Historic Times - Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society

Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society
Historic Times
Vol. 13 No. 2 Fall, 2012
Published by Mequon Thiensville Historical Society
6100 W. Mequon Road, Mequon, WI 53092
262-242-3107 | mthistory1839@gmail.com Open Thursday afternoons from 2-5 p.m. and by appointment
For research, email archivist Bev Silldorff: dondorf@execpc.com
President’s Message
“In the Good Old Summertime”
As we enjoy our late summer in
Thiensville and Mequon, it’s a great
time to recall when our area boasted
having “The most popular summer
resort in the state of Wisconsin.” The
construction of the original Thiensville
Dam in the early 1840’s created what
has been called “Thiensville Lake” where people enjoyed
swimming, fishing, and boating. The arrival of Wisconsin
Central rail service in 1871 and the Interurban Electric
Railway in 1907 made it easier for travelers from Milwaukee
and even Chicago to come to Thiensville and the Town of
Mequon’s “Natural Playground”.
The most prominent of the local hotels was the Memmler
Hotel which was located on Green Bay Road between
the present day Skippy’s and Glaze. The Memmler hotel,
which opened in 1886, offered 30 guest rooms, a saloon, a
dining room, beautiful gardens behind the hotel on Pigeon
Creek, and a stable. The proprietor, Fred Memmler, was
a very engaging man who offered great meals and often
entertained his guests. Cost? $3/week for adult room and
board.
Other hotels in the heart of Thiensville included the
Thiensville Hotel (now Skippy’s) which dates back to 1856,
The Holnagel Hotel (now the north wing of the Tres Jolie
complex), and the former Commercial House Hotel which
still stands on the southwest corner of Main and Buntrock
in Thiensville.
Resort hotels in Mequon included the original Alpine
Village and the building now housing Libby Montana. Both
hotels were on Donges Bay Road (Highway 9) which was a
very popular Interurban stop. Wulff’s Island Resort (now
Sybaris) was another popular “Highway 9” destination for
vacationers into the early 1920’s, and the Heidel family and
others operated a hotel and park complex on the site of
the present day Piggly Wiggly shopping center in Mequon.
Another local tourist attraction was Boder’s Tea Room
which operated between Easter and Thanksgiving from
1929 until 1954 when it became a year-round full service
restaurant.
Continued, with photos, inside on Page3
SAVE THE DATE!
Sunday, Novemer 11th, 1:30 p.m.
MT Historical Society Annual Meeting
Mequon City Hall - Council Chambers
Boat Landing in Thiensville. Boating on the Milwaukee River was - and remains - a
popular activity in Mequon and Thiensville... in the good old summertime!
FREE BOOK!
We’ll send you a free copy of “History of the Town of
Mequon, Brought Down to About 1870,” just for joining
the M-T Historical Society!
Since the revitalization of the Society late last year, we’ve
grown to over 120 voting members.
Join today. It’s easy. Individuals can join for as little as $10
and entire families for just $15. Send your check to:
Mequon Thiensville Historical Society
6100 W. Mequon Road
Mequon, WI 53092
Don’t forget to include your name, address and email and we’ll send your free book!
Inside . . .
President’s Message
In the Good Old Summer Time
Intersection of History
How much do you think about the places you pass?
Crawford House from 1854
Who Knew?
Increase your knowledge of the past...
www.mthistoricalsociety.org
Intersection of History
You’ve no doubt driven through the intersection of Donges
Bay Road and Wauwatosa Road countless times. But how often have you thought of the people and businesses that were
once located on this corner?
Society Members Ruth Renz and Don Silldorff found the December, 1998, reminiscences of Louis Lemke, the owner of
Lemke Seed Farm. Lemke’s farm was located one mile west
of the intersection, sometimes known as Southwest Mequon.
The text is copied here with their edits:
The Siebert saloon and dance hall occupied the northwest
corner of Donges Bay Rd. and Wauwatosa Rd. Jack Siebert
was the proprietor, and it was later run by Shorty Hintz.
Immediately to the north of Siebert was the Herbst Butcher
Shop. It consisted of two small building. The building with
the chimney was moved a mile west around 1998 to the
site of the Phillip Klumb Landmark. Now owned by Charles
Tritt, it was restored and converted into a home office. The
other building stood in disrepair until 2009 when it was
razed. North of Herbst was the Emory Voland farm.
Herbst moved his butcher business a mile north into a
building he had moved from the east side of Wauwatosa
Rd. The building was one of Louis Wagner’s pickle sheds.
Wagner processed pickles raised by local farmers. LaVerne
Herbst along with his wife Dorothy ran the butcher shop
until they retired. He sold the building to Catena who
operated a catering business from there.
The largest business at the Donges Bay and Wauwatosa
Rds. intersection was the George Schubert and sons
McCormick Deering Farm Implement dealership. It was
located on the northeast corner of the intersection. It
served many farmers over a wide territory for many years.
When George died his son Harvey ran the business until
he left to go into the insurance business. Then another
son, Lester, ran the business until it closed, probably due
to low interest in farm machinery.
Sunnyside School which originally had been located a
quarter of a mile north of Schubert was vacated and a new
school was built east of Schubert in 1916 on the Alfred
Schaefer land. Alfred’s brother, Henry, was the sales person
for the Schubert Implement Company for many years. East
of the school was the Ben Levy farm. Levy dealt in dairy
and beef cattle and sold fertilizer. Ben’s two grandsons
are attorneys in Cedarburg. Further to the east was
the John Schmechel business. He had a saw mill, east of
his house, which was powered by an engine taken from a
Lake Michigan fishing tug. The mill produced lumber and
timbers for customers from all over the area. The mill was
sold and removed some time in the late 1970s. Schmechel
also produced domed shaped laminated rafters which
rested on the ground. The buildings in which they were
used served as farm machinery sheds. Many are in use
today. Schmechel along with George Schubert invented
the TUSCO SILO FILLER. The tractor that drove the filler
could be attached by a belt in any of four different ways
to accommodate cramped locations. Schmechel also built
and repaired large truck bodies. His vehicles were used to
plow snow on many of the roads in Mequon.
