Completed in October 1914, the Voshardt mausoleum was said to be the best in the state and one of the finest in the West. In all, 16 Voshardt family members (Herman’s father and mother, five brothers, three sisters and five of his siblings’ spouses) are laid to rest in the stately mausoleum, the last being in 1954. Herman Voshardt was interred here after his death in 1929.

During the late nineteenth century, Voshardt’s Hall was the scene of many social activities that included concerts, balls, dances, parties and wedding receptions. It was a popular place for labor meetings, boxing and wrestling matches, and, for a few years, exercises and physical activities by the local German Turn Verein or “Turners.”

Pfister soon held 22 land entries in section 11, 13, and 24 of the township – mostly along Lake Michigan. His holdings represented a total of 1,429.9 acres of land. With a lot of hemlock bark nearby, the business quickly developed, and employees traveled to the bustling village.

On Friday morning March 7, 1958 at 0210 hrs. at the Calumet Rail Yards, a Chicago and Northwestern Railroad train crew, with their train parked and running, disembarked to take a breakfast break. The engine and nine cars were gone when they returned. The train traveled l0 miles and went through 20 crossings before the engine and two box cars smashed through a dead end obstruction, traveled 60 feet and plunged into 18 feet of water in the Two Rivers Harbor.

Vehicles have been in Manitowoc County for well over a hundred years. There are now speed limits, protocols for accidents, street signs, and other regulated rules of the road. Back when the automobile was not so common, in the early 1900s for example, these basic principles of driving simply did not exist. Knowing how these aspects of driving are today, it is quite interesting to hear the stories of early automobiles in Manitowoc County.

Manitowoc has an important association with Jensen as he designed the original landscape plan for Lincoln High School. In 1923, when construction of the Collegiate Gothic high school on Roeff’s hill was underway, Jensen came to Manitowoc with Chicago architect Dwight Perkins to meet with School Board members and survey the building site.

Reed came to Manitowoc in 1850, one of the first lawyers in Manitowoc County. In 1851, he was chosen the first president of the village of Manitowoc. He was elected County Judge in 1853 and represented Manitowoc in the State Senate from 1864-1870.

It was the custom to have several plays, a half-dozen songs and a number of recitations, depending on the number of students in each of the eight grades. The success of the program either raised or lowered the social status of the teacher – even more than her performance in the classroom.

As in most wars, civilians step up to the plate and help their nation in any way they can, even if they have no experience. For some workers who built submarines, it might have been their first time using the tools or working with the specific materials. Despite not knowing exactly what they were doing at first, they did it for their country.

For many who experienced Pearl Harbor, it was one of those days that you can recall nearly everything you witnessed. Some Wisconsin veterans were there and detailed their memories of that day in December of 2001, the 60th anniversary of the attack.

The building and construction of the Opera House finished up in 1881. From that time on, the building was seemingly rarely empty. Each month the owners of the Opera House sponsored one dance, and in addition to this there were seasonal dances.

The Forget-Me-Not creek ran through the Kuehn property. Kuehn’s mother-in-law lived in the home with Kuehn and his wife and bought the forget-me-not seeds from Europe to plant on the banks of the creek. During the Civil War Kuehn invested his own money, along with the banks, in Confederate bonds. This ended tragically for Kuehn, as well as those who placed their faith in his Manitowoc and Two Rivers banks.

In 1847, Daniel Smith, a lumberman from New York State, plotted a small village around his dam and mill, seven miles north of Two Rivers, naming it for his friend Old Chief Mishicott. The Potawatomi leader is also the namesake of the Town of Mishicot, organized in 1852, and the Mishicott River (now called the East Twin) in Manitowoc County.

Soon after arriving, the agents became aware that the task of destroying the plant and equipment, estimated to be worth $100,000 or more, was beyond them and called for reinforcements, another carload of operatives arriving during the night. The following day the distillery was dismantled, all of the metal being purchased by a Two Rivers dealer in scrap metal.

On Sunday evening, October 7, 1883, news reached Manitowoc that a destructive fire had raged that afternoon in Mishicott, and that the western end of the downtown on both sides of Water Street (now E. Main) had been wiped out. The fire started in the smokehouse of Louis Levenhagen, who was rendering lard at his butcher shop.

On November 8, 1960, voters in the City of Manitowoc approved one way streets. On the following day, City Council met for the official canvas of votes and the results became official, 6,227 “Yes” to 5,927 “No” votes. A margin of 300 votes.

This is the letter that got sent to Edwin Sykora notifying him that he was drafted.

In August of 1976, six educators, fifteen high school students, a playwright, and a priest embarked on an eight-month voyage down memory lane. Their goal was to recreate the voyage that Robert Cavelier Sieur de La Salle undertook in 1681 and 1682 and dramatize how important it is to understand the past while building the future.

According to the local paper, Earhart’s presence at the carferry slip in Frankfort soon became known and scores of residents and travelers kept her busy signing autographs.

The village of Mishicot, located 12 miles northwest of Manitowoc, started out as a small settlement near the East Twin River. A walk through town reveals a pleasant mixture of old and new as historic buildings have been renewed to fit the needs of today’s ever-growing society.