Kingsbridge Hotel

Hotel operator Baltasar Barteleme and his family.

During the 1800s until the early 1900s, Kingsbridge was a booming little crossroad village. In a 1997 Pinecrest Spirit article it is said that in 1880 Kingsbridge had a population of 65 people. As settlers came to Manitowoc County, more and more little crossroad villages like Kingsbridge started to form. Crossroad villages usually included a blacksmith shop, saloon, post office, cheese factory and in many cases a church and school. Kingsbridge was not a typical crossroads village, however.

Kingsbridge did not have a school or church, which was typical for most crossroad villages, but it did have a hotel. Along with the hotel, Kingsbridge also had a blacksmith shop, post office, a tavern and dance hall. The hotel in Kingsbridge had only a handful of owners, which included George King, William Zanders, Baltasar Barteleme and John Jindra. Barteleme and his children are pictured in the photograph (circa 1890s) of the hotel included with this article.

The hotel’s first operator is George King. He is the namesake for Kingsbridge. Along with operating the hotel, King also operated a grist mill in Kingsbridge, which was built prior to 1878. In addition to operating the hotel and grist mill in Kingsbridge, King also operated a store in Neshoto, now known as Shoto.

The second operator of the hotel in Kingsbridge was William Zanders, an immigrant from Germany. In addition to operating the hotel Zanders also operated a shingle, planing, and feed grinding mill in Kingsbridge, along with a sawmill in what is now known as Zander. Zanders sold the hotel to Baltasar Barteleme, who paid $4000 for it.

While Barteleme operated the hotel, he also operated a store, saloon and his hotel housed a post office. During the time Barteleme operated the hotel, it was known as Baltus Bartelme. In 1896 Barteleme’s hotel, post office, barn, saloon, and store all went up in flames. A 1921 Manitowoc Pilot article talked about the blaze, which at the time of the article’s publication had occurred 25 years prior. The article stated, “The building constituted the chief value so that Mr. Bartelme's loss is quite heavy.” It went on to say that, “The fire started in a little wash shed which stood near the house.” At the time of the fire Barteleme had a mortgage of $1700 on the property and the insurance policy of $1000 was payable to the mortgagee. In Barteleme’s obituary from 1933 it states that he owned the hotel for 18 years. It is unclear as to if he rebuilt the hotel or simply sold the property after it burnt.

The last operator of a hotel in Kingsbridge is John Jindra. Jindra and his wife operated the hotel for 14 years until a fire, in about the year 1918, yet again destroyed the hotel in Kingsbridge. All that remained of the hotel after the blaze was its crumbled foundation. No hotel was erected in Kingsbridge after fire destroyed the last hotel.