Kewaunee, Wisconsin, where rail and water meet

68 Pages·1927·9.27 MB·English

by  American Legion. Kewaunee Post 29.

A Souvenir Booklet
HOMECOMING CELEBRATION
Auspices Kewaunee Post No. 29
Department of Wisconsin
JULY 3·4, 1927
Kewaunee - "Where Rail and Water Meet"
i,Kewaunee, Wisconsin-"Where Rail and Water Meet"-is a prosper
ous little city on the west shore of Lake Michigan, two hundred miles due
north of Chicago. It is located in the southeastern part of Kewaunee
County, one of the richest counties in the United States, at the mouth of
he Kewaunee River and is built partially in the valley and partially on
the higher gi-ound overlooking it. The population of the city in 1!)17 is
approximately 2500.
Missionaries visited the site of the present city in 1674 and Jacques
Veau, a French trader, is said to have established a "jack-knife" trading
Where Rail and Water .Meet
post at the mouth of the Kewaunee mver as early as 1796 but little ac
count was made of the place until some time in the ao•s when an unknown
explorer picked up something in the lowlands near the mouth of the river
that he thought was gold. Further examination by impractical experts
tended to confirm the rapidly spreading rumors of rich deposits of pre
cious metal and a perfect "gold fever" resulted with such men as John
Jacob Astor, Gov. Doty, Gov. Beals, Joshua Hathaway, Gen. Ruggles, and
Salmon P. Chase, ex-Chief Justice of the United States, becoming inter
as
ested in property which sold high as $1000 an acre. It seems oddly
enough at this time, but in 1836 the rivalry between Kewaunee and Chi
cago was very strong and wealthy speculators found it hard to decide
which field was best for investment. However, the gold didn't "pan out"
and the "gold fever" soon passed into history.
The first practical settlement at Kewaunee of which there is any
knowledge, was made by Montgomery & Patterson of Chicago immedi-
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1
Kewaunee Public School
ately after the government survey which was made by Joshua Hathaway
in 1837. They built a mill on the Kewaunee River about three miles from
its outlet. After the mill was built they were unable to stock it with sup
plies and it was deserted by workmen the following winter. The mill pro-
perty reverted to the original owner of the land, Mr. Hathaway, and re
mained uninhabited until 1843 when it was purchased by John Valk of
Illinois. The mill and the few houses surrounding it had been damaged
to a considerable extent by the Indians who had made it a fishing resort
in season but it was fitted out again and a cargo of lumber was produced
in 1843. The nearest neighboring towns were Two Rivers, 25 miles south,
and Green Bay, 30 miles west. Freight rates we1·e high and vessels were
scarce and it was necessary to build a boat to haul the Jmnber to Chicago.
l n 1850-51 a pier was built into the lake. Aft.er that there was less dif
ficulty in shipping lumber and Mr. Valk began branching out a little,
building a water mill on the 1·.iver above the old one and er.ecting a steam
mill at the lake. When that was completed steamboats landed at the pier
and weeky and daily intercourse was had with the neighboring towns.
From 1853 to 1858 .James R. Slauson, Joseph and Seth Moore, George
Grimmer, John Metzner, Charles Brandes, Joseph Walendar, Joseph Du-
I- :
The Bathing Beach
vall, Valentine Hoffman, Vitalis Miller, Patrick J. Rooney, Charle~ Deda,
Alfred Vibber, Fred Johannes, Charles W. Dikeman, Wojta Stransky, John
Lutien, Frederick Bohne, John Wrabetz and many other pioneers who were
prominenty identified with the early history of the community, came here
and settled, and after that Kewaunee began to make visible progress.
\I.Kewaunee was incorporated as a village on April 30, 1873 and R. L.
Wir~g was elected its first President of the Village Board. The city was
incorporated April 3, 1883 and Vo.ita Mashek was elected the first mayor.
