Grimms was the place to be with Svacina's Red Lamp

The village of Grimms was named in honor of Jacob Grimm, one of the early settlers. The railroad was built through the village in the late 1800s. Soon after the coming of the railroad, the lime kilns were built with Geo. Gosz as the first foreman.

The Svacina’s Red Lamp building is one of the oldest landmarks in Grimms. Early recorded history on the site notes a wooden store building here, 28 feet long and 18 feet wide, 1 ½ stories high. At the time of this notation in the 1850s, the property was owned by William and Cornelia McDonald.

Manitowoc County Historical SocietyNovember 21, 2018Grimms, Tavern, Svacina

Soldiers and Sailors Monument

Attorney E. G. Nash also addressed the crowd and said " We have met today to formally dedicate this monument, and it is peculiarly appropriate that these ceremonies are held on the fifth anniversary of the termination of the most terrible and disastrous war in the history of the world.”

He went on to say, “This memorial is presented in the belief that it will forever stand as a sentinel to remind us that our county never in vain called our countrymen to defend our flag.”

According to the book “Manitowoc County Historical Markers and Memorials”, during World War I, Manitowoc County had more than 2,300 men in the service. By the end of the war, 32 men were killed in action, 55 died of other causes, and more than 100 were wounded.

We owe our freedoms to the sacrifice made by our nation's veterans. Thank you to all who served our country and to those who continue to defend our freedom today.

Manitowoc County Historical SocietyNovember 7, 2018World War 1, Manitowoc, Veterans, James S. Anderson

Edward Salomon, WI Governor

The Salomon brothers, Edward, Frederick, Charles, and Herman, hated slavery and sided with the Union cause at the start of the Civil War. Three Salomon brothers joined the Union army and in 1861 the Republican Party chose Edward as its candidate for lieutenant-governor. He was elected, and when Gov. Louis P. Harvey accidentally drowned in April 1862, he succeeded him as the eighth governor of Wisconsin. At thirty four-years-old, he was the youngest Wisconsin Governor and the first who was not born in the United States.

Manitowoc County Historical SocietyNovember 6, 2018Civil War, Salomon Brothers, Manitowoc, Riots, Politics

The legend of Manitowoc’s Phantom Hallow

It was rumored that after her death, "a figure in white had nightly been seen hovering about her former abode, and that sweet strains of music had softly floated from there, borne of the midnight air. However that may be, certain it is that this spot ever held something for mystic for the passerby, especially in the sway of the moon when rising vapors from the river bottoms, assuming fantastic forms, lent flights to one’s imagination.”

“Hence the derivation of the name, that of Phantom Hallow.”

Manitowoc County Historical SocietyOctober 24, 2018Halloween, Phantom Hallow, 1850s, Manitowoc

Halloween 1898 pranks

Traditionally, Halloween is not only a spooky time of year, it’s also a time to play harmless tricks on people. But for a suspected group of young boys in Manitowoc in 1898, they set out on the eve of Halloween to put an emphasis on the trick over the treat and tallied up quite the list of damages.