Putting together the history of a piece of land that was once a focal point of the community is an ongoing project for two locals—one who does metal detecting, and the other the property’s current owner.

Turning back the pages on the calendar to months that happened many, many decades—even centuries—ago, a now-residential area toward the end of Cuba City’s Main Street transforms into a rolling landscape of farmland. 

Agricultural buildings replace young trees and newer landscaping.

On the property where there is now a house sits another structure. 

Running in and around its doors are the children of what is now the Cuba City region. They visit this rural building every day: It’s their schoolhouse.

“I found out recently that the schoolhouse was torn down during the ‘40s,” said Reggie Polfer, who now owns the property where the schoolhouse used to be.

“Originally our home was sided with steel siding that was made to look like brick. It even had white lines to look like mortar,” added Polfer. “Our home was built to the east of the Red Brick School, and the old school was used as a summer kitchen.”  

“There’s a lot of history behind this place,” said Polfer. “...A lot changed” over the years at the site.

It was an approximately-120-acre farm when Polfer bought his land there in the 1960s, and before that it was an even larger ag area surrounding the place of learning, he said. 

Fast forward to present day, “It’s (nearly) all subdivision,” he added. 

The more Polfer has researched the history of the place online, the more he has wanted to learn.

Eventually, he decided to bring out an expert who he found through Facebook to help.

Polfer called in Jim Winter, a former newspaper editor who does metal detecting and bottle digging, magnet fishing and creek-walking. 

“I do it to save history,” said Winter. For now, it’s a hobby. Someday, he envisions it being a potentially more full-time role, possibly post-retirement.

When Winter gets requests from area residents, he packs up his equipment and heads out to their properties. Once he’s done detecting a place, he presents his findings to the property owners. 

He shows them the unearthed pieces and tells the residents the background information he has on them. 

“Every once in a while I have to look something up,” said Winter, but he frequently has at least some level of familiarity with the items’ origins. 

Sometimes the owners keep the artifacts, but other times they give them to Winter, so he has put together a nice collection of relics. 

“I always want to give back,” though, said Winter, so he shows people who are new to the metal detecting world the ropes and reinvests donations he receives into his projects, as well. 

“I don’t do it for the money,” he said. It’s more for “the thrill,” of finding artifacts that help preserve the past, he said. 

He has found a range of incredible items during the process, from rare coins to military buttons from the War of 1812 to a U.S. Infantry Civil War belt buckle.

Polfer said he was hoping that Winter may be able to uncover something on his property unique to the old schoolhouse.

But with how much time has passed and with how much things have changed, he thought, “‘The possibilities are probably not too great’” of that happening, said Polfer. Unfortunately, “So much has changed, it’s kind of hard to find anything.” 

Even so, Winter was able to track down an old ‘Indian Head’ penny there, he said. 

Ironically, that was one of the few items that Polfer said he’d be interested in keeping if Winter were to find one—and he noted that aloud to Winter just before Winter found the item. They joked that Polfer manifested it into reality. 

“‘Indian Head’ pennies are much harder to find,” said Winter, noting that it’s always exciting to come across them, as a result. The one from Polfer’s property in particular is from 1898, which is an old and rare item to hunt down.

Though Winter wasn’t able to find many artifacts directly related to the old school building during his trip to Polfer’s place, Polfer does have some bricks from it.

“I gave a brick from the school to the Round School in 1975,” said Polfer. “They have it in one of their display cases.”

Winter also found “some little trinkets here and there” when he ran his metal detector over Polfer’s place. These ranged from an accordion reed to some modern coins, and a Janesville Clothing Company button from roughly the 1920s era.

Polfer and Winter are hoping that Winter may come across even more items to help continue piecing together the history of the former schoolhouse during Winter’s next trip to Polfer’s place, which they’re already in the process of planning.

Anyone else who is interested in having their property metal-detected may contact Winter to learn more. He is reachable by email at jimwinter34@gmail.com or through Facebook Messenger via the ‘Driftless Digger’ page or his personal page (Jim Winter).