Dear George,
This is the third archive
of Marinette, Wisconsin, postcards that I've posted. Previous entries can
be located by searching "archive" in the box at the upper left.
Marinette is my hometown Menominee's twin city, just across the
Menominee River, and it played a significant role in our growing up -- a
frequent destination for shopping, eating out, going to the movies, cruising
around as teenagers, and my first paid
employment at my grandfather's Marinette Rexall drugstore. My
paternal grandparents lived on Merryman St. near downtown, having immigrated to
Marinette from Sweden, and my dad and his siblings were Marinette High School
graduates.
Circus parade, Dunlap
Square (see above)
The circus’s arrival in the
twin cities was a major highlight of the summer. Our family would get up
at dawn and go to the circus grounds to watch the tents being erected by the
workers and their crew of elephants. Then there’d be a parade through the
town, followed the Big Show – the most exciting event of childhood in our
small town. This parade is in downtown Marinette is in the early part of
the twentieth century.
Masonic Temple
The Masonic Temple in
Marinette was located at 1610-12 Main St., right across the street from my
grandfather's Marinette drugstore. It was built in 1907 in a Neoclassical
style and served as the town's meeting hall for the Masons. The first floor
has been transformed into commercial storefront space and houses Paul's Music
and The Psalms.
Boom logs
Our family moved to the
shore of the Menominee River shortly after World War II, and the outskirts of
Marinette were right across the river. Sixty to eighty years earlier the
river had been the conduit for the world's largest white pine logging industry,
and remnants were still available in the vicinity in the form of log structures
and deadheads in the water. We were well aware of the river's famous
history and sometimes fancied ourselves to be young lumberjacks.
Camp We-Ha-Kee
Camp We-Ha-Kee for Girls
was established by the Sisters of the Dominicans of Sinsinawa on the shores of
Green Bay near Marinette in 1923. It's named after Mary WeHaKee La Batte,
a young girl raised by the Dominicans whose mother was a Sioux Indian and whose
father was French. In 1964 the camp was moved from Marinette to Hunter
Lake in northwestern Wisconsin where it's still thriving today.
Post Office 1909
Here is the Marinette
Wisconsin Post Office in 1909. I haven’t been able to locate a date for
its construction. Marinette County was formed in 1879 and the City of
Marinette in 1887, so I suspect the post office had been around for a couple of
decades when this picture was taken.
Ella Court School
The Marinette &
Peshtigo Eagle reported on January 8, 1876, that the "lower part of Ella
Court School is finished and ready for use."
Bastol Dairy Meal
According to the Annual
Report of the Dairy and Food Commissioner of the State of Michigan, Vol. 20,
Bastol Dairy Meal was produced by the Lignum Chemical Company of Marinette.
The report for its analysis listed 12% protein, 20% crude fiber, 46%
nitrogen free extract, and 4% fiber extract.
Parade, Main Street, WW I
(1918)
This parade on Main Street
in downtown Marinette, in the vicinity of my grandfather's drug store, was held
in 1918. My dad was 10 years old and probably was in the
crowd.
Yacht Basin boats
Both of the twin cities had
popular yacht basins for local and Great Lakes boaters. Menominee's
marina was right on Green Bay off the Sheridan Road downtown business district,
while Marinette's was on the Menominee River near where the river passed under
the Interstate Bridge. We'd check out the boats while walking across the
bridge to go to the Fox or Rialto movie theaters in downtown Marinette.
Marinette Opera House
It's quite amazing, but the
twin cities of Marinette and Menominee both had large opera houses at the turn
of the last century. The Marinette Opera House had 1,275 seats and a
10-seat orchestra section. While I’m sure my grandparents went there many
times in the early 1900s, the opera house was long gone by the time that my
siblings and I were growing up in the 1940’s.
Sauve’s Courtesy Motel
Given that this is a chrome
postcard from the fifties or sixties, Sauve’s was there on Highway 41 during my
youth. We probably passed it by many dozens of time on Marinette’s
outskirts as we teenagers drove to Peshtigo and back.
