Today, October 8, 2021, marks the 150th anniversary of the most devastating forest fire in American history, the Peshtigo Fire. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society at least 1,300 people died in the Peshtigo fire that left 7,500 people homeless. Many people were not aware of the catastrophic nature of the fire due to the […]
Category Archives: Forest County Spy Blog
Stories of Metonga : Part 1
What’s in a Name? Lake Cisco? Calling the lake by its Indian name caught on, and very soon there was no doubt the lake would be called Metonga. However, its possible that not everyone agreed to have the name returned to its proper Indian title. As you can see from this 1906 Crandon map that […]
Remembering WW1 Soliders: Lynn Paul
The biographical sketch below was part of the Crandon Public Library’s 2016 Cemetery Tour featuring WW1 soldiers laid to rest in the Crandon Lakeside cemetery. Research for the sketch was conducted by Library staff using original documents and newspaper resources found within our Local History room. We welcome any additional historic information on our soldiers, […]
Depression Era Photos of Forest County now available
Living in rural Forest County in the 1930’s was tough. Newspaper articles, court records and family stories tell of multiple families living in one room shacks trying to farm the cut-over land with little or no success. Now a U.S. government collection of historic photos offers us a glimpse at just how tough it was. […]