The Kewaunee, Green Ilay and Western Railroad, of which the city is
the eastern terminal, was completed on the 20th of October, 1891 and it
offers one of the most direct and shortest transcontinental routes for car
rying the grain, flour and lumber of the northwest eastward, and the coal
supply and other traffic from the east to the west. Car-ferry connection
is established here with the boats of the Ann Arbor and Pere Marquette
lines, and a packet freight service is offered from west shore ports by the
steamers of the West Ports boat line. The city has a 100 per cent. freight
rate, both east and west. Well-maintained and improved highways radiate
to the north, west and south.
Its peerless and magnifice11t harbor is perhaps the greatest and most
,.
striking advantage that Kewaunee has over its neighboring towns. Be
ginning with improvements in 1881 that harbor has been developed until
today it is one of the best natural harbors on Lake Michigan. It is per
haps the most northern port that is open the year 'round. The Kewaunee
River is a navigable stream and some very desirable manufacturing sites
are located on its frontage near the harbor.
The city has two newspapers-the Kewaunee Enterprise and the Ke
waunee County Press.. The assets of its three banks, the State Bank of
Kewaunee, the Farmers & Merchants State Bank and the Dairymans'
State Bank, are nearly four million dollars. It has three churches, the
Holy Rosary Catholic Church, t:he Immanuel Lutheran Church and the
Community Congregational Church. The first Catholic Church was erected
here in 18(j0, the first ·mass being celebrated on .June 26th of that year.
The present structure was el'ected in the 80's The Immanuel Lutheran
Congregation was organized Ko,·ember 24, 1867 and its present church was
also completed in the so•,,. The Community Congregational Church edi
fice was completed only in recent years. Previous to the time the con
gregation occupied the new structure they occupied the building on the
lakti bluff familiarly known as thti "Union Church" for the reason that in
the earlier days services were held in that church by Presbyterians and
Episcopalians alternately.
Kewaunee's schools are its pride . The magnificent J?Ublic school
building was completed about ten or twelve years ago and it 1s one of the
fiuest structures in a community of Kewaunee's size in the country. The
Catholic Parochial School is another fine building and the Lutheran Paro-
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f
1~-· . ......... ~·
Hotel Karsten
chial School was remodeled within recent years so that it, too, is a splendid
school structure.
The city bears a notable reputation for its ,;ound and reliable business
houses, among the most important of which are the big department sto1·es of
the Kieweg-Peters Co., The Duvall Co., and Julius Lipsky. Two grain and
coal deale1·s have been in that business for many decades- the W. Seyk Co.
and the Kewaunee Grain Co. There is the clothing store of Edward J, Stika,
the plumbing establishments of Anton Bisely and Ku<!hl & Seiner, the gro
cery stores of Otto Karnopp and Earl Stoffel, the City Bakery of which Geo.
Rank is proprietor, the shoe stores of John Seidl and Jos. P. Paulu, the har
ness shop of Chas. Pazourek, the garages of the Dishmaker Bros. Co., the
Kewaunee Motors, the Kewaunee Garage, Dworak & Brozek and the Lake
side Garage & Implement Co., the furniture stores of the Svoboda Furniture
Co. and Wm. F. Duescher, the jewelry stores of W. Hamachek and J. E.
Dupont, the radio and electric stores of Frank E. Pazdera and Frank Hirsh
field, the confectionery stores of Edmund Kuehl, Frank Hanson and Michael
Bohne, and other business establishments.
It has splendid hotel accommodations at the Hotel Karsten and the
Commercial Hotel, besides a number of boarding houses. A fine water sup
ply, electric and water utilities municipally owned, beautiful homes, streets
i>aved, graveled and well maintained, good sidewalks, a city mail delivery,
are other splendid assets that might be mentioned which make Kewaunee a
good place to visit and a better place to live.
KEWAUNEE COUNTY
By act of the Legislatul'e on April IS, 1852, Kewaunee County was set
off from Door but was not really organized until November 4th of that year
when the first election of off'icers was held. L. P. Fishet· was elected county
treasurer, John iVIcNally county clerk, Dr. Levi Parsons, Register of
Deeds, G. W. Elliot surveyor, S. Chapel coroner, and John A. Daniels as
semblyman.
