The Waverly Was a First Class Hotel in Two Rivers

Waverly Hotel under construction in 1892. Lester Public Library / Hubert R. Wentorf Collection

The Waverly was built for Michael Bartelme and Peter and Jonas Gagnon as a ‘first class hotel’ in the summer of 1892 on the northwest corner of Main (now 16th) and Jefferson Streets in Two Rivers. John Rehrauer did the masonry work; Ira Stehn and Fred Wilsman, the carpentry work.

The Waverly was constructed on the site of the old Two Rivers House, acquired by Mr. Bartelme from Michael Gebhardt in 1887. Needing more room and modern facilities, Bartelme moved the two-story frame building to a vacant lot owned by Capt. Pilon near the Walnut (now 17th) Street bridge.

The new two-story hotel, 40 × 80 ft., was constructed of solid cream brick, with two-foot-thick walls, set on a rock-faced limestone foundation, quarried at Sturgeon Bay.

Windows were narrow and rectangular, with arched stone lintels and flat sills. Upper walls featured ornamental and corbel brickwork. Parapet walls on three sides bordered a flat roof. A wood semi-octagonal tower, covered with wood shingles and topped by a finial, was built above the corner entrance. The tower is still present but the pyramidal roof was removed in 1965.

The first floor plan featured an office, saloon, dining room and kitchen – all with plastered walls and 12-ft. ceilings. Two rooms were used as the proprietor’s living quarters. Modern interior alterations have removed some partition walls.

A stairway with decorative wood newel posts and spindles provided access to the second floor with several small guest rooms, most with windows. Some of the rooms were used by the hotel help. Others were later converted for bath and shower rooms and storage.

Original small brass room number plates, although tarnished, are still mounted on wood doors in the narrow hallway, once lit by skylights. In the early 1900s, the hotel was a popular boarding house for unmarried teachers in Two Rivers.

The Waverly Hotel opened on the evening of October 6, 1892 with a banquet and music by the Union Coronet Band. The Manitowoc County Chronicle reported it was “an elaborate and enjoyable affair” with “a large number of invited guests” and “tables in the large dining room . . . loaded with all the dainties of the season.”

Early advertisements promoted the Waverly’s central location, large well-lighted and steam heated rooms, reasonable rates and first-class accommodations. The hotel offered special rates for summer visitors and tourists and a free horse-drawn transport to and from the Goodrich dock and the Milwaukee, Lake Shore & Western R. R. depot at the foot of Washington Street.

In 1893, a bar room addition, 18 × 37 ft., was built as a west wing. Old photographs show the bar front on Main Street with a central door, flanked by windows.

In 1893, Perry Diehl opened a barbershop in the hotel’s basement and added public baths in 1895. The area was later remodeled for a meeting room.

A garage, 22 × 25 ft., was added in 1933 on the north side of the building.

After the death of Michael Bartelme in 1893, the hotel was managed by his wife Odelia, with the assistance of the Gagnons, who retired from the business in 1898. Mrs. Bartelme continued operating the Waverly, assisted by her nephew Peter J. Bartelme, manager.

In 1905, Fred Wilsman (who built the hotel) purchased the building. Numerous owners followed: Vladimir Kresheck, Bernard J. Neuman, Charles Simelis, Michael Cepelauskas, Anthony Klaus,  Russell ‘Ummy’ Walesh and James Duprey, among others.

During the late 19th and 20th centuries, the Waverly was the scene of many social activities that included meetings, banquets, dances, card parties and receptions. Horse auctions were held at the Waverly Hotel barn in 1923 and 1924.

On September 22, 1927, boxing fans lined the sidewalk in front of the Waverly to listen to a live radio broadcast of the Gene Tunney-Jack Dempsey fight from Soldier Field in Chicago.

The Waverly has a long tradition of serving good food. In 1935, a Friday night fish fry (perch) and chicken plate lunch on Saturday cost 10¢; beer was 5¢.

In 2016, the property became the Waverly Inn Pub & Pizzeria.

The 132-year-old Waverly holds many stories from the past as it creates new memories for today’s owners, residents and visitors to the Lakeshore area.