Post Archives

  • Hi-Way 51 Outdoor Drive In Theatre Photos

    Plover’s Highway 51 Outdoor Theater opened at time where drive in theaters were becoming increasingly popular across the country. The story of what was originally known as a “Park-In” theater, starts in 1933 Camden, New Jersey with the opening of the nation’s first open air theater. The drive in theater idea is said to have…

  • An Abridged Timeline: The Infamous Life of T. Charles Kobella and his Notorious Polski Hotel: Part 4

    Bad Behavior & Burials Note that this work is incomplete.The timelines we write are meant to be fluid and changing. That is one of the reasons they are described as abridged. Not only do we not include all the details in them, but there is always more to find, and always more to write. Overtime…

  • Exclusive Photos: St Joseph’s Convent Progress Photos

    Last October we were invited on a tour of the progress on St Joseph’s Convent buildings on the north side of town. A special thank you to Stevens Point Director of Community Development, Ryan Kernosky, for the invitation and to Dan Broton, long time convent employee, for his priceless stories and memories of the building…

  • The Historic Stevens Point Project: Historic Recap of 2022

    Our followers have certainly noticed the lack of new content on our website over the past year, as well as have seen our social media quiet down. But that doesn’t mean things weren’t happening in the background. In fact, 2022 was a big year for our little project. Here’s an update of what was going…

  • Eulogy for the Beloved: Saying Good Bye to 1700 Strongs Avenue

    ‘The more decrepit I look, the more you’ll love me, as this reminds you that I’ll be gone before you.’ – Don Paterson’s summation in Reading Shakespeare’s Sonnet On the afternoon of February 20, 2022, Historic Stevens Point held a funeral and memorial service in honor of the soon to be demolished historic Gothic Renaissance…

  • Documenting History Before it Disappears : Creating a Virtual Tour of the Trinity Lutheran Church Building

    On a cold day in December, a few weeks back, Historic Stevens Point made a special visit to the abandoned church building awaiting its imminent demise at 1700 Strongs Avenue on the corner of Brawley Street. As soon as we noted that the city was looking for demolition bids on the neglected and abandoned Trinity…

  • An Abridged Timeline: The Infamous Life of T. Charles Kobella and his Notorious Polski Hotel: Part 3

    BAR BRAWL?! BUSTED! Note that this work is incomplete.The timelines we write are meant to be fluid and changing. That is one of the reasons they are described as abridged. Not only do we not include all the details in them, but there is always more to find, and always more to write. Overtime more…

  • An Abridged Timeline: The Infamous Life of T. Charles Kobella and his Notorious Polski Hotel: , Part 2

    Booze & Boarders Note that this work is incomplete.The timelines we write are meant to be fluid and changing. That is one of the reasons they are described as abridged. Not only do we not include all the details in them, but there is always more to find, and always more to write. Overtime more…

  • An Abridged Timeline: The Infamous Life of T. Charles Kobella and his Notorious Polski Hotel: , Part 1

    Blasphemy & Bicycles Note that this work is incomplete.The timelines we write are meant to be fluid and changing. That is one of the reasons they are described as abridged. Not only do we not include all the details in them, but there is always more to find, and always more to write. Overtime more…

  • Stevens Point’s Lost Carnegie Library: The Final Chapter

    Please enjoy the Final Chapter of our piece on the Lost Carnegie Library of Stevens Point and with additional photo gallery. Continue reading →

  • “This is Our Town,” Stevens Point’s Lost 1953 Promotional Movie

    Did you know that in 2016 an archivist at UWSP found a mystery Stevens Point film?! Read a little on the background about this incredible find and watch the film on our website! Click the photo below to read about Stevens Point’s Lost Promotional film! Continue reading →

  • A Short Abridged History of the Thomas Anderson Family and Their Stevens Point Homes

    Most small town history and genealogy intersects in multiple ways, often crossing interesting people with interesting buildings. Such is the case of Mr. Thomas Anderson. He had associations to the Brown family who helped establish Rhinelander and whose farm was located where the University’s Old Main building stands today, as well as his own Anderson…

  • History Saved! The Union Cemetery Sign is Coming Home

    We have been hoping the sign would find its way home somehow or another, and we are absolutely ecstatic to report that the sign has been recovered! If you did not read the press release yet, here it is again: Posted on the City of Stevens Point Website, July 30, 2021 UNION CEMETERY SIGN RECOVERED…

  • Stevens Point’s Lost Carnegie Library: Part 4

    Before the library could officially open to the public, the extensive collection of over 5,000 books and reading materials had to be moved from their old crowded home on the shelves in the rooms above Taylor’s to their new more permanent home on the brand-new freshly varnished shelves just down the road. No records have…

  • A Short History of EJ Pfiffner and the Pfiffner Pioneer Park Property

    With Riverfront Rendezvous under way another year, here is a little back ground on the man behind the name of the green space on the river so loved by our community, Mr Edward Julius Pfiffner. Coming to the area in his youth Edward J. Pfiffner was a self made man who found a trade that…

  • Stevens Point’s Lost Carnegie Library: Part 3

    With some dispute, land was eventually obtained at the southwest corner of Strongs Avenue and Clark Street. Soon after Architect Henry A. Foeller, of Green Bay was hired and drawings were made. Bid requests for construction of the library began in October. By December of 1901, George Potter’s $17,900 bid, not including plumbing, heating, nor…

  • Looked Like a Riot!