The first meeting of the County Board wns held on November 11, 1856
and there were present :\liner Cory of Kewaunee, John H. Scott of Sandy
Bay and J. A. Default of Wolf River. Mr. Co1·y was elected Chairman.
A resolution was pa..;!-ecl organizing from and after April 1, 1857 the
-·
towns of Carlton, Frcclerickton, Mo11t1)elier, CoryYille, Casco, Kewaunee,
Wolf and' Red River. On May 10, 1'859 the Town of Wolf was changed to
Ahnapee.
The first county buildings were erected soon after the county was or
ganized and were located on Ellis Street in t.hc city of Kewaunee in the
block east of Milwaukee Street on the no1·th side of the street. They
served the purpose for which they were intC'nded until 18'73 when a new
substantial structure wa;; built at a cost of $12,000 (A picture of the
building is printed in this booklet).
In 1873 a county jail and she1·iff's residence wa:; also erected at a
cost of $6,000.
In 1902 the county board realized the need of a more modern and
of
larger court house to accommodate the increasing business the county,
and authorized the rebuilding of the structure, which was enlarged and
remodeled at a cost of $35,000. John M. Borgman was chairman of the
Board at the time and Jos. F. Valecka was County Clerk.
A county farm consisting of 120 acres and located five and one-half
miles north of Kewaunee was purchased in 1879. A county asylum for
poor was established thereon and many improvements to the property
have been made since. In May, 1920, a forty acre addition to the farm
was purchased.
The total valuation of property in the county made by the local as
sessors in 1881 was $3,427,925, and the total indebtedness was $1,550. In
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A Fine Herd of Kewaunee County Holsteins
1926 the valuation was $30,214,872 and the county . had no indebtedness.
The population of the county was 1109 in 1855, 5530 in 1860, 7039 in
1865, 14,405 in 187G ancl lG,091 in 1920.
The county consists of seven full and three fractional townships.
There are within its limits two cities, Kewaunee and Algoma, with a pop
ulation in excess of 2,000 each,' and two incorporated villages, Luxemburg
and Casco, each with a population of about 500.
Over its area of 327 square miles the county has 553 miles of rural
free delh·ery mail routes. The state trunk highway system takes in 85.4
mil1», making foe improved trunk lint> mileage 229.9 and lhi., i,:; maintained
for t•i1dll mor.ths in the year by patrolmen.
The'! e are ~hn·.e :::tale bank:< i11 Kewaunee, two in Alg-oma, one at
Luxemburg, one at Casco and one al Rio Creek with total re:;ource,- of
ovc1· f'ig-ht million dollal'5.
Dairying is the principal indu,.,try or the count~' and more th~in 11,000
pounds of chr.ese is rnanufad ul'ed annually valued at morn than $<?,000,000.
t;rnins are also grown extensivel.v, with pedigteed 'l"arieties; being much
in fuvor with progressive fa1·111e1·s. The 11125 assessment shows the m11n
l1ct· or neat cattle to be 2!!,481.i valued at $95(),050.
Mention of the assets of l\cwaunce County, recognized generally as
01H· of the 1·ichest communitie,; in the nation, would be incomplete with
out n•fe1:e11ce to ail exceedini.;I~· valuable library of rare books nnd other
publkation~. which the county pos.-;c.:<;;es. That is the Edward Decker
l\1cmo1:ial Coilcction, which is :stol'cd in the Court House, and it compri~es
~C\ crnl thom=and Yolumes. Ju.-;t previous to hjs death the late Edward
Decker donated this magnificent collection of book:" to I.he county in whose
hi:'lory he was so in:;trumental a facto!' in bringing into political and ma
terial life. It is a ,-eritablc horde of litera1·y treasures that the most won
derful libraries in the land would be glad to po!>sess and it includes vo
umcs printed as early as 168:2, \'Olumes and volumes of rare works that
were is:<ued in the period from that date to the early years of the nine
teenth century and bound \'Olumes of early date magazine~ and 11ewspa
JlNs that, too, are splendidly p1·r.sc1·v01l.
