Razing the Walter Brothers Brewery

             

February and March of 1960 saw the demise of the Walter Brothers brewery next to St. Patrick's.  It had ceased operations in 1956, though it's sister breweries continued their operations in Eau Claire, Appleton, and West Bend as well as in Pueblo and Trinidad, Colorado. Unable to match the marketing and sales budgets of the big national breweries, the Walter breweries closed one after another in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. The last one to survive was Walter Brewing in Eau Claire which lasted until 1989.

Elbridge Smith House

from the June1898 souvenir Menasha Press:

The first frame building in Menasha was erected in October of 1848 by Elbridge Smith, then a young and energetic attorney from the East, and it is worthy of note that this house is still standing on its original site on Water Street between Mill and Clay. It was the first frame house built within the present limits of the city, and is still in a good state of  preservation.

But like the Joni Mitchell song,  a news item in the June 17, 1960 Post-Crescent stated the house was to be removed to make way for a parking lot.  See below:

more info about Mr. Smith, from his obituary:

Elbridge Smith, son of John Howard and Martha (Mitchell) Smith, was born October 22, 1818, in Old Town, Maine. He was prepared for college at the academies at St. Albans and Skowhegan, and took the early part of his collegiate course at Colby University, entering the class of 1845 at Bowdoin in April, 1843. After graduation in 1845, he studied law and was admitted to the bar at Bangor, Maine in 1849. The same year he moved to Menasha, Wisconsin, and took up the practice of his profession, maintaining it with marked success till his death. He held many offices of trust, among which were those of district attorney, supervisor and clerk of the village. He died suddenly, May 11, 1894, at Menasha, Wis., from la grippe (influenza).  Mr. Smith married, January 22, 1854, at Old Town, Caroline J. Hoskins, who survives with two children, Mrs. Helen Marion Story of Minneapolis, and Julius E. Smith, Esq., of Menasha, Wis.

St. Mary's High School Gym Dedication

 

Feb 23, 1931  - Appleton Post-Crescent

PLAY CAGE TILT AS GYMNASIUM IS DEDICATED

St. Mary High School Quintet is Defeated by St. Norbert’s 19-13

MENASHA – The St. Mary High School basket ball team dropped a hard game, 19 to 13, to St. Norberts of De Pere in St. Mary gymnasium Sunday afternoon.  The game was the feature attraction at the formal dedication of the new St. Mary gymnasium.

The Menasha All-Stars, led by Edward Godhardt, center, swamped the United Cigar company cagers of Appleton, 42 to 23 in the preliminary attraction.  Godhardt scored 11 field goals for Menasha.

“The dedication of the gymnasium marks a definite event in the life of the Fox River Valley high school conference by providing the last school in need of a gymnasium with suitable physical education facilities,” the Rev. Anselm Keofe, rector of St. Norberts and president of the league said in the dedicatory address prior to the high school cage tilt. 

“The organization of the Catholic high school league has provided the missing factor in Catholic school activities.  Although the league has been in existence little more than a year, much of the unevenness already has been eliminated and with cooperation from all the schools in the Green Bay diocese, it should become a marked success.”

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

And a note to those of us thinking, St. Norbert's is a college, not a high school....

From its humble beginnings of tutoring students in the rectory kitchen of St. Joseph Parish in De Pere, the Norbertine religious order eventually developed a formal classical high school curriculum with both day and boarding students. St. Norbert High School was founded in 1898 as the first educational program established by the Norbertines in the US.  The school began with just four registered students and their teacher, Abbot Bernard Pennings.  St. Norbert High School and St. Norbert College coexisted on the same campus until 1959, in what is today Boyle Hall.  

In 1959, the location and name of the school changed. St. Norbert High School, whose enrollment had grown to 180 students, moved to a larger facility and was renamed Abbot Pennings High School.

Dismantling of Mill Street Bridge/Dedicating Racine Street Bridge

from James M. Auer's 1953 book, Centennial Memories: A Brief History of Menasha, Wisconsin:

In 1856 a float bridge was built across the channel of the Fox, connecting the Island and the mainland.  Unfortunately, citizens who crossed the span were often sprayed with water on account of its peculiar construction. As a consequence it became necessary to replace the pontoon affair with a wooden drawbridge in 1860. The latter soon settled into the water,
however, and in 1886 the city bought a swing bridge from a Milwaukee company for the enormous sum of $7,000. When the rest of the span partially collapsed a few years later, Menasha purchased a riveted iron bridge that cost $14,500, thus completing the Mill Street bridge which endured until 1951, a remarkable length of time considering that it had been planned with light, horse-drawn vehicles in mind. On Saturday, August 25, 1951, the new Racine Street lift bridge was dedicated in memory of Curtis Reed, and the old Mill Street swing bridge was demolished shortly afterward. Built at a cost of $585,000, the modern structure with its automatic warning lights and power driven lifts is a far cry from the first crude bridge that the early settlers threw across the treacherous stream.

Pankratz Coal

In its earlier days, the Pankratz Fuel and Ice Company on Kaukauna Street furnished the horses for the fire department and took care of sprinkling the streets.   In the 1880s, Mr. W.W. Pankratz was listed in the city directory as the city teamster.

Menasha Ball Park and Koslo Park

December 5, 1974

April 29, 1976

These two pieces from the early 70's in the Neenah-Menasha Daily Northwestern detail some of the transition from the old Menasha Ball Park to the new Koslo Field.  Lots of history in the old ball park; it is still missed by me, and I'm sure countless others.

Jack Rabbit

May 3, 1924, Appleton Post-Crescent

June 7, 1924, Appleton Post-Crescent

Keeping with the theme of summer, what could be more exciting than a ride on a thrilling roller coaster?  And to have one just minutes from your home in Menasha!   As if Waverly Beach didn't already have enough amusements- roller rink, dance hall, fine dining, etc., now this.