Calumetville, Wisconsin

Calumetville is an unincorporated community that straddles the county line between Calumet (in the north) and Fond du Lac (in the south) Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The main part of the village in Fond du Lac County lies in the Town of Calumet, Wisconsin and that part in Calumet County lies in the Town of Brothertown, Wisconsin. It is located at the intersection of U.S. Route 151 and County Highway HHH. U.S. Highway 151 was originally the location of the Fort Howard military road, the first road through Wisconsin's wilderness.

Calumetville hosts an annual vintage gas and steam engine show which is held at the RS Vintage Steel grounds. [ [http://www.travelwisconsin.com/event_detail/RS_Vintage_Steel_Steam_and_Gas_Engine_Show.aspx RS Vintage Steel Steam and Gas Engine Show] , Retrieved October 10 2007] The 19th Annual Antique Steam & Gas Engine Show was held in September 2007. The event features rock crushing, threshing, log-sawing, and blacksmithing. Local history of the area in form of photographs can also be seen.

Restaurants

Though small, the village has two restaurants located in it. Cedar Lodge is a very popular restaurant which draws customers from the surrounding area. Talk of the Town has a more limited and simpler menu. Both had been former taverns dating to the village's early history.

History

The village was platted by George White. The plat map on the books in the Register of Deeds office is dated 1850, but there's a reference that infers it replaces the original (which was destroyed?). It is an insignificant unincorporated village today, but at one time it rivalled Fond du Lac in trade. There had been a butcher, a doctor or two, a reception hall, a post office, a couple harness shops, a couple blacksmiths, a hotel, a turner hall, a school. One of the former doctors was aboard the Titanic. In the 1950’s and 1960’s there had been two grocery & hardware stores, two gas stations, and two taverns.

Calumetville sits on the old military road from Fond du Lac to Green Bay. Today the road is US Highway 151. It's not much more than a crossroad. The east road is County Highway HHH. The west road (opposite) is Artesia Beach Road which runs less that 1/2 mile to Lake Winnebago and the numerous lake cottages along that lake. The northern most part of the village is in Calumet County. Brothertown, in the Town of Brothertown (Calumet County), is 2 miles north. Pipe is one mile south. All three are unincorporated villages which were more important in former times.

Sources are confusing when trying to find the history of the village. "Calumet" sometimes refers to Calumetville (or Village of Calumet), Calumet Harbor, or the Town (township) of Calumet. Some later writings have mistakes as a result. One recent source says that Calumet Harbor (Pipe) was formerly known as the Village of Calumet. However the 1880 census clearly has written on it "End of Pipe Village" and "End of Calumet Village". Also in several of the old Fond du Lac city-county directories it lists the residents of the Village of Calumet and Calumet Harbor separately. A recent source states that George White was in Calumet Harbor and performed wedding ceremonies. But Calumetville claims him. In the 1860 census he is listed as living there. In a cemetery near the southern end of the village (not visible from the road and nearly hidden) one or more Whites are buried. The site was also used by the Indians for burials. George White had been the postmaster in Calumetville (from his own recollections in one of the history books). It was closed for political reasons. Later another was opened. A book listing postoffices, openings and closings, has a rather late date for the start of the postoffice. But it does mention that there was one by the same name in an unknown location in Calumet County. Some people believe that there had been a postoffice in what is now Talk of the Town (sandwich pub), but the one that people remember was in the store which later belonged to the Nelsons (burned down to the ground in the 1960's).

George White had petitioned that Calumet township be part of Fond du Lac county. In a sketch written for New Holstein's centennial, White (probably George, or possibly Charles) and another man went to Germany to recruit people to settle in Calumet area. Quite a few came. They stayed in White's hotel in Calumet. They were shown lands in the marshy area to the east. There they built homes. Some of them went as far as what later became New Holstein. Sometimes potential settlers traveling from the port in Sheboygan to Calumet went slightly off route and ended settling in New Holstein.

The hotel might be part of the reason for confusion. There definitely was one in Calumetville at one time. Old city-county directories have a Mr. Guthier running a hotel in the village. However, the one people usually think about is the Friedman Hotel (later known as Club Harbor, in Pipe) which was a popular holiday spot for people from Fond du Lac who wanted to enjoy the nearby harbor. This latter one still stands (but does not serve as a hotel) and today is called Capone’s, serving pizza and sandwiches.

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