Related Records

1. Abstract for the property known as Anglers Restaurant at the intersection of County Road W and Tower Road. 1872-1987 - Note: the abstract is in reverse order. Attached is a summary of the real estate transfers to help follow the ownership changes.

   Record Type: Archive

   
2. Abstract for the property known as the Fireplace Inn. 1872-1987 - The document includes ownership transfers of many different lots from the Rest Lake dam and logging camp on Vance Lake to The Fireplace Inn on Tower Road. Attached are summary real estate transfers by lot, or groups of lots, to help follow ownership.

   Record Type: Archive

   
3. Aerial view of Rest Lake by the dam. ca 1930 - Image shows the Northern Lights Hotel, the Win-Mar, the old Chippewa Lumber and Boom logging camp buildings and the Tower Tea Room.

   Record Type: Photo

   
4. An article detailing "almost forgotten" businesses and locations in Manitowish and Manitowish Waters as reported by historian Michael Dunn. 10/2004 - Dunn's notes begin in Manitowish and travel south on Highway 51 including downtown Manitowish Waters.

   2004

   Record Type: Archive

   
5. Bazso's Cocktail Tower Bar and Dining Room 1938 - Bazsos leased the property from Josephine Bernard.

   Record Type: Photo

   
6. Bazso's Cocktail Tower Bar and Dining Room 1939-1941 - Interior of the Tower Bar. So named for it's location beside the Rest Lake fire tower. George & Mabel Bazso leased the property for 3 years, with an option to purchase, from Jo Bernard. They could not afford the purchase in 1942 so they went a different direction and bought Haakenson's Resort on the Rest Lake channel and began 50 years as Hillcrest Resort. Included is a matchbook cover advertising the bar.

   Record Type: Photo

   
7. "Big Development Around Rest Lake" 12/1928 Iron County Miner (Hurley, WI) - Lakeland Lands, Inc, managed by Morris Holzman of Eagle River, had land holdings in what is now downtown Manitowish Waters and on Rest Lake. In the 1920s they began selling the property for development and summer homes. The article discusses the building for the Northern Lights Hotel, Tower Tea Room and Schuster's Bakery.

   12/7/1928

   Record Type: Archive

   
8. Commerce in the 1920s. By JoAnn Miller - The article explores some of the first resorts and businesses opening in the Town of Spider Lake in the 1920s as tourism was begining to grow.

   2/2021

   Record Type: Archive

   
9. Garber's Tower Resort aka Garber's Tower Bar & Resort 1944-1952 - Bill and Martha Garber purchased the business from Jo Bernard.

   Record Type: Archive

   
10. Historian Michael Dunn's narrative on the evolution of 1936 Manitowish Waters resorts, taverns and restaurants to 2005. - This document was attached to his 1936 Chamber of Commerce guide.

    2005

    Record Type: Archive

    
11. Josephine Bernard sues Peter Kirbach, aka the Doughnut King, for breach of marriage promise. 1934 - Bernard, owner of the Tower Tea Room, who divorced husband Arthur Zermuehlen in 1930, is suing for $100,000 in damages. She claims Kirbach promised to marry her in 1931,1932 and 1933 but has since refused.

    1934

    Record Type: Archive

    
12. News clippings of the Paul D and Norma Durant family and their time in Manitowish Waters. 1908-1948 - After Paul's sudden death in 1923, Norma sold their Rest Lake Lodge to Charles Nash. Paul's son from his first marriage, Wentworth Durant, built a home on Rest Lake in the late1920s. Included are obituaries for Paul, Norma, their son Leland and Paul's first wife.

    Record Type: Archive

    
13. Oscar Hanke, manager of a soft drink parlor located at the Tower Tea Room, was accosted and shot three times on Sunday night, July 27, 1930. - Authorities thought the shooting maybe be related to an ongoing slot machine "war" or possibly resulting from Hanke's changing employment. Soda fountains or parlors were popular during Prohibition, 1920 - 1933. Hanke was arrested in 1947 for gambling violations in Hurley, WI. The Tower Tea Room building was built in 1928 by Arthur and Jo Zermuehlen. They divorced in 1930 but Jo, aka Jo Bernard, continued to own it until 1944 when the Garbers purchased it.

    7/27/1930

    Record Type: Archive

    
14. Over 100 images of daily life at Civilian Conservation Corps 660, Camp Mercer. 1934-1935 - Photographer and Camp Mercer member Ambrose S. McKloskey's photo album of life at the camp. 1933-1934

    Record Type: Photo

    
15. Real Estate transfers published: Camp of the Woods on Benson Lake; Tower Inn by Vance Lake; Waukegan Lodge on Fawn Lake. 7/6/1944 - Edwin Hunter sold "Camp of the Woods" to Robert Kimmell. Jo Bernard sold the Tower Inn to William Garber (Hurley). Loren DeWoody sold Waukegan Lodge to the Westfalt's (Westin's Holiday Lodge?) and purchased "Hull Place" on Fawn Lake.

    June 1944

    Record Type: Archive

    
16. Rest Lake Fire Tower 1941

    Record Type: Photo

    
17. The Tower Inn- a store and filling station owned by Frank and Lucy Laundrie ca 1922-1928 - The business was so named as there was a fire tower built on the hill right behind this building. This became a branch of the main Post Office in Manitowish, WI in 1928. It was sold to Arthur and Josephine Zermuehlen in late 1928. The building in the background is the ranger station.

    Record Type: Photo

    
18. The Tower Tea Room ca 1929-mid 1930s - Built by Arthur and Josephine Zermuehlen in 1928. After getting divorced, Josephine, aka Jo Bernard, owned the building until 1944 when she sold it to Garbers. Oscar Hanke operated a soda parlor in the building in 1930; George Bazso operated Bazso's Cocktail Tower Bar and Dining room from 1939-1941.

    Record Type: Photo

    
19. Tower Bar and Views from the tower postcard ca 1940s-1950s - Tower Bar and views from the fire tower postcard images from David Bohnett postcard collection.

    Record Type: Photo

    
20. Tower Bar and Views from the tower postcard ca 1940s-1950s - Tower Bar and views from the fire tower postcard images from David Bohnett postcard collection.

    Record Type: Photo