Kewaunee County History: Algoma & The Lake Street Hiil, Ski Jump and Toboggan Slide

 

Ninety-degree humid summer days bring wistful thoughts of winter. For a couple of minutes, at least.

Though summers are cooler near the lake, winter sports were on the minds of Ahnapee, now Algoma,  residents well before 1900. By the mid-1920s, city residents were thinking ahead to using the new  toboggan slide at the Camp Site, the name given to the area just before the southern cusp of Crescent  Beach. Winter sports were about to get kicked up a notch.

Camp Siteand Crescent Beach \, early1900s

Fifty years before the toboggan slide became a reality, winter sports routinely made the Record. According to a December 1874 paper, ice skating was good although it wasn’t only young people skating. “Frisky old men and matrons were (also) enjoying a season of pleasures on the ice,” said the Record. Language was used a bit differently 150 years ago! Tragedy was averted a year later when young Louis Fellows broke through the ice while skating on the river near Knowles dye house on the north side of the river near the 2^nd St. Bridge. Fortunately, Michael Wenniger was near and pushed a board toward Louis who was able to pull himself from the water. River conditions were always changing and so did the ice. By 1879, rough ice wasn’t stopping the boys, although the paper didn’t mention the frisky men and matrons.

The Record usually commented  on ice conditions and in 1898, the Ahnapee River was frozen solid with days perfect for skating in early December. Crowds gathered just beyond the new 2^nd Street Bridge to skate up and down the river. On Sunday afternoon and evening, residents had so much fun that peals of laughter could be heard blocks away. Monday and Tuesday found rough ice that didn’t seem to matter to the skaters, but Wednesday’s cold snap froze ice as smooth as glass from the 2^nd Street Bridge to Seyk’s warehouse at the base of Steele Street. The Record’s editors knew that the river would be crowded until the next snowfall spoiled it.

Skaters always took advantage of good skating on the river. When Kewaunee was arranging for an ice rink and enlisted the aid of the fire department in December 1910, the Record encouraged local sports’ lovers to lobby Algoma city officials to follow suit to keep a piece of river ice in suitable condition.

188 ice skates found on line

History tells us Lake Michigan froze over in 1912. How did anyone know for sure? Because of the ice, Goodrich Transit boats discontinued their trips, which meant skaters could use lakeshore ice. During the first week of February, lake water washed over the ice banks and froze to make the best ice rink anywhere. The exceptional ice made skating to Kewaunee almost common. Each weeks boys from both cities were skating back and forth. 1912 skates were not much better than those manufactured in 1888. How could the boys travel 20 miiles on such things?

In late December 1920, the Record offered a plan for making the most of the great outdoors. Youngsters and older residents alike enjoyed winter sports, however the paper felt Algoma lacked necessary facilities. It said a municipal open-air ice rink would cost taxpayers little, and suggested city workmen clear a spot in the river where firemen could see to periodic flooding, keeping the rink in good condition.

Algoma Record Herald continued to opine about the need for exercise in adolescent boys while saying there was little available in Algoma during the winter. The paper again promoted an ice rink in December 1922, then saying a toboggan slide or ski club might serve the purpose that, perhaps, the businessmen would assist in funding.

The idea was there nearly ten years earlier when in December 1911 city resident George Ziemer built a skating rink near his 6^th Street residence. He flooded available land but was waiting for a good freeze. Though the river had always been a popular skating spot, early storms in 1911 affected the ice, and Ziemer’s clean, smooth rink had the river ice beat.

When a spell of warm weather spoiled the rink a month later, Ziemer planned for a new 60 x 100’ square rink that would accommodate even more skaters. In a winter when the river ice was too rough to offer good skating, Algoma skaters had Ziemer to thank for winter fun.

When the city finally followed up on the Record Herald’s suggestion, residents were excited. Not only was Algoma getting a toboggan slide - a ski jump was also in the works. It all happened on what became known as the Lake Street hill.