Camp Bird
Camp Bird near Crivitz in
Marinette County is located on land that was owned from 1875 to 1920 by Isaac
Stephenson who used it as a fishing and hunting camp. Sold in 1929 to a
land company, Marinette County became the owner that year because of $82.75 in
unpaid back taxes. The plans to build a youth camp were approved by the
County Board in 1939, and construction was begun by the WPA in 1942. Camp
Bird opened in 1943 and has been used since that time by the Boy Scouts, Girl
Scouts, 4-H, schools, and religious organizations.
Loret’s Beauty Salon
In my mom’s final years she
experienced severe pain in her legs and wasn’t up and around much. My
task on home visits was to take her for her weekly appointment at the local
beauty parlor. It wasn’t Loret’s, but I’m sure her salon was
similar It’s hard to describe the invigorating effect that going to the
hairdresser had upon my mother. She loved conversing with the stylists
and fellow customers and getting filled in on the gossip of the day.
Lakeside Inn
To the best of my
knowledge, the Lakeside Inn was located at the Chautauqua site on the outskirts
of Marinette along the Green Bay shore. When we were kids this had become
the residential area of Pine Beach. My grandfather lived there with my
Aunt Martha and Uncle Ralph and their kids, Ann and John.
July 4 parade 1913
This is a shot of the
Fourth of July parade on Main Street in downtown Marinette in 1913. It's
clearly a grand occasion. Lauerman Brothers Department Store is in the
background to the left. My grandfather's drug store was two blocks up the
street in the direction that the parade was proceeding. My father was
four years old at the time of the parade, and odds are that he was there,
taking in the splendor.
Miscauno Inn
The Miscauno Inn (now the
Four Seasons Resort) was located on Miscauno Island in northeast Marinette
County on the Menominee River. It opened in 1905 and initially served a
Chicago railroad clientele before being destroyed by fire and then becoming an
exclusive club and golf course. Legend has it that Al Capone was a
frequent guest at the Miscauno Inn, using it as a getaway when the heat was on
in Chicago. Reportedly because Chicago gangsters were such regular
guests, all of the private resorts in the area had armed guards and barbed-wire
fences. (Source: NY Times, "Where public enemies went for a little
peace and quiet," 6-26-09)
St. Anthony’s Church
(interior)
St. Anthony's was located
at 900 Wells St. in Marinette. In 1958 the four Marinette parishes of St.
Joseph, Sacred Heart, St. Anthony, and Our Lady of Lourdes assumed joint
control of the former Our Lady of Lourdes High School, establishing Marinette
Catholic Central High School (which later became the St. Thomas Aquinas
Academy). To my understanding, St. Anthony's church is now located in
Niagara in Marinette County.
Oakwood Beach Club
The Oakwood Beach Club is a
mystery to me, and even Google couldn't untangle it. I did find out that
Oakwood Beach Road is located in Marinette's Pine Beach neighborhood, just
south of the Bay Area Medical Center, and it seems likely the clubhouse was
located there. As kids, we spent much time visiting the Burkes and
swimming at Pine Beach.
Schofield Resort, Lake
Nocquebay, Archie Photo 1944
Lake Nocquebay remains a
major resort area and tourist center in Marinette County, though I don't find
traces on the Internet of the Schofield Resort today. Noquebay is one of
Wisconsin's largest inland lakes, offering 2400 acres of fishing for Bluegills,
Perch, Crappie, Walleye, Bass, and Northern Pike. The Mohawk Resort and
Supper Club, located 4 miles east of Crivitz, might be Schofield's
replacement. It offers eight lake front cottages and a year-round
vacation home spread along a 500-foot beach. (Source: www.exploringthenorth.com)
We plan to visit Marinette
and Menominee soon, and we look forward to stopping by at least some of these
scenes from days gone by.
Love,
Dave
Where did you find the picture of the Oakwood Beach Club, thanks. jjjlamont@gmail.com
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