Issue 3 - Spring 2019
Kraftwood Dining Room
Letter From the President
by Bear Wheeler
With the tourist season going strong now, the population of our town has doubled. It's amazing how snow, ice, and subzero temperatures isn't a popular draw for a good time! In the meantime, the Historical Society is doing a lot of neat things. Over the winter our young organization has got our tax exempt status: Back in February, we had a couple members, Greg "Pat" Patrick and Otto Tiegs go to the school here in Elcho and do a local history segment for the fourth grade class. They instructed them in the harvest of trees from the forest to the sawmill. The kids were shown the "art of the misery whip" and the axe, both of which held their attention. We would like to thank the Elcho School and Mr. Hayes (fourth grade teacher) for their cooperation and willingness for us to pass some local history on the next generation.
This newsletter's feature article is on the Kraftwood Gardens. This summer on Tuesday, July 9 , 6:30 pm, at the Elcho School Theater, we will be hosting a presentation about Kraftwood put on by Bill Kraft. We would love to see a lot of participation for this event. The memories of this wonderful place need to be preserved and passed onto the younger generations.
We have been collecting artifacts, documents, and photographs dealing with the history of our area. Not all the things we collect are antique, but we also are preserving things from the 1970' s through the present. Someday these artifacts will be forgotten history if we let it. We have people who are well versed in family histories from the area and we preserve those histories as well. As you can read in the "Committee Reports" segment about photo restoration, we are taking some of the donated photographs and having them restored and framed so they do not deteriorate any further. These pictures are originals and they are very special because they were not mass produced. Someday when we acquire a museum, we will have many preserved items for the public to enjoy.
Charles W Fish
But what the future holds for us as a Society is going to cost us money. That's why we are beginning a push to raise funds, so that when the time comes, we will be ready. If you have read the section about fundraising, Greg Mejak, our treasurer, has made it available to include the Elcho Historical Society in your will or your estate. If you have any questions at all, please contact Greg, he will answer your questions and give you guidance if needed. We are always looking for new members, as we have said before, if you join you are not obligated to come to meetings or volunteer for anything. We just enjoy your support if all that's what you want to give.
Please enjoy the Elcho area this summer and be safe! As always, a thank you goes out to all of our members, for putting the tools in our hands to work with, to preserve the history of this area and our wonderful town, Elcho.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
Fundraising - Greg Mejak
As we continue into our third year as a Society we are excited to begin our fundraising activities. Already planned in 2019 are three separate events.
June 5, 2019 Music In The Park, Jack Lamar Pavilion, Elcho, WI Refreshments & artifacts display. Contact Sue Mackowski at smack10@ frontiernet.net or call her at 715-777-5126
July 9, 2019 Kraftwood Gardens Presentation given by Bill Kraft at the Elcho School Theater at 6:30pm. Refreshments, bake sale, and a free will offering. Contact Connie Hubatch at cjhubatch@plbb.us or call her at 715-275-3072
September 7, 2019 Brat barn, bake sale, and artifacts display, Elcho, WI Contact Greg Mejak at gemejak@gmail.com or text or call him at 773-619-0848
Please mark your calendars so that you can join us for these activities. For additional information or to volunteer to assist at any of these events please contact the appropriate individual listed.
Looking forward it is never too early to consider listing the Elcho Historical Society Inc. in your will or estates. It may take only a few minutes to include the Society in these documents now, but it will insure the preservation of our rich heritage for future generations to enjoy well into their lifetimes and beyond.
Please contact our treasurer, Greg Mejak, with any future fundraising ideas as he will be spearheading our long term funding campaigns. As always all contributions and donations are appreciated and are tax deductible.
Photo Restoration- Connie Hubatch
Charles Fish hosted the Lumberman's Convention in 1916 at the Muskie Inn in Elcho. A 23” x 5” picture of the participants was taken. No names accompanied the photo. In 1959, the Elcho Congregational Ladies Aid women made an attempt to identify all who participated in that convention. Of seventy-seven individuals only sixteen went unnamed.
This picture was donated by Jenny Hangartner to Bear Wheeler for the Historical Society. It was torn and in poor condition. To preserve the photo, it needed to be restored and framed. This task was studied and then entrusted to Molly Gunderson, a restoration specialist from Schroeder's Frame Shop in Antigo. The finished result is beautiful and shows remarkable workmanship. Bear Wheeler will attempt to identify the remaining unidentified individuals. The big picture will soon be displayed at the Elcho High School in a display case for all to enjoy.
Oral History Project- Greg “Pat” Patrick
Capturing Our Oral History
The "real" history of any group, be it a family, a neighborhood or a community, is in the human stories shared from generation to generation, and Elcho is just such a community. One of the goals of the Elcho Historical Society is to capture these stories that make up the oral history of our area.
We are fortunate to have residents of various generations still living here and willing to share their memories. That is the purpose of this Oral History Project. The first interview was with Otto Tiegs, lifelong resident and graduate of Elcho Schools. Greg "Pat" Patrick is leading this project and conducting interviews, which are recorded and saved to be transcribed. Other interviewers will be involved also.
Since the first interview, others have agreed to share their stories, and Otto has been helpful in arranging and assisting these appointments. We are very appreciative of each person's willingness to share personal stories as this project continues.
