Streets of Hatchet Creek - Day 6

Here I am again sharing the streets of my home town. I didn’t walk much for this blog post. Instead I spent an hour at our little historical museum. It’s too bad that more people don’t stop in there. Many hours by long-time residents have gone into the collected memories contained in the two buildings which make up our historical museum. 

 “ON TARGET was a fiberglass prototype boat built in 1961 by Tomahawk Boat Manufacturing Company. The 18-foot, two-passenger craft was created by company co-founder, Frank Winter. ON TARGET was featured in Newsweek and on the Today show. With its fighter-like fuselage, it was part of Winter’s extensive involvement in boat racing. Despite it groundbreaking features and advance publicity, this one of a kind boat never made it into production.”

“In 1998, after many years in storage, ON TARGET was donated to the Tomahawk Area Historical Society. After undergoing major restoration, as well as more time in storage, the boat finally came to its permanent location in Washington Park in 2009.”  

 “This steam engine, called ‘Old No. 19’, is a Mogul type 2-6-0, was built in 1923 as #19 of the Charcoal Iron Company of America and was first used in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Old No. 19 was purchased by the Marinette, Tomahawk and Western Railroad in 1947 and served the area until 1957. A few years later it was given to the City of Tomahawk. For more than 25 years it was on display near the Wisconsin River bank, not far from the bridge it had once traveled in its working days. In the 1980s it was renovated and moved to its final resting place in Washington Park.”

 This log cabin had been originally built in 1927 on the North Tomahawk Avenue boulevard and served as the Tomahawk Information and Visitor Center. It burned in the famous 1929 Mitchell Fire but was rebuilt. In 1987 it was moved to its current location in Washington Park.

In 1888, this building became the city’s first school building. It served as grade school, kindergarten and school district office. In 2000 it became the second historical museum, across the street from the log cabin.  

 Inside the old school-house museum. Scenes from days gone past.

 (Information included in today’s blog was taken from signs posted in Washington Park or from articles in the book “Souvenir Views ofTomahawk, Wisconsin” compiled by Dixie and Andy Zastrow.)