It was a sight to behold Tuesday morning as the 40-ton, 1,300 square-foot home slowly made its way down Highway 16. But, more importantly, it was history in the making.

The historic Palmer-Lewis-Octagon Home made its long-awaited move March 4, taking up its new residency just outside the village of West Salem.

“It’s something we’ve been looking forward to for a year and it’s finally happening,” said Errol Kindschy, president of the West Salem Historical Society, which owns the house. “It’s finally coming to fruition and finally taking place.”

It took about 15 minutes for the house to make its move about a quarter mile down Highway 16. The 152-year-old building previously sat near Neshonoc Sports & Service along the highway but will now reside at W3362 Highway 16, between highways 108 and 16.

“I’m just ecstatic,” Kindschy said.

The past

The Palmer-Lewis-Octagon Home dates back to 1856 and is on the national historical registry. The house was built by Monroe Palmer, the founder of Neshonoc, a neighboring town to West Salem that died in the 1860s.

Over the years, changes to ownership as well as some to the house were made. Eventually, Evenson & Co. acquired the house and neighboring land from former owner Helen Lewis to develop the Neshonoc Lake Addition.

With the house being located on commercial land, Dave Evenson of Evenson & Co. said the site would be slated for development. However, Evenson said they didn’t want to tear down the building and instead wanted to try and find a way to save it.

Enter the historical society.

In December 2006, Evenson & Co. donated the house to the WSHS — with the intent the organization would find a new spot for it.

But then came the question of where to put it? Again, things seemed to fall into place.

In March 2007, La Crosse County gave the historical society a 25-year, $1-a-year lease for a 2.5-acre site at W3362 Highway 16 for the home — which is almost at the exact place where the house was originally located.

All that remained was the move.

The present

The actual preparation of moving the home wasn’t necessarily difficult, said Tri-State Movers owner Dan Hurd, but actually getting a date where everything lined up for the big move was a little more tricky.

Originally, the house was scheduled to be moved last August, but torrential rains in the area and clean-up that followed diverted crews elsewhere.

“With the rain and other buildings we had on equipment, we just couldn’t get to (the Octagon Home),” said Hurd, who is among a crew of four at Tri-State Movers. “We tried, but we just ran short of equipment.”

After a route was determined for the move, Kindschy said the process was slowed as they needed approval from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation.

The historical society then found out they needed to work with Xcel Energy and Charter Communications as lines would be disturbed during the move.

The process was further sidelined when Xcel Energy crews were diverted to the south when an ice storm snapped power lines. And consistent snow and cold weather in West Salem postponed dates in December and January.

“It was just like it wasn’t supposed to happen,” Kindschy said. “It was one thing after the other.”

However, after coordinating with the proper government agencies and businesses — and some help from Mother Nature — the move finally happened earlier this week.

Hurd and his crew were mainly preparing the house for the move late last year. After using hydraulic jacks to lift the house up, steel support beams and cribbing were placed underneath.

For the actual move, a set of roller beams and beam skates were placed underneath and the house was winched off its foundation. With a series of axle tires under each side of the house, the home was somewhat transformed into trailer while a semi tractor pulled it.

Although Hurd said the house is estimated to be about 40 tons — partly attributed to the home’s old plaster — the total weight during the move was likely around 50 tons with the equipment. He said Tri-State Movers has moved heavier homes, but the Octagon Home’s 40-foot width made the move unique.

“This probably is a little heavier than what we typically move,” Hurd said. “We’ve moved heavier ones, but typically they’re smaller homes we deal with.”

Hurd said the Holmen-based Tri-State Movers has moved historic homes in the past, but this is the first the company has done in the La Crosse area. He said he enjoys it when a historical structure is able to find a new home instead of being torn down.

“I like to save buildings — that’s my line of work,” Hurd said. “To me, if it can be moved feasibly, it’s worth moving.”

The Octagon Home measured about 30 feet high during the move, which did affect Xcel Energy and Charter Communications lines.

Brian Elwood, a spokesperson for Xcel Energy, said about six residential and business customers were affected during the move, although none of the customers were affected at the same time nor were they without electricity for more than a half hour.

A spokesperson for Charter Communications could not be reached for comment, although Kindschy said he believed Charter customers were notified that their service could be disrupted.

Traffic along Highway 16 was slightly affected during the 15-minute move. Eastbound traffic was stopped the longest as the house moved across the highway and traveled westbound in the eastbound lanes. The Wisconsin State Patrol directed traffic.

The future

It’s the historical society’s hope to turn the Palmer-Lewis-Octagon Home into a tourist center that would be open May through September. The home would likely have arts and crafts from area people for sale in addition to a museum room and storage space.

Kindschy said it would be nice to have the home ready to be opened by the end of May or the first part of June, but a foundation and a parking lot would still need be to added for the site.

Originally, the cost estimate for the physical move of the house was $13,000 and $27,000 if the foundation and parking lot were added to the total project. However, the total number has grown to $30,000 to $40,000.

To date, Kindschy said the WSHS has raised $14,000 and the historical society has taken out a loan. He said the group will be doing some more fundraising throughout the year, but he said the historical society is just happy to have the house moved, and they look forward to the future.

“It’s finally happening — it’s a major event,” Kindschy said. “This’ll be a great addition for West Salem.”