Way to Go, Wisconsin

Madison Wisconsin retains many older neighborhoods as it struggles with its growth. In the downtown area near the University, housing needs grow along with the University. In this case, a church sold some property to be developed that had a Victorian home on it.

The Collins house, shown here, and its neighbor on Johnson St. were the site of the Wayland Christian Community on the UW-Madison campus for more than 50 years. The Wayland property has been sold to a developer to construct a 14 story apartment building. The proceeds of the sale will form the basis of an endowment to fund the campus ministry far into the future. The city has required that, of the two houses located there, the Collins house on Mills street be moved and preserved, since it has historical and architectural interest. The city refers to the house as the Conklin house since the son of an early Madison mayor lived there. The Wayland board gave the house the name, Collins House, in honor of the Rev. "Shorty" Collins, who served as the Baptist campus minister from 1928 to 1957.

Here is the story of moving that house.