Booming Hotels

• At one time there were six hotels and numerous boarding houses in the Wausaukee community. The original Monroe log cabin, Chamberland Hotel,  Hotel Wausaukee, Exchange Hotel,  Shepherd Hotel and the Atlas Hotel are depicted above.  The log cabin was torn down to build a farm implement business owned by Roy Gustaveson and then later became  Smith's Hwy 141  Grocery. The Chamberland Hotel was situated where the current Norm Smith Home is located on 1st street. Norm bought two 50 foot lots, sold the lumber for $1 and built his home. This was the main street in that era.  The Hotel Wausaukee built in 1889, currently houses Graphic Impressions Photography Studio on 502 Main St. The Exchange Hotel, built by John Underwood in 1888, burned in 1911 and was demolished.  The site was the location of Frank Murphy's Tavern, restaurant and rooming house. The Murphy Manor was also the home of George E Bogrand. The Exchange Hotel was located in the lot between the Newingham Supper Club and Carriveau Insurance. The Shepherd Hotel was later modified as an apartment house and is located west of the railroad tracks & the Chippewa Bar Property. The flat store front was removed and a new entrance and windows were built to accommodate the multi story apartment building. The Atlas built in 1888 by Tom Allen went thru a succession of owners until it was torn down.

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  Shepard Hotel on right and 1915 School on left

  Hotel Boarders

  Front of Hotel Wausaukee

  Hotel Wausaukee 1967

  Ted Painting in 1960's

  The former Shepherd Hotel shown adjacent to the Old School on the left was modified into a multi apartment building. The former school building on the adjacent property will be demolished for other land use. With the influx of laborers and sales men to the area, the high population of the village required numerous hotels and boarding houses. Many of the laborers eventually stayed at the lumber camps spread all over the area so they could be closer to their work. The 1889 Hotel Wausaukee was built by a man named Clawson of Oconto. It changed hands several times until to the Skidmore Land Company. Gould Smith operated the hotel for the Land Company for a while and then purchased it, and operated it on his own for a time. He then sold it to Ted and Hattie Krzewina.  The Hotel Wausaukee was a boarding house with sleeping rooms, saloon, apartment for the owners and served dinner for its guests continuously from 1889 until 1984.  Rooms were still being billed at $7.00 per night up until it closed in 1984. An addition was added to the north side soon after it was originally built creating the floor space of over 4300 square feet. A third addition was added to the East side by the current owners increasing the building space to 4500 Sq Feet. One of the Hotel Register books is currently in the Amberg Museum on display and shows various people renting rooms for daily or weekly use.  Several of building owners came upon owning the structure thru card game winnings. The longest recorded owners were Ted and Hattie Krzewina who owned it for 48 years and maintained it as the Wausaukee Hotel up until one year before selling it to Ann Christofferson, a nurse, in 1985 and it was re-opened by Brian & Ann Hartnell as a Bed & Breakfast for five years.  The building has been renovated using color schemes, antique furniture, & wallpaper to maintain the flavor of the past.  It  functions as a residence for the owners and is the current location of Graphic Impressions Photography Studio.  Ted Krzewina is seen painting the porch of the Hotel Wausaukee in the 60's.

  

  Menominee River Brewing Company

  Menominee River Brewing Company Beer Bottle

  Hotel Wausaukee Stained Glass Window

  Hotel Wausaukee Hotel 2009

  One of the earliest owners of the Hotel Wausaukee was the Menominee River Brewing Company who had to purchase the building in order to sell liquor in the area. Kegs and bottles of beer were brought into the area for consumption from the Menominee River Brewery. The Hotel had a beer bar and was supplied with the ornate stain glass windows put in by the brewery. Two of the original stain glass windows remain today. There was a third stained glass window above the front lobby door that appears in one of the photos above, it is behind the men standing in front of the hotel. The dining hall, where meals were served, is currently used as the studio shooting area and the beer hall was originally in the lobby and then later moved to an adjacent room which is now currently an office. The building had 13 bedrooms and one bath shared by boarders and owner's family. One bedroom was on the first floor off the kitchen and 12 bedrooms were on the second floor. Nine rooms are currently still available as bedrooms although the current owners use 3 of the rooms for other uses.

