swimming pool, noting the hotel as a new “30-unit motel with ceramic tub and showers, huge new pool, color cable TV, soundproof and fireproof, AC, Electric heat, Family Units and Children’s area
Bibliographic References:Butterfield, Consul Willshire. The History of Columbia County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1880. Easterseals Wisconsin. “History of Camp Wawbeek.” Programs & Services. Last Modified 2025. https://www.eastersealswisconsin.com/programs-services/camps/history-of-camp/#:~:text=Today%2C%20Wawbeek%20aims%20to%20give,full%20potential%2C%20and%20enjoy%20life. Heggland, Timothy F., and Katherine H. Rankin. National Register of Historic Places Inventory—Nomination Form: Wawbeek, The Horace A. J. Upham Residence (Camp Wawbeek), Wisconsin Dells, Columbia County, Wisconsin. Madison, WI: United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1985. Kendrick, Megan. “Roadside Motels.” SAH Archipedia. Edited by Gabrielle Esperdy and Karen Kingsley. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Press, 2012–. Accessed November 2, 2025. https://sah-archipedia.org/essays/CA-01-ART-01. Minsky, Carla. “From Logging Town to Steamboat Tour Central to ‘The Waterpark Capital of the World.” Wisconsin Dells History. Last Modified February 18, 2015. https://www.wisdells.com/Media/Facts-and-Figures/History. Trails End Motel. Wisconsin Dells, WI: Trumble Photography, n.d. Postcard. Vasquez, Rachael. “How did the Wisconsin Dells become the ‘waterpark capital of the world’?” Business, Economy, History, Jobs. Last Modified January 19, 2022. https://www.wpr.org/economy/how-did-wisconsin-dells-become-waterpark-capital-world. Wisconsin Historical Society. Black Oaks Cottages, Wisconsin Dells, 1927. Image ID 103906. Madison, Wisconsin. Accessed October 31, 2025. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM103906. Wood, Andrew. “The Rise and Fall of the Great American Motel.” Smithsonian Magazine. June 30, 2017. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/twilight-mom-and-pop-motel-180963895/. Wyatt, Barbara and State Historical Society of Wisconsin. Cultural Resource Management in Wisconsin: A Manual for Historic Properties. State Historical Society of Wisconsin, 1986
RECORD LOCATION
Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory, State Historic Preservation Office, Wisconsin Historical Society, Madison, Wisconsin

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