PLYMOUTH BIRD'S EYE VIEW 1 Sheboygan Press April 29, 1927 BIRD'S EYE VIEW OF PLYMOUTH TAKEN IN THE YEAR 1865 PRIMITIVE INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS A CONTRAST TO MODERN STRUCTURES Here we have a very interesting pictures of the village of Plymouth taken about the year 1865. The picture is from an elevation on the south side of the Mullet river, near the east side of the village, looking in a northwesterly direction. Comparing this view with another of the present city of Plymouth, appearing on page 21, its difficult for the present young??) (???) to get a perspective that might aid in establishing the sites and locations of the various principal buildings appearing in this old picture. Practically all the vacant areas which were within the scope of the camera at the time the original picture was taken, are now occupied either by stores or by private dwelling houses. SHOWS FLOUR MILL The large building in the foreground is the flour mill built for R. H. HOTCHKISS, of Milwaukee, who settled in Plymouth in 1849 and entered into a partnership with H. I. DAVIDSON. The millwright work was under the supervision of George W. CHAMBERLAIN, of Sheboygan Falls, and the mill is said to have been the first of its kind built in that vicinity. The mill was completed in March 1850, and on the 27th day of that month the first grist of two bushels was ground for Hiram BISHOP. On March 28, or the second day after the mill was completed, DAVIDSON sold his interest to H. N. SMITH and the firm name was changed to that of SMITH & HOTCHKISS. Later Rudolph PUHLMANN purchased SMITH's interest and the firm name was again changed from SMITH & HOTCHKISS to that of HOTCHKISS & PUHLMANN. Mr. HOTCHKISS died in 1886(?) after which Otto PUHLMANN operated the mill until 1889, when the property was sold to William SCHWARTZ. In 1901 Gottlieb PFEIFER bought the mill which he operated for a number of years. Mr. PFEIFER enlarged and otherwise improved the building and the name was changed to that of Plymouth Roller Mills. During the recent years Charles LEE has conducted the business under the name Plymouth Flour Mills. The mill-pond was the favorite rendezvous for the boys of that early period. The dilapidated looking building located on the opposite side of the river, was the first sawmill erected in the village. It was built for H. I. DAVIDSON in 1848, and later operated by Sam WHITFORD. The (?) of the mill were removed many years ago. The thoroughfare extending from the mill to the downtown business section of the village is now known as East Mill street. Near the north approach to the bridge shown in the picture, Henry BADE had a blacksmith shop. West of BADE was the general store of SMITH, HUSON and ZERLER, one of the first stores to be established in Plymouth. FIRST STORE OF LOGS The first store was started in 1847 by T. P. DAVIDSON in a log building which was located near where the brewery now stands, In 1848 H. N. SMITH built a store at the corner of Main and Milwaukee streets, and P. H. SMITH became associated with him in the business which carried on under the (?) name of P. H. SMITH & Co. The firm name was changed in 1860 to SMITH & ELWELL; in 1868, to SMITH & HUSON; in 1873 to SMITH, HUSON & ZERLER, and in 1880 to that of HUSON & ZERLER. Mr. ZERLER is the only survivor and he still resides in Plymouth. Sidney SMITH came to Plymouth during the early days and conducted a general store until he passed away in the '70's. A portion of the building which was SMITH, HUSON & ZERLER's store is now occupied by FELD & FELD, dealers in hides. The first blacksmith in Plymouth was William LIPE who came to the village in 1849. Where the smoke is seen curling from the high stack was the John SCHWARTZ hub and spoke factory. At the time this picture was taken, A. D. BARROWS, now of Sheboygan, and one of the founders of the DILLINGHAM Manufacturing company, was engineer at the SCHWARTZ factory. The property was later acquired by H. C. LAACK, who built the present splendid two-story brick structure upon the grounds. The old hub and spoke factory building was moved south and now is occupied by Mr. MERGET. The larger two-story frame building appearing to the left of the hub and spoke factory is the Century Flour Mill erected for William SCHWARTZ. When the city of Plymouth purchased the land upon which this mill stood, in 1900, the building was purchased by William GRIESE(?) Jr. and moved to the east side of Milwaukee street, where it has since been occupied by him as a blacksmith shop. The present pumping station and waterworks plant was built upon the original mill site. GRIESE EARLY BLACKSMITH Mr. GRIESE's father was one of the early blacksmiths in Plymouth. For a number of years he worked in other shops, but in 1866 he established a shop of his own on E. Mill street in the frame building adjacent to the TIMM hardware store and which is now occupied for residence purposes. A few years after William SCHWARTZ started the flour mill, he started a two-story frame building, which still stands directly south of the pumping station, in which he started a furniture factory. PREUSSLER brothers became associated with SCHWARTZ in this business, but later they started a similar business themselves. They continued to manufacture furniture in Plymouth for a few years when they removed to Sheboygan and entered into a partnership with Obed MATTOON and started a small furniture factory in the building which now forms a part of the FREYBERG novelty manufacturing plant on Pennsylvania avenue. The PREUSSLER Bros. factory building was later occupied by the Plymouth Furniture company. Near the SCHWARTZ flouring mill was an ashery owned and operated by John ANDERSON, who manufactured potash for a number of years. The small building seen standing at the top of the hill at the extreme upper left of the picture, is a barn