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General Information about Orchard Ridge
History of Area
Orchard Ridge General Information
Orchard Ridge is located on the southwest side of Madison, Wisconsin.
The Orchard Ridge neighborhood is generally considered to be
enclosed by the Beltline, Raymond Road, Verona Road and Whitney Way.
The Orchard Ridge Elementary school celebrated its 40th
anniversary in 1998. Orchard Ridge Community Club, an active volunteer
organization in this area that sponsors a variety of events such as a
fabulous July 4th Parade and visits from Santa, will celebrate its 50th
anniversary in 2002.
The Orchard Ridge area is also home to St. Maria Goretti Catholic Church, Good Shepherd Lutheran Church,
Orchard Ridge United Church of Christ, as well as Boy Scouts and Girl
Scouts. The Ridgewood Pool is also located in the Orchard Ridge
neighborhood.
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History of the Area
There is a fair amount of documentation about the history of the area.
There is evidence that different Indian tribes have settled in this area,
some artifacts, such as food storage pits, are estimated to date back to
1250 AD. The Sioux Indians lived in the area around the 1700s, they were
followed by the Chippewa and then the Iroquios Indians. When the Europeans
began to settle in the Orchard Ridge area, most of the inhabitants were
Winnebago Indians.
Documentation from the early white settlers described the Orchard Ridge area as prairie land. There was
quite a large marsh approximately where the Odana Pond is now. (The
Beltline east of Whitney Way bridges the pond.) From the mid 1800s until
1950, the area was considered rural Madison and was primarily dairy
farms.
Mr. Ted Hammersley came to the Orchard Ridge area in the 1870's and
his family established a large dairy farm and apple orchard. His family
sold the farm to the first developer in the area, John McKenna in the
mid 1940s. The first lots for development were 100 by 150 feet and sold
for $1250. The Orchard Ridge Neighborhood was almost completely developed
by 1958.
Orchard Ridge School was built in 1958. The school area had an established woods near it that became part
of the school grounds. In 1962, the Orchard Ridge Garden Club helped
restore 3 acres of woods "to provide a Nature Laboratory where
children, especially, may have the opportunity to study the native
flowers, trees and shrubs of Wisconsin." The Garden Club was
instrumental in establishing different types of plants in the woods and
donated materials to the science classes that could be used to study the
outdoor laboratory.
Orchard Ridge School and community has an interesting history and has a tradition of conservation and
natural preservation and restoration. Many young families are the second
generation in the community.
Most of this information is from Study of a Community The Orchard Ridge School
Area; by Richard W. Magnuson and Thomas W. Klausmeier,
a project funded by a grant from the Wisconsin Environmental Education Council, David Walker,
Executive Secretary.
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Revised by Ralph Patterson
November 11, 2001
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