    Though this is the only time it is know that a mob of people were involved, this would not be Peter Pliska’s only publicized encounter with the police and what would consistently be his downfall, alcohol. Pliska would be no stranger to constant troubles. He became well known to Judge Murat, standing before him numerous…

  • Stevens Point’s Lost Carnegie Library: Part 2

    Libraries were not typically free to use anywhere in the United States, let alone the world, during the 19th and early 20th century. Many, such as the Stevens Point’s library, had yearly or monthly fees, fees which some just could not afford. Philanthropist and steel mogul, Andrew Carnegie, believed in free self-education to a high…

  • An Abridged Timeline Part 3: Madame Extraordinaire, Amelia Berg

    This timeline is a work in progress. It is the initial first step in the process to create an article on what is known on the notorious Amelia Berg over the course of her time in Stevens Point, expounding on Wendell Nelson’s previous work. We found Amelia’s story so sensational that we could not help…

  • Stevens Point’s Lost Carnegie Library: Part 1

    A favorite historic focal point for many small idyllic Wisconsin towns is their Carnegie Library. During the early years of the 20th century 63 free public libraries were built throughout Wisconsin using funding from Andrew Carnegie. Few remain in use a libraries today, but many have been preserved and are often museums or historical society…

  • An Abridged Timeline Part 2: Madame Extraordinaire, Amelia Berg

    This timeline is a work in progress. It is the initial first step in the process to create an article on what is known on the notorious Amelia Berg over the course of her time in Stevens Point, expounding on Wendell Nelson’s previous work. We found Amelia’s story so sensational that we could not help…

  • An Abridged Timeline Part 1: Madame Extraordinaire, Amelia Berg

    With lumbermen and river pilots filling the saloons on the Public Square during the latter part of the 19th Century, ladies of the lamplight were sure to follow. Amelia Berg, later known as Stevens Point’s “Madame Extraordinaire,” ran the town’s most famous brothels and has quite the story to follow. She kept her house of…

  • An Abridged Timeline: The Nymphea Becomes the Showboat

    Life as the Showboat *this story is a work in progress The Nymphea was purchased by ambitious entrepreneur, Jeff Jones, in 1930 for use as a lunch counter at his newly proposed cabin campground. Jones, a Milwaukeean, bought property on Second Lake where he first built a “modernized” cottage for himself and family. He later…

  • An Abridged Timeline: JJ Bukolt’s Pleasure Yacht, The Nymphea

    In April 1916 the riverboat Nymphea was built for JJ Bukolt by his employees in his Automatic Cradle Factory. It was the largest pleasure boat on the river at the time in the area, could carry 80 passengers, had a kitchen and a toilet on board. It is often referred to as Bukolt’s yacht in…

  • The Emerson School Property Part 4: A New Start

    This is the final installation of the Emerson School Property Series Nearly a decade after complaints were raised about the aging structures on Clark Street, a new vocational school was completed on Michigan Avenue in 1962. An incredibly modern building, the new facility was welcomed by the city. The vocational school moved to the new…

  • The Emerson School Property Part 3: The Annex

    It had been proposed to build the new high school unit on Normal Avenue, but in the end it was decided that the new building would be built on the same property as the old high school and used in conjunction with the original building. The city allocated $150,000, about $2,325,000 today, to building the…

  • The Emerson School Property Part 2: The New High School

    History of the Emerson School Property Part 2 Continue reading →

  • The Emerson School Property Part 1: An Immediate Need

    History of the Emerson School Property Part 1 Continue reading →

  • Stevens Point Brewery, Andrew Lutz Sr & Brother, proprietors

    A vintage postcard with photos of the Stevens Point Brewery, Andrew Lutz Sr & Brother, proprietors. A very clear version of the photo on the right appears on the Stevens Point Brewing Company’s website today. The first photo is circa 1867 or so based on the woman’s civil war era dress who is standing on…

  • Hotel Sellers

    Built in 1887, this Victorian hotel building was known as the Grand Central, The Commercial and the Denver. Hotel Sellers opened in June of 1910. EW Sellers had purchased the property from Lutz who had ran it as the Denver Hotel. In 1916 the hotel was sold to a gentleman who backed out. It was…