  Wausaukee Independent Newspaper  - December 1, 1900       Assault with intent to kill....George Belling, a woodsman, will have to answer to that charge. He pointed a revolver at Charles Giguere's head in the sample room of the Wausaukee Hotel Sunday afternoon. Belling came to Wausaukee Saturday night from Holmes & Son's camp and took on  a fair size load of booze.   The next morning, he proceeded to increase the size of his hag, and when he called at the Wausaukee Hotel, he was magnificently skated.  Mr. Giguere, who runs the place, claims that Belling came up to him as he was standing near the bar and struck him.  One thing led to another, with the belligerent Mr. Belling pointing a .38 revolver at Giguere's head. Giguere ducked. Belling was apprehended by Deputy Sheriff B.S. Casterton and thrown in the slammer in Marinette. Later, he was found guilty, fined $25 and court costs ($45.69).  Unable to raise the cash, Belling served his debt to society in the Marinette county jail.

  The Hotel property originally came with a two story barn just east of the hotel that contained a one hole outhouse, storage shed area with ground and second floor loft storage and a two story section used as an ice storage house, horse barn and then garage. Ice was cut from lakes and transported to the Ice Storage House.  The ice was placed into the ground floor portion of the building on the street side and each layer was covered with straw for insulation. It was then sold a block at a time.  The original heating was done with cast iron stoves which were vented thru the chimney's. Heat would drift up the stair wells, and grates left in the floors of the rooms above. The wood lobby floor has a stain of the Cast Iron Stove plate still evident. A stoker coal fired boiler system with radiators throughout the building was later added for more even heating. Water for the boiler system and washing was drawn from multiple cisterns located under the foundation of the barn and hotel.  Eventually this coal plant was replaced with an oil burning furnace and then upgraded to a natural gas supply. All of the pipes and radiators throughout the building were on a one pipe steam system with steam going up the pipes to the radiators and condensed water returning to the furnace from the same pipe. Difficulty in finding repair technicians to maintain the balance to the system forced a change to the current copper pipe baseboard steam system with a high efficiency furnace. Five Beer Bottles in Antique Collection. Three of the brown Menominee Brewing Bottles with corks are on display at the Hotel Wausaukee and were donated by one of Graphic Impressions customers who found them in his basement. Two of the same windows were in the Menominee River Brewing Company Factory located in Menominee, MI and were purchased by George Litts, an Antique Dealer. Those windows were destroyed in a fire at the Antique Dealers warehouse years ago.

   

  Role of Secret Societies in Era

  Knights Of Pythias

  Maccabbees Medallion

  The Knights of Pythias building was located on the property immediately North of the Monroe Log Cabin on Main Street. The Knights were a benevolent organization with the original chapter formed in 1864 in Ontario Canada. It is unknown as to when the Wausaukee Chapter was formed or when it disbanded. We continue to investigate their role within the community at this time. This organization is still active in the US, Canada and the State of Wisconsin. See their website for information at http://www.pythias.org/.  The Knights building was used as a meeting hall/banquet facility and was open to any group wishing to use the building. The full basement had a dirt floor and was used primarily for storage. Local kids were allowed to come to the hall and use their air rifles to shoot target practice in the upper hall. Norm Smith The Knights of Pythias building was purchased and converted to a Gamble Hardware Store that was owned and operated by Chet Ryan of Middle Inlet.  Bob & Pat Bastian purchased the Gamble Store business and eventually moved their hardware store to the Laun Bros Store Building on Main and Harrison when it came up for sale in 1967.  Bob Bastian sold the former Knights of Pythias/Gamble Hardware building to Mike Elias in 1967 and it was opened up as a cabinet making shop. Bank North purchased the building and land from Elias for their new bank on the corner and asked Elias if he wanted to move it. Elias raised the building and moved it to the lot immediately north of the former Hardin  Welding block building currently used by  Bank North for storage. Elias then continued to run his cabinet shop out of the relocated building. Another beneficial order operating in the area during the logging era was a group called the Knights of Maccabees. This group originally was formed in London Ontario in 1878 and eventually made their headquarters in Michigan They offered a death benefit of $1,000 to widows, dismemberment and sick benefits from $4 to $10 per week, and offered insurance to working people from birth to age 70. It was later to incorporate as an insurance company in 1962 with several mergers over the years and ceased to be a member run society. See PDF files explaining secret societies. Many insurance companies were not interested in sales to ordinary people and there was little in the way of "safety nets".  Groups like the Maccabees, Foresters, Woodmen, and so on provided a safety net along with pleasant social meetings and other gatherings.

  (Wausaukee Independent newspaper - Sat, December 21, 1895)   KILLED AT DUNBAR - Last Friday morning, the Girard Lumber Company's mill was the scene of a fatal accident. Charles H. Sandstone was running the edger when the plank that was being trimmed pinched the saw and was thrown back, striking Mr. Sandstone in the side. The accident happened at 10 o'clock in the forenoon and the injured man lived until 3 o'clock in the afternoon, being conscious to the end. Deceased was 29 years old and leaves a wife, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Debot of Wausaukee to whom he was married a little over a year ago, and one child, an infant. He was a member of Dunbar tent, K.O.T.M., in which he had his life insured for $1,000. He had worked for the company for five years as edger man and was well liked and highly respected by his fellow men and associates who extend condolences to the bereaved wife. The funeral was held at Wausaukee on Sunday, the remains being brought down by a special train on the branch, the Dunbar Maccabees being on board. The Wausaukee Maccabees joined their fellow sir knights in the impressive ceremonies of the order and marched in the funeral procession which was one of the longest ever seen in this vicinity.

