During its many years, the Hotel Hamilton hosted meetings, wedding receptions and society events. In 1948, the hotel welcomed Coach Earle Neale and the Philadelphia Eagles football team of the National Football League when they arrived for a week of training at Walsh Field. The Eagles had previously trained in Two Rivers during 1941 and 1942.

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.

The company, originally known as the Manitowoc Art Glass Works, was founded by brothers George and Joseph Tremmel, glass cutters from Oshkosh, and Frank Bouril of Kewaunee County in 1904. Offices were located in an old wooden store building at 804 York Street. Advertisements in The Manitowoc Pilot indicate the company offered ‘Glass of Every Description’ for residences, public buildings and churches.

Gottlieb and Friedericke Lutze with their children Edward, August and Clara arrived in America in 1849. Learning of other German Lutherans from the Province of Saxony that had settled in rural Manitowoc County, they purchased 80 acres for $105 in Section 19, T17N, R23E, Town of Centerville. They began clearing the land and during the next two years built a housebarn for both people and livestock under one roof.

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.

Mr. Wentorf was both a local photographer and a collector of historical photographs. The images focus on local landmarks, industries, institutions, special events and people going about daily life in Two Rivers. Many of the photographs include group shots of organizations and civic groups.

Fortunately, St. John Lutheran Church was not affected by a disastrous fire which destroyed nine buildings in the thriving port of East Two Creeks on October 5, 1918. The fire destroyed a blacksmith shop, general store, dance hall and tavern, hotel and other nearby structures.

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.”

On July 24, 1901, about 500 employees including pickers and field hands of the E. J. Vodra Canning Co. celebrated the close of the pea canning season at Picnic Hill. The workers marched from the plant to the picnic grounds in groups representing the different departments, led by a band.

Cooperatives have been a key part of rural areas for over a century. Historically and today, farmer-owned co-ops work together to help members market and process their crops and livestock, and acquire needed supplies and services.  For a group of 25 Reedsville farmers, this began as an early dream in 1918 and has since expanded and grown. The initial group of farmers joined together to market their livestock in and around the bustling village of Reedsville. They would take orders once a month and the livestock would then be shipped on railroad cards. These humble beginnings marked the start of the Reedsville Cooperative.

While many of the early settlers grew a small garden for vegetables and potatoes, Hiram was the first to farm intensively. In 1838, his crop of oats was taken to Green Bay, a distance of about 45 miles, to be ground into flour. Over time, McAllister’s farm on Plank Road, west of the Green Bay Road, at Four Corners (present-day intersection of Menasha Avenue and North Rapids Road) became the “finest developed in the county.” For this reason, he is considered the pioneer farmer of Manitowoc County.

A poster reads ““Aeroplane Picnic – Quarry, Wis. July 29, 1924. … Aerial stunts and airplane rides at $2.50 a person.”  The pilot behind the daredevil stunts and flying show was Melvin Thompson, often referred to as “Crazy Thompson”, using a pasture on the outskirts of Quarry for his landings and take-offs.

“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 Town of Cato was originally known as “Nettle Hill” and “Harrisville” but officially became Cato upon the arrival of the railroad line about 1870.  One of the earliest settlers to the small rural community was John Killen, a Scottish immigrant.  Killen was a Civil War veteran who came to Cato in1869 and opened up a General Store along the Neenah and Manitowoc Plank Road (what we know today as Highway 10). 

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.

On Saturday morning, February 26, 1927, four men were injured and considerable damage was done when the ‘Snowflake Limited’ derailed a mile south of Two Rivers on the branch line of the Chicago & North Western Railway Co. The Chronicle reported, “The wreck was a bad one and caused considerable loss and delay.”

The unveiling of the monument was followed by a national salute fired by the U.S. Revenue Cutter Morrill from the harbor. The chorus then sang The Star-Spangled Banner and the monument was accepted by W. J. Wrieth, president of the common council.

On July 21, 1891, the Manitowoc County Chronicle reported, “Work on the library building is now in progress” and on October 13, “The building for the Joseph Mann Library is nearly completed.” The two-story front-gabled frame library building was located on Lots 3 and 4, Block 72, south of Main (now Sixteenth) Street between Washington and Adams Streets. The total cost of construction, heater, furniture and books was $3,363.73.