Oconto / Peshtigo WI

June 19, 2016  We left Eagle River on Father's Day and headed to Oconto, WI.  I was browsing the Travel Wisconsin book and saw what I thought would be interesting places to see.  One was a mansion in Oconto that is now a museum that is open for tours, The other is a museum in Peshtigo documenting  "America's most disastrous forest fire"

Even the people in Wisconsin don't seem to know that Oconto and Peshtigo exist, so here's a map. The marker is Oconto and just a few miles up Hwy 41 is Peshtigo.

Our campgrounds were located on the Oconto River and at one time it was the staging area for the Holt lumber Company.  Logs would be brought here and stacked waiting to be loaded onto barges and taken out to Lake Michigan and points beyond.  The land was donated to the city and it is now a city park and campground. Our site was right on the water.

June 20, 2016  Monday's plan was to drive to Peshtigo and go to the fire museum.  In 1871, Peshtigo was a thriving little town.  The railroad and logging up river gave the town the supplies they needed to set up shops for making everything from buckets to window blinds to floor planks.  That spring and summer was drier than normal and small wildfires popped up, but were quickly put out.  On the evening of October 8, 1871 a wildfire sprang up, the volunteer fire brigade was not able to contain this one.  Tornado winds spread the fire and caused "fire balls" to sweep through town.  Within hours the town and surrounding area was totally destroyed.  800 of the 1750 residents died in the fire.  Those that survived did so by jumping in the river and using wet blankets to cover themselves. Some of those died of hypothermia.  The volunteer at the museum said temperatures of the fire reached 2000 degrees. The only building that survived the fire was a green timber frame house under construction.  The fire went out the next morning.  One man walked seven miles north to Marinette to get help.  Supplies and tents were sent to Peshtigo and they opened their hotel to the injured as a make shift hospital.  This fire was over shadowed by the Great Chicago fire that happened the same day.  How's that for coincidence.  Peshtigo had no way to communicate their plight.  

These photos and depictions may not be great, but they are necessary to understand that this was a booming town.

 This shows the church being moved across the bridge to it's present location to replace the lost church.  It is now being used as the museum.

The building that the museum is in, is a church that was donated to the town and moved to the location of the original church destroyed by the fire.  The cemetery next to the museum is where the folks who perished in the fire are buried.

There were very few artifacts recovered from the fire. One was the tabernacle from the Catholic church.

The other things in the museum were donated by families and are representative of times.

I've gone to many museums and have seen a lot of depressing things.  The story of this town and how devastating this fire was, touched me in a way that only a few exhibits ever have.  I will remember Peshtigo, WI.

On a lighter note, our next stop in back in Oconto to the Beyer Home Museum. 

Built in 1868, it was the first brick house built in Oconto.  It sits on an entire city block. George and Fannie Beyer bought it from the original owners in 1878 for $568.00  It was originally built in an Italianate style, but the Beyers remodeled it to be the Queen Anne style. Here's a drawing of the original house.

The Beyer's lost the house during the great depression and Oconto County took possession of it.  The Historical Society has leased it from the county since 1940.  It is decorated and furnished in the Victorian era decor.

An addition to the site opening this year is a carriage house that contains a vintage vehicle collection. 

This car brought back memories of high school.  A friends family owned one of these and it was really cool to ride around in it.

Also included in the annex are exhibits relating to the general history of Oconto County, including a reproduction of typical Main street storefronts.