More than 40 Wisconsin communities have a 'lovers lane.' Here are their stories.

Roses are red, violets are blue — drive down a county road, and there might be a Lovers Lane near you.

For Valentine's Day, the Journal Sentinel data team dug into a database of Wisconsin roads to identify every community with some variation of the street name "Lovers Lane."

We found 44 such roads in Wisconsin, spanning 50 miles across 30 counties.

Suburban Washington County has more than any other county, with seven different segments called "Lovers Lane" or something similar. The county also boasts the longest Lovers Lane in the state, running south from Slinger for about 10 miles.

Lovers' Lanes in Wisconsin

Wisconsin has 44 roads named "Lovers' Lane" or something similar. Thirty counties across the state have at least one.

Map by Andrew Hahn / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Why is this street name so common?

It "goes back to the 1920s or so, when cars started being used quite a lot," local historian Carl Baehr told the Journal Sentinel in 2021. "The story goes that young lovers would get in the car and drive away from where they could be observed."

Today, many of these lanes have been developed into bigger roads that don't afford lovers the privacy they desire. But underneath the asphalt, there are still many memories of people who found love, on or off the lanes.

Village of Wausaukee, Marinette County

In the small village of Wausaukee in northern Wisconsin, Lovers Lane was a secluded spot where younger people once went “necking,” according to resident Ruth Schroeder.

She said the Schroeder family, which owned the land in that area, named the road "Lovers Lane" many generations ago after witnessing the start of many love stories there.

In the late '60s and early '70s, the area became a known spot for "beer parties," according to longtime resident Bob Jicha.

At the time, an old logging road formed a “Y” intersection on Lovers Lane, Jicha recalled. After people arrived at the intersection, those who were drinking went to the right — and lovers went to the left.

Today, what used to be a secret local spot has developed into a “busy subdivision,” according to village administrator Sara Pullen. Lovers Lane in Wausaukee now connects Highway 180 and Jamros Road.

Village of Campbellsport, Fond du Lac County

In the village of Campbellsport in Fond du Lac County, the local Lover's Road has inspired a song: "Lover's Lane," written by Cliff Rettler and his band, Sunday Sunglasses.

The song is inspired by his time dating his now-wife, Angel Rettler, who is the village clerk.

The road, located on Highway 45 between Jorge Taco and Trollop’s Bar, is a known spot among locals, according to Angel Rettler.

"During the start of our relationship, Cliff lived right by Lover's Road and drove past it frequently, inspiring him to write a song about our love," Rettler said.

Angel and Cliff Rettler live only 5 minutes from Lovers Road today.

Town of Willow Springs, Lafayette County

James Acherman, the town chairman of Willow Springs in Wisconsin's southwest corner, said many people probably have no idea that the town's Lover Lane was built because of a school.

In 1840, the town built a rural school for kids near the intersection of Furnace Hill Road and County Road F. Both were main roads, so the town decided to build a smaller road with less traffic that led children directly to the school, according to Acherman.

It was meant to serve as a safe shortcut, but it soon became a place where kids parked their cars after school to kiss, Acherman said.

The school closed in the 1960s, along with many other rural schools in the area. Acherman said he thought Lover Lane might disappear along with it. But the town decided to keep the road, and its name.

Today, Lover Lane serves the town as a regular road and shortcut from Furnace Hill Road to County Road F.

City of Milwaukee, Milwaukee County

In Milwaukee, Lovers Lane is split into two parts of a 40-mile highway, connected by Mayfair Road and 108th Street.

The road was built in the 1920s as an alternative route to avoid the increasing traffic in the city, according to Baehr, the author of the book "Milwaukee Streets: The Stories Behind Their Names."

At the time, it was a narrow, rural road that was wooded on both sides.

But Milwaukee's old lane for lovers met the same fate as many others around the country: It is now a busy highway, without much in the way of secret make-out spots.

Do you have a story about a lovers' lane in your community? Send Journal Sentinel data reporter Eva Wen a note at qwen@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: How many 'lovers lanes' are there in Wisconsin?