Continue east on Crampton Road
and on the left you’ll see a sign
for Gebhardt LLC, also owned
by the Gehbardt family. Before
being planted to cranberries in
the 1990s, a mint farm operated
in this area. The peppermint oil
was extracted for use in flavoring
candies, toothpaste and other
products.
Crampton Road intersects with
county Hwy HH. The marsh
sign is a few yards to the right,
but directly in front of you is
QRS&M Cranberry Company. This
cranberry marsh was started in
1877. Prior to that the sawmill
community of Chaplin was
located on this property.
Turn left on to Hwy HH. As you
head west on HH, you will see
a sign on the right for Farmland
Management’s Jackson-Meadow
Valley Marsh. Old-timers still call
this the Case Marsh. Russel Case
purchased government land in
1876 that had wild cranberries
growing on it. The marsh stayed
in the Case family until the death
of Robert “Bob” Case – Russel’s
grandson – in 1975.
Bob Case was an inventor and
built one of the first mechanized
cranberry pickers. For a time,
Bob had his workshop in Union
Cranberry Company warehouse
that now houses the Wisconsin
Cranberry Discovery Center. One
of Bob’s early raking machines is
on display in the museum.
The next sign you’ll see – also on
the right – is for Scott Cranberry’s
East Marsh. Also started in the
1870s, the marsh was purchased
in 1918 by Judge John Stevens
and settled on by his daughter
and son-in-law Genevieve and
Archibald Scott in 1921. The
marsh has been in continuous
operation by members of the
Stevens/Scott family since that
time and is currently a fifth-
generation family farm.
One mile further east on HH is
JR Nemitz Cranberry Company,
which has beds located on both
sides of the road. The Nemitz
family diversified their farm in
2014 by planting Aronia which
– like cranberries – are native to
North America. Aronia berries are
small, dark purple berries that
have become popular among
44