  See Secret Societies for additional information about both groups and their founding. The Story of Mc Neely's Mc Neely's 1989 Mc Neely Drug Store Interior Prior to 1989 Mc Neely After Extensive Renovation 1992 Mc Neely Grand Opening 1992 Mc Neely's Drug Store 2009 Image The original Mc Neely building located on the Corner of Hwy 141 and Tyler was built in the late 1800's and was owned and operated as a livery stable by a man called O.H. Herman until sold and re-opened as a Drug Store in 1910 by George L. Mc Neely. George was born in Menominee Michigan on 12/21/1891 and his wife's name was Alva. A recollection of the Mc Neely store thru young Hank Laun. Rudy remembers tearing down the livery stable building behind the Mc Neely's store when we were doing work behind the alley. There was all kinds of junk in the building along with some horse related collars. Kenny Gocht had to get permission to store block on the McNeely lot because he didn't own it and they were there to clean up the site. Rudy Messar  When he was young he remembers kids went into the drug store and George used the ice cream cooler in a back room during the Winter to save electricity rather than running the one in front and the back. In the front of the store he had hard candies in large containers with lids. The kids would order ice cream knowing George would have to go to the back room and they would lift the lids on the candy jars and each take a piece of candy out while he was gone. It took awhile before George would catch onto what was going on and then he would dart into the back room and come back just as quickly to see if anything was going on behind his back. Norm Smith George Mc Neely was tighter than bark on a tree. If you had 50 cents and took a girl there you could get a couple malted milks for 25 cents but it wasn't very thick. We would go down at noon because school was open as long as you got back on time, you could get an ice cream cone for 10 cents. Rudy Messar   Mitch Wengiel and his wife, Ma Wengiel as she was known to all in the community, purchased the building in the 50 to 60's era. The interior of the building had apothecary drawers stacked under substantial shelving to hold liquors and other bottled/canned items, wood & glass cases for merchandise and the old fashioned soda fountain with stools and counter on one side and booths on the other. Tin ceilings, a basement with a dirt floor, office/storage addition and a second floor for a merchandise storage area. Mitch was also an engineer that came with experience from down south of the state with Water & Sewer Departments of large cities. He was instrumental in designing the Waste Water Pond System and water/sewer system for the Village of Wausaukee. Art Dashut purchased the building in 1989 and started a major restoration of the exterior and interior of the Mc Neely Drug Store building. Outside windows and clap boards were replaced, sanded and restored to original finish, new outside sign painted onto the North exterior wall, signs painted to the front window panels under the glass, Awning erected. A courtyard was developed on the South side using pea gravel , plantings around the base of the building and attractive exterior table & chairs.  The inside floors were sanded to original finish, back wall was removed to open the interior, staircase & bath rebuilt, all walls & ceiling were repainted, ceiling fans installed. The original building became a much more vibrant store with lots of light and charm. It was then re-opened in 1992 as Mc Neely's Gift Shop and operated by two different managers. The first was Barbara Burns and then later came Cathy Mitchell.  The building has been purchased multiple times with the first owner O.H. Herman, George Mc Neely, Mitch Wengiel, Art Dashut, Tom & Sue Delabreau (Daisy Antiques). Prior to the sale of the building by Art Dashut to Tom & Sue Delabreau, there was an auction of all interior content. The building was  vinyl sided, thermal windows installed and upgraded for heating and cooling by the Delabreau's.  It has functioned in its history as a livery stable, drug store, items for sale include: gifts, soda fountain, fishing supplies, cards, newspapers, magazines, and pipe tobacco products, and Antiques. The new owner Becca Lacoy (Becca's Antiques & Trading Post) is featuring antiques, unique gifts, furs and home decor.

