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Historical Society opens its latest restoration project, the circa 1854 Meeme House

Press Release




 

Historical Society opens its latest restoration project, the circa 1854 Meeme House
 
The Manitowoc County Historical Society has completed the restoration on the Meeme House, a circa 1854 structure that served as a stage stop, bar and store, and community gathering space.

The story of the Meeme House begins in Germany with the Herr family. In 1847 brothers Michael and Andreas, along with their widowed father Karl, and a cousin, immigrated to Wisconsin.  The family journeyed into Manitowoc County where Andreas and Michael both purchased property along the Green Bay Road in the township of Meeme, near the border of Manitowoc and Sheboygan Counties. They built a modest home and soon saw a business opportunity. The Green Bay Road was highly traveled, and folks were often looking for overnight accommodations. Around 1854, the main house was added onto with the large square structure we see and know today as the Meeme House. The house was built along Green Bay Road that connected the Green Bay’s Fort Howard with Fort Dearborn in Chicago. This was a major highway in 1850s Wisconsin.
 
A rally took place there during the Civil War, and the next day the volunteers walked to Manitowoc and joined the 27th Wis. Company D.
 
The Meeme House was built as a business including a store, bar, dining room, and Hall. The house was a stage stop for stagecoaches travelling the Green Bay Road.

The structure was moved to become a part of Pinecrest Village in 2017 and restoration efforts have recently concluded. The project totaled $1.5 million and $400,000 is still needed to make the project debt-free. 

For more information of the building's history, the restoration process, and pictures, visit the Historical Society's blog at https://www.manitowoccountyhistory.org/mchs-blog/meeme-house

The Meeme House is open during general admission hours for the museum and Pinecrest Village. Spring hours are Fridays and Saturdays in May from 10 am to 4 pm. Summer hours run from June through September and are Wednesday through Saturday, from 10 am to 4 pm. 

Admission and program information can be found on the Historical Society's website at ManitowocCountyHistory.org or by calling (920) 684-4445. 

 
 
About the Manitowoc County Historical Society
Nestled in the scenic rolling Ice Age Kettle Moraine countryside of Eastern Wisconsin, the Manitowoc County Historical Society is a museum of living history. This 60-acre interpretive museum of local history features a Welcome Center with local history exhibits and research services and the outdoor Pinecrest Historical Village - a collection of over 25 historic buildings with period furnishings from Manitowoc County's early settlers. 
 
Pinecrest Historical Village began in 1970 with a land donation from the Hugo and Eleanor Vetting family.  The Village has grown to represent a reproduction of a small Wisconsin community during the early 1900s. The buildings form the commercial, social, and political core of a town and they represent several architectural styles of Wisconsin's history. The furnishings, items, and tools in the various buildings used by the Pinecrest Village interpreters are either original pieces or carefully researched reproductions. 

For more information on the Manitowoc County Historical Society, contact the museum at (920) 684-4445 or ManitowocCountyHistory.org. 
 

Historical Society opens its latest r...