Crescent Beach: What a View on Highway 42!

 

The crest of Algoma's Lake Street hill offers a panorama of Crescent Beach. Just south of the crest, at the east end of Feld Street, is the southern cusp of the beach while the northern cusp is visible just beyond the north pier in this postcard.

In June 1875, the two-year old Ahnapee Record told readership that the tract of land lying between the original village tract and the bluff to the south - now the Lake Street hill - was destined to be a favorite location for residents. That strip of land along the lake was reserved for a public park and to be "materially enhanced"  with improvements. The Record felt that the price of the lots and payment terms could not "fail to be satisfactory."  The decision made almost 150 years ago has positively affected the generations to come. Not everything works that way.

Highway 42 is the south entrance to Algoma, however it was not always the case. When the early settlers arrived in the 1850s, the hill was far higher, and it was wet. Even by 1900, many residents would not subject their team and wagons to the hill. It was too dangerous. But, what was bad for some, worked for others. By 1860, Gleich and Brandt were making bricks in the hill. They were followed by Swaty, Hodec and others. Storm's brickyard opened in the mid-1890s and was Algoma's last. It stood in the approximate are of St. Paul's Lutheran School playground. In the 1920s, kids swam in the pond at the old Storm brickyard. Warming earlier in spring, the pond was far warmer than the lake. During winter, the pond froze quickly, offering ice skating for 2 or 3 generations of kids at what was then called the "old brickyard."

In 1927, Algoma City Council called for cooperation from Kewaunee County Board in petitioning the state highway commission for the relocation of Highway 17 to follow the  Lake Shore Road to enter Algoma via the hill. The original and main highway from the south came from Kewaunee to approximately a mile east of Alaska where it turned north at Cmeyla Corner, following  Longfellow   Road to County Highway K before turning north on Evergreen Road to Fremont St. where it entered Algoma. Early Highway 54 turned north at the old "Fenske School" (Pleasant Hill School) to also enter Algoma on Fremont Street. That meant tourists coming to the city had to pass the school, and that was an accident waiting to happen.  The County Board did not agree originally. It felt if the road continued north along County Highway D at Alaska, snow and its removal would be less of a problem. Although "lake effect snow" had yet to be coined to define the phenomena, that's what the board was thinking.

Pierce Town residents objected to the relocation of the highway. Farm land was affected, but there were other objections. For years, there were those who wanted the highway to be built along the lake, which it was felt was high and dry, without going through swampy areas and deep gullies. However, the Alaska area boasted inland lakes and other natural attractions,  and some Pierce Town residents wanted their area accessible. They looked for Highway 17 from Kewaunee to continue north along County Highway D to merge with Highway 54 to enter Algoma from the west. Some Pierce residents feared the road cutting through farms was hazardous for moving cattle across the road to pasture lands on either side of the roads.  

Beautification was called for in the reconstruction of Highway 17 to its origin at Sheboygan. A highway along the lake would certainly offer beauty, but there were those who felt  the road would go through wooded areas. After all, the government put out several bulletins urging preservation of forests. What would determine the choice between beauty and preservation, which was often the same thing? Algoma Women's Club was in favor of beauty. The club even raised $3,000 for the new road. One Pierce Town resident felt the new highway would turn into a speedway, and if beauty was the goal, the distractions for a driver on that speedway would be paramount.

The road went forward and in the spring of 1928, Boulanger Construction Company was taking down the Lake Street hill. When the hill work was completed in late May, the company moved its equipment  Over the next 40 years, the Lake Street hill was regraded while it continued to come down. In August 1928, Ordinance 110 came into existence. It dealt with arterial highways and the regulation of vehicles using them. Highway 17 would use Lake Street, 4th Street, North Water and once again become State Highway Trunk 17 as it went north toward Forestville. Vehicles on the arterial highways had the right of way.

Highway 17 proved popular and by mid-August 1928, the State Highway Department said 770 vehicles had used the road the previous Sunday, however 952 used Highway 54 to get to Algoma. In February 1932, it was announced Highway 17 was being renamed Highway 42, enabling travelers to go from Chicago to the tip of Door County, remaining on one highway. Door County led the movement for the name change. As it was, drivers moving from highway to highway found themselves in Green Bay, or Sturgeon Bay, which was not their destination. By then, more land was being purchased for a highway that Kewaunee and Door Counties were sure to become all concrete.

In the last 80 years, the highway has been reconstructed and improved. It offers drivers a view of the lake that only gets better as drivers get to Kewaunee County. Reaching the crest of the Lake Street hill continues to offer the most magnificent view on Highway 42.