Nature provided part of the toboggan chute, and the Chamber of Commerce did the rest when it had a 10’ scaffold built at the top of the chute made of boards laid at a 40-degree incline. The tipping platform on the hill got toboggans on the way. The bottom was packed with clay, which – with the boards – were iced.

Riders experienced two bumps – or waves – to speed the sled along. From the bottom of the chute, the toboggan would keep going until momentum slowed at the camp kitchen, a distance of about a quarter mile. The kitchen was in the approximate area of today's fire memorial. The kitchen is the white buildingnext to the road that ran through the Camp Site.

The hill also provided the ski jump. The base of the hill was leveled to provide the jump, the take-off of which was just west of the toboggan slide. Since nature provided the hill with a natural incline, there was a high enough take-off, thus no need to spend additional money building a tower.

When the Chamber’s directors began considering the construction of a ski hill and tobaggan slide, the Record Herald said it was capitalizing on Algoma’s winter climate. The paper said neither skiing nor tobagganing were sports for the feint-hearted but demanded robust, daring, skillful people. The paper felt lawn tennis was harder on the heart than skiing. It also thought skiing was as thrilling as mountain climbing, while saying ski-jumping was not an exhausting sport. Not all agreed. It continued saying tobagganing used muscles and although both sports provided exercise, they were “mild enough” sports for men, women and children from 7 to 70.

The paper which espoused winter sports was cautioning folks in early January 1925 when the community eagerly awaited a good snow. It stressed the danger in tabogganing when snow was rough, saying every bump injured the spine and no matter how much backbone one had, it wouldn’t take a lot of serious jolts. The community was urged to hang on for safety sake. Snow was surely coming.

While Algoma’s toboggan slide needed snow at the bottom, skiing at Krohn’s Lake was good. The landing at Krohn’s was said to be “difficult,” however it was also said skiers got plenty of exercise climbing the hill. (There were no tows or lifts.) The paper pointed out that ski  jumping on glazed snow took “stout pants or agility” and those lacking in agility better have some “stout pants.” The paper did say whether one used skis or trousers in landing, there was no sport as thrilling and inexpensive as ski jumping.

A week later, snow came bringing weather perfect for ski-jumping and tobogganing. But, said the Record Herald’s editor, there was a word of caution to “the fair maidens.” Magazine covers showing beautiful winter wear weren’t “worth a whoop” outdoors, but “hothouse ladies” found the beautiful wear sufficient. Winter sports required more than fashionable clothes. There were more than a few times that the paper let readership know how it felt about Flappers and those who wore pants, but the paper said pants were necessary for winter sports, and said those same sports were an invitation to the “pants-inclined Flappers.” Who could resist winter sports that gave such women an excuse?

Late in 1925, R.P. Birdsall, Chamber of Commerce secretary, called for help at the Camp Site to assist in readying the ski hill. Folks were asked to bring shovels, pails, and sprinklers, and just before Christmas , the Record Herald thanked the Chamber of Commerce, Nature and the young contractors, Wulf and Nelson, who made things work. Mentioning another town, the paper said when that town put away winter, it was just a summer resort with a nice climate and bathing beaches, welcoming tourists as well as its own citizens. Enjoyment of winter sports only meant having adequate warm clothing. Winter or summer, Algoma had it all.

What happened to the toboggan and ski hill? While the ending is not clear, the winter sports on the hill did not last long, and could have been a result of relocation of the lake shore road. Because of the hill and other issues between Alaska and Algoma, the highway – Highway 17 – did not enter Algoma,

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 and 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.

When the State rebuilt the lake road, it became Highway 42 and entered Algoma as it does today. Learn more about the highway, see blog post Crescent Beach: What a View on Highway 42! What is now the Lake Street hill has been regraded and lowered multiple times in the last 100 years. The hill that offered residents a natural ski hill and toboggan slide in the 1920s was dangerous and frightening to descend with a horse and wagon. Skiing and tobogganing disappeared, however the hill offers the most beautiful lake view on the western shore of Lake Michigan at any time of year.

Sources: Ahnapee Record; Algoma Record Herald; Blogger's post card collection.