Red River: What Happened to Bay View?

Bay View is another of the long-forgotten Kewaunee County hamlets. The crossroads community in the Town of Red River is where some would say, “on top of Dyckesville.” Others would say it was just over a mile southeast of Dyckesville. On a current plat map, the place would be located at the intersection of the SW corner of Section 17 and the NW corner of Section 20, an area originally populated by Belgians with names such as Boulanger, Wery, LaCourt and Van Dycke. Antoine Wery, however, was the first to patent land in 1858. Wery chose the SW ¼ SW ¼ of S 21 and a mere 20 years later was surrounded by other Belgian settlers and more Werys.

Belgian history in Door and Kewaunee Counties is recorded in volumes and, like anything else, it is the seemingly minor details that get lost. What preceded the coming of the Belgian settlers and the Indians who were there first is most interesting. Geologically, the town stands out. Before 1900 geologists knew there was a small strip of Cincinnati shale in the part of the town bordering the bay of Green Bay. In that the town differs from the remainder of Kewaunee County which is made up of Niagara limestone, though Casco and Montpelier have their own unique formations. More than 100 years ago scientists were aware of two small areas in both places made up of beds of pebbles left from a time when the rest of what is now Kewaunee Country was submerged by what became Lake Michigan.

The fascinating period of glaciations left the highest elevation in Kewaunee County in Red River. Bordering the Town of Luxemburg to the south and Lincoln to the east, Red River’s Section 36 is a point 285’ above “oceanic” Lake Michigan. In the 1870s, the county averaged from 60’ to 200’ above the lake, but only Red River's Section 36 was described as having chalybeate springs, water that was said to have health-giving qualities. The sulphur-smelling springs were supposed to be about 45 degrees and flow moderately. Perhaps there were area residents who bathed in the springs, but the waters were never known widely enough to bring health-seeking tourists.

Land speculator James Duane Doty was one of the first to patent land in the town in 1838, not long after the original survey. Doty was elected as the Wisconsin Territory's congressional delegate the same year and from 1841 to 1844 served as Territorial Governor. Doty’s investment covering Section 33 surely was because of the timber which had not yet been logged off by the time Slausson and Grimmer held title to much of the land over 30 years later. However, the thickly forested land had seen a sawmill by the time the Belgians began arriving.

Keenly aware of the potential, surveyor Sylvester Sibley patented Sections 5, 6 and 8. Recorded history says Guerdon Hubbard and James A. Armstrong patented the land with Sibley near the mouth of the Red River (Rouge Riviere), intending to build a sawmill, however legal documents show Sibley as a single owner who registered his land in 1837 during the territorial days of Wisconsin.  Apparently the sawmill did go forth. By 1840, General A.C. Ellis, whom some sources give as Wisconsin’s first newspaper publisher, Green Bay’s Daniel Whitney and Senator Timothy Howe were involved in the mill, but about 1850 Armstrong and Hubbard abandoned their interests. Eventually the mill site became Thomas Spear’s. It was destroyed by fire in 1864 and rebuilt, though by indications, it was smaller than the first.  A few years later, Charles Scofield bought the mill and Scofield's ownership remains the most documented.

It was to this region that Wery and the others came. Anton Delimont was one of the lesser known early residents, although the surname could be found on plat maps years later.

When Delimont arrived in the area, he came to a still virtually uninhabited place around what became Bay View. He said that in cutting down the immense trees to form a clearing, he was able to build a log home and a farm building. Delimont continued to clear land during the winter in order to have fields to plant come spring, but by spring he was discouraged and moved on, locating in Nebraska. Just over 40 years later, Delimont returned to his old Red River farmstead and found civilization. He also found the remnants of his log home and that prompted an interview. At his first  arrival in Red River, Delimont found the thrifty Belgians building a new Catholic church to serve at least 100 families. At its construction in 1876, the church was said to be one of the finest buildings in the county. If Delimont stayed in the area only a year, it would have been a few years after the great Fire of 1871. The devastation of Red River makes it seem unlikely that he was cutting such immense trees although there are buildings remaining today that were constructed with charred logs from trees not completely burned. One wonders why just one winter proved discouraging. Delimont was not alone in relocating to Nebraska nor was he alone living near what became Bay View . Old maps indicate others with his surname so he obviously had relatives in the area.

But leave, Delimont did, eventually to return to find the farm on which he pioneered both modern and prosperous. Delimont was told that Red River farmers were among the most prominent in Kewaunee County and often had pure bred cattle, but he countered that Nebraska’s weather was better and farms were much larger. He found the village of Bay View with a large cheese factory that was the jewel of the area. Bay View had a general store, a blacksmith shop, a new school – District #3 in the Town of Red River – and the town hall in the heart of the tiny village. Eugene Daoust built the store late in 1902. In 1909 Louis Smeesters, who made cheese with Toebe and Liebl in Luxemburg, accepted a position with Daoust who was also running the cheese factory. How long Smeesters made cheese is not clear, but he was drafted into what became World War l. He was serving the community 5 years later and  was the church treasurer. Bay View Farmers Coop operated the cheese factory for a number of years and Marvin Malcore bought Smeesters’ store. Malcore sold in 1948 to John Creviere and the DeBakers bought it from him.

The place Delimont left had three school rural school buildings by the time it was a two-room school absorbed into the Luxemburg-Casco school district. History says the first school was frame. Built in 1869, the sawn boards no doubt came from the Scofield mill. The second school was built a few rods south of the first and was another frame school.

Though Bay View continued to fade away as an enterprising hamlet, it sported a baseball team in the old Cherry League for years. The Bay View teams offered a chance for the community's residents to socialize and be entertained by teams that always made them proud. 1934’s powerhouse team was a stand out. Showcasing such men as Debaker and Moens on the mound with Junion, DeMoulin, Guillette, Gillis, DuChateau, Bader and Sell on the field, the teams eventually faded too. If Delimont could return today, he’d see cornfields and wonder where it all went. Bay View passed into history joining Zavis, Darbellay, Pierce, Casco Pier and more, some of which no longer exist even in memories.

Sources: Ahnapee Record/Algoma Record Herald; Door County Advocate; Here Comes the Mail: Post Offices of Kewaunee County, c. 2010; On Land and Sea c. 1997 (a family history); Wikipedia.