The 1894 Manitowoc County Fair’s Official Score Card highlighted the gambling aspect of the horse races: “If you want to be sure of placing your money on the winning horse at the races during the fair, you can do so by calling at The Senate, 806 York Street, Carl Hansen, Proprietor. Head quarters for sporting events during the fair.”

In 1926 at the Convention of Fair Board in Milwaukee, F.C. Borcherdt declared that Manitowoc’s fair was the “blue ribbon fair of Wisconsin” because more registered cattle were exhibited at the Manitowoc fair than at any other county fair in Wisconsin. The Manitowoc County Fair continues to hold the title of the “blue ribbon fair of Wisconsin.”

Reminders of our community’s past remain all around us. Framed photos, street names, and historic buildings help us share the story of our county’s founding and growth. The Dempsey name can still be seen etched in history by all who pass by the namesake’s building at the corner of North Eighth Street and Maritime Drive in downtown Manitowoc. But who was M. H. Dempsey?