The area around the intersection of Donges Bay and
Wauwatosa Roads was known as Southwest Mequon. It had
also acquired the name of “Klatzschbach” because of the
friendly nature of the neighbors as they visited each other.
Based on the memoirs of Louis Lemke, a former member of
the Board of Directors of the Historical Society, written in
1998.
By Ruth Renz (edited by D. Silldorff ) September, 2012
SAVE THE DATE!
Sunday, Novemer 11th, 1:30 p.m.
MT Historical Society Annual Meeting
Mequon City Hall - Council Chambers
Who Knew?
Increase your local history knowledge with these facts taken
from a local history manuscript written by Les Rehm between
1953-71. This book is not available for sale, but a typed copy
of the Rehm volume is available for viewing on Thursday afternoons at the MT Historical Society’s office in the Logemann
Community Center.
February,1864 the Provost Marshal’s office in Fond du
Lac informed Mequon Town Clerk that the draft quota for
Mequon was 51 volunteers. Christian Heinrich Hawks was
the first to qualify for the $200 payment. When it appeared
that more than enough volunteers were available the
payment was cut to $175.00,
March, 1865 Mequon had 345 dogs. No license was
needed for the first dog.
1867 Mequon school money apportioned from the state
was $654.71 based on 47 cents per scholar.
1902 A franchise was issued for a telephone line in the
Town and granted to the Mequon Telephone Co. for
transmission of messages along and within the limits of
our highway in the Town of Mequon. The first phones were
to Dr. Albers and to Zimmermann’s General Store, both in
Thiensville.
www.mthistoricalsociety.org
Ruth J. Renz
Good Old Summertime...
Ultimately prohibition and the freedom offered by the
automobile led to the downfall of the resorts in Thiensville
and Mequon. People became less dependent on railroads
and the Electric Interurban Railway for vacation travel. The
once famous Memmler Hotel, later known as the Aussem
Hotel, closed in 1947 and the building was razed in 1963.
Other local hotels turned their rooms into apartments or
boarding houses, but kept their taverns and restaurants
open. The heyday of the famous resorts of southern
Ozaukee County was over. But those of us who live in the
area still enjoy “Nature’s Mecca” that drew vacationers to
our area for so many years.
Bob Blazich, President,
Mequon-Thiensville Historical Society
Looking North on Green Bay Road, the Thiensville Hotel (presently Skippy’s)is
on the left with the famous Memmler Hotel just behind it. The Memmler Hotel
building was razed in 1963.
Visit Us on the Web!
http://www.mthistoricalsociety.org
Fishing on the Milwaukee River below the Thiensville dam. Anglers continue to fish
above and below the dam. A new, meandering fish passage allows fish to swim
upriver around the dam for the first time in 150 years.
Mequon Thiensville Historical Society
6100 W. Mequon Road, Mequon, WI 53092
Crawford House (1854)
The land on which this house (right) sits was purchased
in 1839 by Charlotte Crawford. She bought 80 acres from
the US Government for $100, and built a log cabin on the
southern part of her land near Freistadt Road. She sold her
“south 40” and her cabin to Hartman Houseburg and built
this house is 1854. Ms. Crawford went on to sell the rights
to the western part of her land to the railroad, and she sold
rights to eastern part of her land to Byron Kilbourn for his
plank road between Milwaukee and Cedarburg.
As if Charlotte Crawford hadn’t squeezed enough value
out of her purchase, later owners created the large dip in
the home’s back yard when they quarried stone and sold
it to the railroad.
The house remained in its original state until 1939 when Carl
Blume brought large salvaged pillars from Milwaukee to
create the present Neoclassical style home’s entryway.
Later owners made additions to the building and used
the former residence for commercial purposes.
www.mthistoricalsociety.org
Frenz’ Friend Isham Day House with Flowers
The MT Historical Society would like to thank
Jim and Emily Gehrke of Frenz Garden Center
for their display of planters and flowers in front
of our Isham Day House. This house, the oldest
remaining structure in Ozaukee County, was built
in 1839 by a squatter named Isham Day. When
the government offered the land for public sale,
Day apparently could not afford to buy the land
on which his home stood. He sold his holdings
to a land speculator and moved further upstream.
In the years since it was built, the tiny structure served as
The Mequon River Post Office, a harness makers shop, and
a print shop as well as a private residence. The building
was purchased by the City of Mequon in 1989 and was
declared a City of Mequon Historic Landmark in 1992.
It was listed on both the State and National Registers of
Historic Places in 2000.
Thanks to
Sommer’s Automotive!
Thanks to Sommer’s Automotive in Mequon for their sponsorship of
the Mequon Thiensville Historical Society website! You’’ll find them
at 7211 West Mequon Road!
Visit Us on the Web!
http://www.mthistoricalsociety.org
Increase your knowledge of the past...
Crawford House from 1854
How much do you think about the places you pass?
In the Good Old Summer Time
Inside . . .
Published by Mequon Thiensville Historical Society
6100 W. Mequon Road, Mequon, WI 53092
Vol. 13 No. 2 Fall, 2012
Historic Times
www.mthistoricalsociety.org