As World War 2 took hold in Europe, Guila and her mother settled in Nazi-controlled Paris. The young star continued to perform throughout Axis territories during the war. She claimed later in life to have performed a concert at which Adolf Hitler himself was present.

His passion for history and efforts to preserve the stories of our early German settlers led him to lead a small group of citizens to form the Manitowoc County Historical Society in 1906.  Emil Baensch’s efforts have lived on beyond his years and demonstrate that one individual with vision and commitment can inspire a community for generations. 

Perkins, Hamilton, and Fellows, a Chicago architect, firm was hired to design the new high school. The architect recommended the Roeff’s Hill site from a list of choices because “Nature has made it one of the best high school sites in the USA.” At the time of the construction plans, 15 acres were required for an ideal high school site. There were quite a few reasons for choosing to build Lincoln on Roeff’s Hill. The site was centrally located in the city and the previous high school was too small and run down to accommodate all the students.

In 1930, a young kindergarten teacher at the First Ward school (later Roosevelt School) was preparing her classroom. As she decorated her walls to make it cheery and educational for her incoming students, she took down an old, deteriorated portrait of a serious looking bearded gentleman. She stored the old portrait away in a closet until seasoned educators and older residents learned of her ‘rearranging.’ A educators and residents asked that she put the portrait back up on the wall quickly, as the portrait was of C.F. Viebahn.

On April 28, 1881, 22 men signed the charted and were mustered into the Grand Army of the Republic as Post Number 18. That night, James Anderson was elected the post's first commander. They took the name of Capt. Horace M. Walker as their post name.

The printed word has been a part of our local history since 1850.  As Dr. Falge describes in his “History of Manitowoc County”, “of an active temperament, with natural ability coupled with a good education, wielding a trenchant pen, and above all, equipped with a ‘nose for news’, C. W. Fitch had all the hardy qualifications needed for a pioneer printer.”

“When Dare-Devil Blondin, the “Human Fly”, walked the tightrope from the old Glover building over to the the Windiate House, he gave the town something to talk about.  Blondin, who with a little ballyhoo and expert barking, attracted quite a crowd to watch him perform. 

The 14 foot fiberglass Guernsey cow was brought to Manitowoc in the 1960s by Rolland and Raleigh Sorge, owners of the building that currently houses Cedar Crest Ice Cream.  In 1929 the Sorge twins came to Manitowoc from La Crosse and operated the Manitowoc Farmer’s Cooperative Dairy on York Street.

In April 1902, two small city streetcars were unloaded at the C&NW depot in Manitowoc. In appearance, the cars (29 feet–4 inches long with 28 seats) were “handsome in design,” painted “a pretty red color” and numbered “3” and “4.” Other city streetcars and larger interurban cars (42 feet–4 inches long with 44 seats) for the Two Rivers run arrived later.

“She was first a theater and then a motion picture house. The joys and sorrows of the City of Manitowoc were reflected in her owlish windows.”

“They signed the contract one day. On the very next day the wrecking crews moved in and in no time at all an ancient landmark of the City of Elevators was reduced to rubble and dust.”

On March 29, 1976, the Herald-Times-Reporter printed a brief news story ‘Carter to Visit Area’ on page 3 of the Monday edition. The former Georgia Governor was expected to reach the city on Wednesday, March 31, at 1:15 p.m., coming by car from Appleton.

The Green Bay Road bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998. It is of statewide significance in engineering as one of the oldest remaining Pratt truss bridges from the pre-1890 period still on its original site in Wisconsin.

The steeple of Saint Boniface Catholic Church, at South 10th and Marshall streets in Manitowoc, has been a familiar Manitowoc landmark since 1886, when the current Gothic brick church was built. Saint Boniface Parish was founded in 1853 as a mission of the Maternity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church at Manitowoc Rapids. When Father H. J. Nuyts noticed the population trend was veering away from Manitowoc Rapids and towards the village of Manitowoc, he proposed the organization of the parish in the bustling new village.

The development of these 36 acres of land mirrors the changes in our community.  It tells the story of our early settlement, the rise and fall of the railroads, the importance of shipbuilding to Manitowoc County, the resolve of our nation during war time, and a commitment to hard work and innovation that has followed us throughout our history.

When the war ended in 1865, Charles Rieck, who had served nearly three years, received an honorable discharge and returned home. Finding it difficult to settle down to farm life, he went to work in the coal mines of Pennsylvania and the lumber mills at Menominee, Michigan. Upon his return, he worked as a carpenter and cabinet maker.

It all started at a barber shop at the corner of Eighth and Franklin streets in Manitowoc. In between the snips of his scissors, barber John Hoyer spread the news about the upcoming doomsday; October 13th, 1899. As townsman Fred Rouelle expressed, some folks were saying “we are all about to be blown to smithereens-right off the Earth.”

The White House Milk Company, once located at 102 Revere Drive in Manitowoc was once among the largest producers of evaporated milk in the country. The plant was reported to be able to process a million pounds of milk in a day and crank out 500 cans of evaporated milk per minute.

“We were not long strangers here. The prevalence of our German element and our language, the hearty reception from upright countrymen, allowed us to feel no longer strange, but calmer and more content. We had finally found a place for our fireside.”

Besides being one of Manitowoc’s most prominent and successful businessmen, Henry Vits served as Manitowoc postmaster (1894-1898) and a member of the state legislature, county board of supervisors, city council, school board, park commission and county asylum board of trustees. He helped organize the Manitowoc Gas Co. and Manitowoc Mutual Fire Insurance Co. He was an active member of the Odd Fellows and Concordia Singing Society.

M. Fellows, the President of the Jones Library Association stated, “In this age, books and newspapers are the great teachers. They bring us face to face with the best and wisest minds of the present and the past; we live again in their days, and thus a double live is given us – one of the present, and one of the past.”