Pastoral Scene
Kewaunee's Magnificent Harbor
The picturesciuenc.-;s of Lnke l\1 ichigan is fast passing" into a memory
only. The white sails which OJH:e dotted its surface as ::ail ocrr aft sped to and
fro have vanh;hed. For weeks not c\ en the red canvas a fishei·man's
mackinaw or modern trim rig of a wcnlthy man's yacht can be seen. The
old time harks and brigs anti sloops and schooners have either found Davy
Jone!'' locker or are dismantled hulks in the slime and oo..:c of Father Time's
graveyard for .ships.
Very few sailing vessels now make thefr appearancP 011 Lake Michiga11
~tnd twenty or more vessels could be counted off Kewaunee at most any hour
of the day forty ancl more years ago.
Once in a great while some oltl hulk will slide into the harbor here fo1·
H night's lodging for her aged and weary weak old bone.s, and her coming
and going is an epoch in the lives of the little boys of thii; generation of
Kewaunee hopefuls who know nothing of the excitement of their fathers and
.•
grandfathers. But even these few remaining c1·aft of the sailing days have
been denuded of top spars and jib-boom and chug along under auxiliary pow-
A Kewaunee Harbor Scene Twenty Years A~o
rr-:i. ca:;e of clear deg-eneracy and falling from grace in the eyes of the
lo,·ers of our old lake marine.
Kewaunee's magnificent harbor retains its activity e\·en with the chang
ing times. Where once the trim and proud little clippe1· schooners made
fast to the dock:-: 011 the harbor front and the hurry und hustle of loading
und unloading wa~ everywhere evident mode1·n methods in lrnndling the com
met·ce of the world have concentrated this work at the carfcny slip where
the big ships of the Pere Marquette and Ann Arbor lines dii;cluHg·e and take
on their cargoes on regular schedule and at the docks of the packet carriers
now offering excellent shipping facilities for the smaller shippers of the port.
The activity incident to the operation of the U. S. Engineering Department's
fleet of boats, which has headquarters at the government depot at Kewaunee,
mids to the port's busy appearance during the navigation season.
The River at "Hathaway's Pa1·k"
•'
Natural Beauty Attractive
Girdled about with e\·ery element of picturesque beauty so that change
of season brings only a change of charm, proud of its wealth of natural
endowment, and with a bndscapc fillc.•d with intere:<ting and varied en
chantment, Kewaunee and vicinity is noteworthy not only from an aes
thetic but from u muieriai point ,Jf view. Gems of scenic beauty attract
the eye on jour1~eys O\'er romar.t.ic drive:<, through quaint old-country farm
settlements and the more modern rurnl communities, by wooded dells and
ulong winding streams. From the hill:<irlc~ bubble springs of the purest
watc;·: in the rh·er aml mr.ny little l:tkc:; within a few minutes' drive game
fish :.: ound; the facilities for boating and ~·achting· are superb; bathing
at the. ~pl end id and safe sh on; of Lake Michigan i:; unexcelled. The at
ma::;ph<· e is as pure and bracing as at the sea shore and the people
breathe 'reely, eat heai·ti!y and •;Jive" C\'nry minute of their lives.
The old life of the mL5Sions and the legends of the iur trade haYe
thrown ;. fascinating glamor of my.-;t('l'Y and ach-enturc about the shores
of Lake Michigan and the legends pC'rlnining to the early history of Ke
waunee are as interesting as any. 1.11 the days when the Ali;onquin pad
dled his birch ·canoe along the lonely :<horcs of the lake or made his way
through trackle;;s fore;;ts lo the Frcn('h 1-iett!ement at Green Bay to the
west it was a notable Indian resort. Tradition assert" that. on the lake
uluffs, on the north side of the l'i\'er, a fierce and bloody battle was fought
in which an entire tribe was exterminated. Helics of some such conflict
are still found there. As to the exnct tr:rnslation of the Indian name
"Kewaunee" authoritic;;; differ. lt is :-mitl to signify "go ~\round" while
some allege that it is the Algonquin name for a "wild cluck". The weight
of authority is, however, in favo1· of th•: former definition.
Kraemer's Point