originally erected for J. T. MOXLEY, who came to Plymouth in 1848. The barn and also the family residence, the latter located farther down the hill, still stand upon their original sites. Mr. MOXLEY had one of the finest apple orchards in that vicinity. GERMAN GASTHAUS Returning to the mill in the foreground of the picture, and describing the buildings located on the north side of the street, attention is first directed to a German Gasthaus, which is concealed by the mill. For many years David ROEHR was proprietor of this hostelry, which was torn down many years ago. The three-story building next in regular order, was the Quitquioc Hotel, built in 1850, and said to have been the first frame tavern in the village. For many years this hotel was conducted by G. M. BOWMAN. The top floor was used as a dance hall. The building was razed a few years ago and an oil filling station now occupies the ground upon which it stood. The building seen at the right of the hub and spoke factory - the one having five windows on the second floor - was the Central Hotel, owned and conducted by William FISCHER. The hotel is still located at the same corner, opposite the LAACK block, although it has been rebuilt several times. On the corner where the exchange bank now stands was Carl SCHWARTZ' foundry and machine shop. John SCHWARTZ, brother of Carl, was also interested in this business, and Fred THURMAN later became associated with the firm. On the site now occupied by the post office building was SCHNEIDER & SCHIBLER's brewery. This brewery was originally started by Andrew SCHNEIDER. CHURCH BUILT IN 1856 The first church building seen in the center of the picture is St. John's Catholic church, the construction of which was started in 1856. The first work done for this edifice was by Lawrence ZEIGLER, who got out the first timber and hauled the first stone used in the foundation walls. The first services were held in 1860, "Father SCHMIDT" officiating. The one-story building east of this edifice was the first frame school house in the village. It was erected in 1849, on the site east of the present CURTISS brewery. The original schoolhouse was later moved to E. Mill street where it served as a post office when Captain BROOKS was postmaster. A. D. BARROWS attended this school during his early boyhood days. At the right of the Catholic church is seen the First Congregational church building, which was built in 1859. The present house of worship stands upon the same site as the one shown in the picture. The small church facing left in the picture was the first meeting house for the St. John's Lutheran congregation, which was organized in 1858. The handsome brick edifice, which replaced the original building, was erected in 1883. The city clock was placed in the tower of this church. Directly behind this church building is shown the original high school. The low building which appears east of the St. John's Lutheran church, is the St. Paul's Episcopal church. The original house of worship has since been remodeled and stands upon the same lot, which is situated directly across the street from the Public Library. The last building visible at the extreme right in the picture was the home of David FRISBEE, a pioneer settler and early blacksmith in the village. LAACK HOTEL The LAACK Hotel at Plymouth for many years was the leading hostelry between Sheboygan and the Fox River valley. It was established many years ago and is located in the splendid brick block erected by H. C. LAACK and a large addition later built by his widow. Last September Buster Brown, pitcher for the Plymouth baseball nine, took over the hotel and made many improvements, including the re-decorating of the interior. A dining room is maintained in connection with the hotel, meals being served at reasonable prices. THERE IS A WONDERFUL PICTURE OF AUGUST LAACK and the following is written about him: Above is a likeness of August LAACK, son of Mr. and Mrs. Charles LAACK, pioneer settlers of the town of Plymouth. Mr. LAACK was born in Germany in 1846 and came to this country with his parents in 1854. The family settled on a farm in the eastern section of the town, where the parents continued to reside up to the time of their deaths. August LAACK remained on the homestead until seventeen years ago when he retired from active life as a farmer and moved to Plymouth with his wife, where they now reside in a comfortable home at the extreme east end of Eastern avenue. Despite his advanced years, Mr. LAACK is still hale and hearty and enjoys the simple life, recalling many discomforting experiences of early years in a new country. During his younger days, he was an expert wood chopper and competed in contests of cutting down large trees, which were cut into logs for the sawmills. He is one of the very few direct living descendants of the pioneers of the town of Plymouth, who still resides in the town. THERE IS ALSO A PICTURE OF MRS. JOHN KNOWD (ANNA JOHNSON) with the following written about her: MRS. JOHN KNOWD Above is a picture of Mrs. John KNOWD, who before her marriage was Anna JOHNSON, the first white child born in the town of Plymouth. On June 14, 1924, a boulder marker was unveiled at the intersection of Highways 57 & 23, and dedicated by the Plymouth chapter of the Daughters of the Revolution to commemorate in history the Indian trail which later became the Fond du Lac-Sheboygan Plank road, as well as the birth of the first white child in the township who was born near the spot where the two highways cross each other near the east limits of the city of Plymouth. Mrs. KNOWD, after having reared a family of seven children, passed away on March 8, 1888. Her husband was the first agent for the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway company, beginning when the Chicago and North Western railroad was built through Plymouth in April, 1859