Be on the Lookout!

Sunday, February 15, 2015

Be on the lookout.  Two important pieces of Kewaunee County’s commemoration of the past have gone missing.

Two Heritage signs have disappeared.  The signs are historical markers that were erected by the Kewaunee County Historical Society (KCHS) to educate us about and to honor the county’s past.

Creating the signs was a project of the Historical Society’s Heritage Sign Committee headed by board member Donna Urban.  Over 30 signs were posted throughout the county about people and places of the county’s days gone by.  The signs highlight a variety of topics ranging from factories to a fire, Father Marquette to ferry service, farms to a financial institution.  The Heritage signs were produced locally and each sign includes an historical photo and explanation of the significance of the location in Kewaunee County history. 

Canning Factories Heritage Sign

The signs look like this example which is located on the east side (the lake side) of Knutson Hall on Lake Street in Algoma.  It marks the former location of canning factories.  The sign explains that canneries were located in Kewaunee and Algoma that processed local farm crops and provided jobs.  Built at the end of the 19^th century, the canneries fell into decline after World War I due to competition from Green Bay plants.

Now two of these signs are missing.  The first one, about brickyards, was posted near the Algoma Chamber of Commerce building on the lakefront (State Road 42).  It explains that most of Algoma’s buildings before the great fire of 1871 were made of wood.  After the fire, local brickyards produced materials to build safer buildings.   

Location where the Railroads sign belongs

The other missing sign marked railroads of Kewaunee County.  In 2001, it was placed on Cedar Corners Road (County Road M) at the intersection with the Ahnapee Trail, north of Algoma.  This sign commemorates the importance of the railroad which tied the county with Sturgeon Bay, Green Bay and points beyond.  It explains that, no longer used by the railroad, the old rail right-of-ways were repurposed as hiking and biking trails. 

The missing railroad sign reads: “As people moved inland, away from navigable waterways, railroads provided the vital transportation link for freight and passengers before the arrival of motor vehicles.  Rail service reached Kewaunee County when the Kewaunee, Green Bay and Western Railroad was completed to Kewaunee in the fall of 1891.  The inauguration of carferry service across Lake Michigan the following year completed the east-west railroad link across the Upper Midwest. 

Edward Decker, a prominent county businessman who had extensive holdings in the Casco area, advanced most of the money needed to connect Ahnapee (Algoma) to Green Bay by way of Casco Junction.  Work on the Ahnapee and Western was completed in the fall of 1892.  Two years later, rail service was extended to Sturgeon Bay by way of Forestville and Maplewood. 

The railroad stimulated the lumber industry, which had moved inland to the Casco area.  With readily available transportation, business was flourishing.  Later cash crops—hay, peas, apples and cherries—were transported to market. 

By the 1920s, rail transportation was starting to be affected by competition from the trucking industry.  The Depression further cut into profits.  Freight shipments were declining, mail contracts were lost and passenger service was coming to an end. 

The segment from Algoma to Sturgeon Bay was abandoned in the late 1960s.  Various attempts, such as a passenger excursion train between Algoma and Casco Junction, were made to help the railroad survive, but eventually rail service was virtually abandoned in the county. 

Today, while trains no longer travel this railroad right-of-way, this century-old route now serves as a year-round recreational trail.” 

A website, Wisconsin Historical Markers, provides photos of most of the Kewaunee County historical signs as well as place descriptions and some latitude and longitude coordinates to help searchers, including geocachers, locate the KCHS Heritage markers.

To help publicize the markers and encourage driving tours to view the signs and locations throughout the county, the KCHS Research Center also offers a brochure with a map and detailed information.  

Kewaunee County Historical Society member Judy Srnka said the two signs went missing about a year ago.  Having checked with the city of Algoma, the KCHS is still unable to locate the signs.  Anyone with information about the location of a missing sign is asked to contact the Kewaunee County Historical Society at (92O) 388-0369 or stop at the Research Center at 217 Ellis Street in Kewaunee. 

It would be nice to get these records of the past back where they belong.