Newspaper, Post Office, Bank

Wausaukee Public Library and Reading room

George Bogrand Family and Residence

George E Bogrand Sr founded the Wausaukee Independent Newspaper in 1895 at an annual subscription rate of $1.50 per year and printed from the small white building on the left. The first two copies were given away free to spark interest in the community. The paper was printed once a week and delivered on Saturday morning. 38 microfiche reels cover the entire run of the newspaper from 1895 thru 1943 and are available to view at the Wausaukee Public Library.  Peshtigo Times Article

 George E. Bogrand Sr. during his life was Wausaukee Postmaster (18 Years), President of Wausaukee State Bank (1913-1934), member of the Telephone Co. Board of Directors, and a director of the Wausaukee Board of Education. George died in Apr 1942. His son George Bogrand Jr. continued to publish the paper but did not have his fathers business experience. Several people tried to keep the paper going but the paper eventually closed.

Wausaukee had a free public library and reading room that was sponsored by H.P. Bird. It was housed in a building belonging to him and when he sold the building some years later to George E. Bogrand Sr., Bird donated the books and reading materials over to the high school. All reading materials donated were lost in the school fire some years later.

George E. Bogrand Sr. moved his printing operation from the small adjacent building to the upper floor of the new building and opened the Wausaukee Post Office on the bottom floor after being appointed Postmaster. The former printing building was then torn down and George E Bogrand Sr. built a home on the lot.

Banking History

The Wausaukee State Bank (Currently Bank North) was organized in 1901 and began operations in 1903. The door of the vault had not arrived yet but this did not dampen the enthusiasm of the Wausaukee Community. The first days deposits were $1,183 and within three days increased to $12,000. In 1933, the Pembine-Wausaukee Bank evolved when Wausaukee State Bank consolidated with Pembine State Bank. In 1943 a branch was opened in Crivitz. The bank is currently known as Bank North and also has  branches in Amberg, Pembine and Goodman. The tellers in the bank photo are R.B. Ellis as cashier and Roy Riley as Assistant Cashier. The bank building moved from the two story brick building to its present site which was the former Knights of Pythias/Gamble Store building location.

October 7, 1922 Wausaukee Independent Newspaper Burning their way through the door of the vault of the Wausaukee State Bank early Sunday morning, burglars carried off $142.71 in cash and the contents of 35 safe deposit boxes. The burglars used an oxy-acetylene torch, burning a panel out of the bottom of the vault door of sufficient size to admit a man. The robbery was discovered by cashier P.O. Winther who went to the bank early in the morning. He immediately telephoned County Sheriff Doberstein, who promised to come to Wausaukee in the afternoon, but failed to keep his appointment.

The tenant on the second floor of the bank building was Dr. Thomas DDS (Dentist). Doctor Thomas worked alone, no nurse, no receptionist. His office smelled like anesthetic.  There was no worse fate than to sit in that chair and watch the whirring belt driven drilling machine while Doc drilled out the cavity and filled it, usually without Novocain. Hank Laun

When Doc Thomas retired, Dr. Dowdell took his place.  In 1942, he had Dr. Rose, who also had an office on the second floor, give my sister Ruth Sodium Pentothal to put her to sleep so he could pull two teeth. Unable to wake her they sent her to the Marinette Hospital in an ambulance where she recovered. I still remember hearing and seeing the ambulance racing south on US 141 while our gang was out near Tracy's farm. We wondered who it was; I found out later when I got home that it was Ruth. Dr. Dowdell later sold his dentistry business to Dr. P.P. Knorr. Hank Laun

Doughboys in WWI

1917 Wausaukee Band

Wausaukee Black Diamonds

1921 Wausaukee Baseball Team

Frank Sinkey Soda Wausaukee, WI

World War I doughboys from local area made the paper. They include Frank Shields, Anton Forst and John Edlebeck but are not specifically identified in the photo. Victor Everix returns to work in Wausaukee Bakery.

The boys in the band posed in 1917 for this photo taken in front of the Bert James barber shop. which was located next to the Knights of Pythias hall on the east side of Main St. Some of the participants can be identified from Left to Right Back Row:  #2 Lewis Polomis, # 4 Bud Londo,  #5 Pete Polomis, #6 Roy Riley, #7 Andrew Payant. Front Row from Left to Right: #2 band leader Matt Pelnar, #3 Bert James, #4 Austin Christ, #5 Frank Martin, #6 Vernon Hallenbeck, #7 Seth Ferdon, and extreme right is Loren Nowell.

The Wausaukee Black Diamonds used to thrill crowds from far and wide. In this pre 1915 photo Heiman Cody stands far left but none of the other players are identified. The grandstand used to be on High School Hill.

The 1921 Wausaukee baseball team. Baseball has been one of the more popular sports in the area and it continues to grow in popularity with the improvements made to our Ballas Park Ball field thru the local Baseball Association.

The bottle is clearly labeled Frank Sinkey, Wausaukee, WI but there is no official date as to when the soda was manufactured or distributed throughout our area. Several Sinkey Soda Bottles were found in the excavation during building of the Marquis Style shop in 1973.  If you start on Hwy 141 at the Bowl and go East on Monroe until you hit Cedar, the lot in front of you (Novak home) is where the Sinkey Soda Factory was located. Frank Sinkey was the owner and his son Reinhart also worked in the factory with his father. Bottles of red soda sold for 5 cents each. No time frame is available about when the factory was in operation or how many flavors may have been produced. "Norm said if as kids, you would help around cleaning up in the factory, he would give you a bottle of soda."

Wausaukee Ranger Station

Wausaukee Ranger Station

Current Wausaukee Ranger Station

Gravel Roads

Hunting is Plentiful

     Wausaukee Ranger Station just north west of the Wausaukee River Hwy 141 Bridge  on County C as it appeared when the new bridge was built. Gravel and dirt logging roads were the typical roads into the Wausaukee wooded areas allowing access to hunting and logging. Hunting was always a means to subsist for families and evolved into  a very popular tourism related activity.  This area had a natural abundance of deer, bear, fish, and bird available from the vast tracts of wooded areas that are still dotted with lakes and rivers. The regulation of those resources were handled by DNR Offices that were spread approximately every 10 miles along the highway and in the Marinette area. Each had foresters, wardens and  office personnel to monitor/sell hunting/fishing licenses and registration duties in their respective areas. These services have now been consolidated and moved to the Peshtigo Office and the smaller community buildings/shops now only house forestry, warden, fire and other offices that do not have customer service areas.  The shops can be seen in Wausaukee, Niagara, and Pembine .

    Forest to Farm and back to Forest:  Cutover Country explains in story form the sale of harvested timber land  for farming, the character of the people that tried to farm the area and the hardships endured in making a living from such difficult stumpage land.

    Most of the soil that represented the harvested timber land was not suitable for farming and would not sustain a crop. The eventual  replanting led to the State and County parks we know as public lands and the park system which contributes to our tourism economy today.

     Dynamiting of the timber stumps allowed the clearing of the former forest lands to sell and promote farming in the area.

     Bakery owner Emile Everix, now a prosperous man, with a party of family and friends, in his Studebaker coach back in 1925.

Wausaukee Train Station view toward NW

Train Station Viewed toward South East

Train Arrival July 4, 1925

1915 Settlers Day Picnic

1915 Settlers Day Picnic

1915 Settlers Day Picnic

Settlers Day Picnic July 4th, 1925

1916 Dynamite Demonstration

Standard Station as it appeared around the 1950's

BP Gas owned by LaFaive Oil 2009 Image