  

  The Blacksmith Shop

  Spangler Black Smith Shop  Interior

  Spangler Black Smith Shop Exterior

  Spangler Building Destroyed in Tornado 1958

  Temporary Location of Hardin Welding after Tornado of 1958

  Former Hardin's Welding Building - 2009 Image

  The Spangler Black Smith Shop was located in the empty lot east of the current American Legion building on Harrison St. "Mr. "Spangler had his shop in a barn next to his house and the large double doors were always open. We watched him make horseshoes, shoe horses and repair farm implements. His hearth was kept hot by a bellows he worked with his foot or he could use his hands as well. He heated a piece of iron, hammered at it on his anvil to shape it and then doused it in a big water trough. He was friendly to the boys who watched and cheerfully went on doing his work even when we were in the way. Mr. Spangler's son became Marinette County Sheriff." Hank Laun      After WW II, Spangler retired and sold the business to Harry Hardin who renamed it the Wausaukee Welding Shop.  This wooden structure was destroyed in the tornado of May 21, 1958 and Hardin's shop was temporarily set up in a Red Barn on Butternut Street for a few years, just East of the Citco Station.      The Welding shop was  rebuilt and then re-opened in the cinder block building on Harrison Street that currently is used by Bank North for storage. It is two lots west of the original Spangler Black Smith Shop. Harry Hardin sold it to another individual in 1969 but the new owner only made sporadic payments towards the purchase and the business was eventually shut down.     The cinder block building was also the home to Jerry's Service from the Fall of 1979 thru the Summer of 1985 when he built his new location on Hwy 141 and moved. The cinder block building is currently owned by Bank North.   The former  Christ & Smith Store on Main Street Former American Legion  2009 American Legion Building        The original Christ & Smith Store property on First Street was purchased by the Wausaukee American Legion. The food store portion of the building was the land  developed as the new Legion Building. The older legion building had been renovated some years ago to accommodate handicap access, new roof, new siding and windows. When the Legion purchased the former Blue Delft Liquor Store for their relocation, they rented the old building to the Land of Oz Museum which is owned by former teacher, Gary Parrett.      The current American Legion building on Harrison street sits on the formerly vacant lot that was west of the Spangler Black Smith Shop.       Ownership of this building went from  the Jehovah's who originally built their Kingdom Hall on this lot. The Jehovah's moved to Hwy 180 and sold the building to Shirley Hawley of Silvercliff and it was re-opened as the Blue Delft Liquor and Restaurant Supply.  When the owner died the building was vacant for a few years until the building was purchased by the American Legion and renovated to its current appearance. Murphy Manor Frank Murphy's Bar            Built as a rooming house, adjacent to the Old Post Office was a building known as Murphy Manor. Frank Murphy was a large individual  that walked around with a big cigar. We liked to follow Frank around because when he bought something, he pulled a huge roll of bills with a rubber band around it from his pocket. Hank Laun      The owner, Frank Murphy, built a navy blue canvas covered walkway from the front door to the  sidewalk  making this establishment more inviting and attractive from the street. The fabric was long gone but the metal frame for the fabric was still intact on the property at the time the building was demolished to allow expansion to Newingham's Restaurant. The bar that Frank Murphy owned was on the property just north of Murphy Manor and is the site of Newingham's Supper club. The original log building is on the foot print of the very North of the Supper Club that includes the small lunch room, bathrooms, and the hallway to the larger banquet hall in the rear. Ownership of the bar went from Frank Murphy, to Rollo's and then to Newingham. As the owners expanded over the years, the original log building was modified and eventually replaced by the new buildings.

   

Early Immigrants to the Area 

Photographer Peter Bogrand, Father to George E. Bogrand

Early Immigrants

Views of the Streetscape

• Dirt roads were the main thoroughfare with horses and wagons hauling logs, equipment and people. Logs were piled next to the tracks for pick up by train. Wausaukee's population in its logging heyday was measured at 1,700 inhabitants. People used board walks to travel from store to store and stay out of the muddy streets. 1907 view pointed southwest, shows the original Smith family home (Small white house in center) and to the far right the original Parsons Funeral Home. The succession of owners include: Parsons, Bunker, Morasky, Mike & Coral Messar and now Anderson of Stephenson MI. The business has been upgraded and enlarged over the years by the Messar's to improve service with their office in the adjacent home to the Parlor. Current operators are Mike and Coral Messar of Wausaukee. To draw business to the area, the downtown held Booster Programs to generate excitement and sales for the local merchants. On Third street, the building at the end of the road was owned by Henry Laun and he ran a bean snipping business where people were paid to cut off the ends of fresh wax and green beans. The store front on the left is unknown, the house north was Bud Payant's, next house was a Weiting, and the house at the end of the block was Vernon Smith, Norms brother.        Third Street Bean Snipping Business: We hauled beans and I remember it to this day. Every time I look at a can of beans on a shelf I get a backache. Dam, when I picked them beans on my hands and knees and I would fill the bag to the top, the guy would do two shakes of the bags and the beans would fall half way down and he would say now fill it. Rudy Messar

• Continued History Page 3