It seems to provide tourism revenue to regions at a pretty low cost.
Mazomanie's comeback is partly because of historical society members who saw the potential of their hamlet nestled amid rolling hills, the Wisconsin River, Black Earth Creek (a Class A trout stream) and farm fields.Its location is a tourism promoter's dream: on the road between the popular Taliesin -- the home of Frank Lloyd Wright -- and the state capital of Madison. It's also within an hour's drive of water-park-filled Wisconsin Dells.
"It's really been an awakening in the last year or so," said David Friske. He and his wife, Karisa, own the Walking Iron Bed and Breakfast, a brick Victorian Italianate house built in 1865 just outside downtown.
The area is also known for its onetime controversial nude beach on the Wisconsin River in the nearby Town of Mazomanie. It attracts naturists from other states and is the only public nude beach in Wisconsin, though not officially designated as such.