Abandoned Towns
Aerial view of Cream: houses, sheds and a barn along WI 88 in a green valley between wooded ridges, August 2024

Farm and ranch town

Cream

A crossroads in the Waumandee Creek valley that once had a hotel, a store, two saloons and the county's first fair. It shrank to a few families, and people still live here.

44°18′58″N 91°46′19″W · ≈780 ft

Photo: Wikideas1, Wikimedia Commons, CC0

Lived-in hamlet

Cream is a small lived-in crossroads, and its houses and farm buildings are private. See it from WI 88 and the public roads. A tornado damaged a home and outbuildings just south of it on April 17, 2026.

Overview

A crossroads in the Waumandee valley

Cream sits on WI 88 in the valley of Waumandee Creek, about 7 miles northeast of Cochrane, where County Road E comes in from Alma. German farmers settled the valley, and Cream was their crossroads. At its peak it had a blacksmith shop, a general store, a hotel, a post office, two saloons and a school. It was a busy spot during Prohibition. In the fall of 1872 Buffalo County held its first fair here, in the southern part of the county.

The businesses closed; our sources don't say when or why. By 1990 about 25 people lived here. That fall from a busy hamlet to a few houses is why ghost town lists carry Cream. It is not empty: houses, sheds and a barn stand along the highway, and families live in them.

The record is thin. We found no dates for the post office, the hotel or the saloons, no founding year and no peak population. The dates below are the ones our sources give.

Timeline

Fair, saloons and a tornado

  1. The first Buffalo County fair is held in the fall at Cream.
  2. At its peak the crossroads has a blacksmith shop, a general store, a hotel, a post office, two saloons and a school, serving German farm families.
  3. Prohibition years; the hamlet is remembered as a busy spot.
  4. The USGS Alma sheet shows Cream on Trunk Highway 88 where a road comes in from Schultz Valley.
  5. Population about 25.
  6. An EF3 tornado with winds of about 140 mph crosses WI 88 just south of Cream and tears the roof and many walls off a family home. No injuries are reported in Cream.

What's left

Homes along WI 88

A home destroyed by the EF3 tornado of April 17, 2026 near Cream, photographed by the National Weather Service the next day
A home destroyed by the EF3 tornado of April 17, 2026 near Cream, photographed by the National Weather Service the next day · Photo: NWS La Crosse, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain

An aerial photo of August 31, 2024 shows Cream as a string of houses, sheds and farm buildings along WI 88 where Waumandee Creek bends close to the road, with fields filling the valley floor and wooded ridges on both sides. Near the creek a barn with a damaged roof stands by the highway.

On April 17, 2026 a tornado formed a few miles southwest of Cream at about 3:27 pm and tracked 8 miles northeast before lifting around 3:43 pm. The National Weather Service rated it EF3, with peak winds near 140 mph. Near WI 88 south of Cream it tore the roof and many exterior walls off a well-built family home, snapped trees and destroyed farm outbuildings. No injuries or deaths were reported in Cream.

The houses are private. Look from the highway shoulder or the county road, and don't walk onto yards or farmland.

The 1932 USGS Alma sheet shows Cream at a bend of Trunk Highway 88, with Schultz Valley to the southwest and Jahns Valley to the north. The 1950 sheet adds Lincoln Cemetery up the highway to the north.

  • Houses and farm buildings along WI 88, lived in (private)
  • Lincoln Cemetery, north on WI 88 (1950 map)
USGS topographic map of Cream on WI 88 beside Little Waumandee Creek, between steep wooded ridges
USGS The National Map, topo. WI 88 follows the valley past Cream, with Little Waumandee Creek beside it, Earney Road to the west and Schultz Valley to the southwest.
Aerial view of the houses and fields at Cream along WI 88
Aerial imagery, closer in. Houses and farm buildings along the highway, with fields on the valley floor.

Historic maps

Cream on USGS maps, 1932–1950

Crops from the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection, centered on the townsite. Each sheet shows what surveyors mapped that year; compare them with today's topo and aerial on this page.

USGS topographic map around Cream, 1932
Alma sheet, 1932, 1:62,500 · U.S. Geological Survey, public domain · catalog record

Map & directions

Getting there

Cream is on WI 88 at County Road E. From Alma on the Mississippi, County Road E climbs east over the bluffs to the valley. From Eau Claire, WI 37 runs south, then county roads lead to WI 88.

USGS topographic map of the bluffs between Alma and Cream, with the drive routes

Base map: USGS The National Map (public domain). Routes: OSRM on © OpenStreetMap contributors data (ODbL), computed October 2026. Times assume dry roads.

From downtown Alma8.6 miabout 21 min
  1. From downtown Alma, turn right onto County Road E.0.1 mi
  2. Turn right onto South 2nd Street (County Road E).0.4 mi
  3. Bear left on County Road E and follow it east to WI 88 at Cream.8.1 mi
Google Maps directionsApple MapsOpenStreetMap

Road and safety notes

  • Both routes are on state highways and paved county roads.
  • The homes and farm buildings are private; stay on the road.

Photos

Cream in photos

Visitor reports

Been to Cream?

Been there lately? Tell the next visitor what you found: whether you could get in, the state of the road and what's still standing. Photos are welcome. We read every report before it appears here.

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Nearby

Other sites near Cream

Straight-line distance from the townsite to other mapped sites in our Wisconsin index.

Sources

Sources and credits

  1. ghosttowns.com, "Cream": the location on WI 88 at County Road E, the blacksmith shop, general store, hotel, post office, two saloons and school, the German farmers, Prohibition, the 1990 population of 25, several buildings remaining, roads, climate and best time.
  2. Wikipedia, "Cream, Wisconsin", retrieved October 2026: coordinates, the Town of Lincoln, WI 88 about 7 miles northeast of Cochrane, the April 17, 2026 tornado and no injuries or deaths in Cream. Cream is on Wikipedia's list of ghost towns in Wisconsin.
  3. National Weather Service La Crosse, "The Tornado Outbreak of April 17 2026", read October 2026: the EF3 rating, 140 mph winds, formation a few miles southwest of Cream about 3:27 pm, the 8-mile path, the damaged home near State Road 88 south of Cream, the downed trees and destroyed outbuildings.
  4. Buffalo-Pepin County Fair, "Fair History", read October 2026: the first Buffalo County fair in the fall of 1872 at Cream.
  5. Wikideas1, "Cream, Wisconsin", Wikimedia Commons, taken August 31, 2024: the houses and buildings along WI 88.
  6. Historic maps: USGS Alma 1:62,500 sheets of 1932 and 1950.
  7. Elevation: USGS 3D Elevation Program point query. Routes: OSRM on OpenStreetMap data, October 2026.

Photo and map credits

  • Cream from the air: houses and farm buildings along WI 88, August 2024: Wikideas1, Wikimedia Commons, CC0
  • A home near Cream wrecked by the EF3 tornado of April 17, 2026, the next day: NWS La Crosse, Wikimedia Commons, Public domain
  • Topo map, area base map and aerial imagery: USGS The National Map (public domain).
  • Historic maps: USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection (public domain): Alma 1932, 1:62,500; Alma 1950, 1:62,500.