KRAFTWOOD, ELCHO'S HIDDEN TREASURE
By Joe Hermolin, Compiled by Sue Mackowski
J.L. Kraft was one of eleven children raised in Fort Erie, Canada. In 1903 he moved to Chicago, Illinois, bought a horse and wagon and became a cheese wholesaler. By 1907 the business had grown and six of J.L.'s brothers joined him. Eventually, another brother, William, and his family joined them. In addition to wholesaling cheese, the family experimented with cheese preservation and provided tins of cheese to the troops during World War I. In 1921 they introduced processed cheese into the market.
In 1922 the Kraft Cheese Company, based in northern Illinois, decided to expand its operations to Antigo, WI. J.L. fell in love with the natural beauty of Langlade County and in 1923, purchased land west of Elcho on the shores of Lake Mach-Kin-O-Siew (now known as Enterprise Lake) for a summer home. By 1927, the property had been expanded to 400 acres including a six-acre garden.
Within the next few years, the property had grown to 900 acres and included nine guest cottages, each equipped with electricity, a community dining hall and laundry, a small farm, a chapel, a lakeside overlook, and an icehouse. The cottages were supplied with boats, including a 22-foot Chris Craft wooden motorboat. The entire complex was named Kraftwood.
William Kraft had been the manager at the Antigo Kraft operation, in the early 1920's but jumped at the chance to oversee things at Kraftwood. William and Ida Kraft raised their nine children on the grounds in a renovated farmhouse that had been there. In 1928, J.L. began construction on "the big house", a two-story mansion constructed of California redwood and cost $30,000, a large sum for a home at that time. The main floor included a large, central entry with a spacious living room that led to a solarium on one side and a glass-enclosed dining room on the other, a spacious kitchen and a bedroom. Each room featured its own fireplace. Four bedrooms, two of which had balconies, made up the second story, each having their own bathroom.
Kraftwood Gardens
Mahogany trim was featured throughout the house, and the kitchen and all bathrooms displayed tile from the Kraft Tile Company of California.
From the I920's through the I950's Kraftwood was one of the main tourist attractions in the Northwoods. The grounds were open to the public from 1938 until 1953, from July 4th through Labor Day. The gardens were known for their beauty and uniqueness. They included a Greek garden, complete with statuary, an Oriental garden with a bridge, a Rose garden, a Dahlia garden, a perennial garden, a sunken garden containing carnivorous plants, and a cactus garden. In total, 30,000 to 50,000 varieties of plants and flowers graced the grounds. The gardens were tended by five gardeners. Imagine the work it took to dig up many of the plants in fall, store them in the estate's greenhouse, and replant them in spring (especially the cacti)!
Kraftwood Gardens
As beautiful as the gardens were, they weren't the main attraction on the grounds. ln 1926, J.L. purchased two totem poles from the Kwakiutl tribe in British Columbia. He donated one to the city of Chicago, and the other he had shipped by train to Elcho. The one ear marked for Kraftwood had to be cut into four pieces and transported by truck to the estate. The 50-foot totem contained images of human faces, an alligator head, a bird with a large beak, and other carvings. The totem still stands on the grounds and is an impressive sight.
The estate also boasted a museum, filled with objects of many of J.L.'s interests including several hundred species of mounted native birds, meteorites that had been cut to reveal their insides, Native American artifacts, and semi-precious stones. Another interesting feature on the grounds was Sanibel Island, also known as "shell island". J.L. and his wife loved the seashells in Florida, so they had a truckload shipped to Kraftwood where they created the small island on the lake shore. Every year they would have to replenish the shells because visitors liked to take them as souvenirs. There was also a deer park and duck pond that visitors would visit. A windmill provided water to the main house and used to irrigate the plants in the gardens. An interesting feature was the "magnetic rock". Legend had it that if an unmarried woman threw one of her hairpins against it and it stuck, she would marry within the year.
Kraftwood
Ruth (William and Ida's daughter) and Roy Anderson became caretakers of the estate after William's death in 1940. In 1953, J.L. died and interest in maintaining Kraftwood waned. Part of the estate was sold to the Boy Scouts, part became a public boat landing, with the remaining land still owned by the family.
NOTE: Credit for this article goes to Joe Hermolin of the Langlade County Historical Society. He did all the research and fact-finding for an article he published in The Wisconsin Magazine of History in 2010.
THANK YOU!
NEW MEMBERS
Kathleen and Shelly Bergen - Duluth MN
Linda Herman - Minneapolis, MN
Jerry and Mary Wallin - Tucson, AZ
Eric and Jennai'- Elcho, WI
Bill Ahrens - Pearson. WI
IN MEMORIAM DONATIONS
Connie and Jim Hubatch in memory of Mavis Kakes
ITEMS DONATED
Otto Tiegs - Elcho High School pennant from 1955
Carole Schauer - Elcho High School pennant from 1955
Victoria & Donald Gorzalski - 1940's map of the area
DIRECTORS
Jackie Reynolds 715-387 -2489
Connie Hubatch 715-216-3819
Suzie Rabideau 816-289-3253
Dick Schuh 715-275-3882
Otto Tiegs 715-275-3321
ELCHO HISTORICAL SOCIETY OFFICERS
President: Bear Wheeler 715-216- 1316
Vice President: Sue Mackowski 715-777-5126
Secretary: Kate Kelly 715-360-5507
Treasurer: Greg Mejak 773-619-9848