Name/Title
Business, Histories, Hotel, Brief History of Early Waupun HotelsDescription
Brief History of Early Waupun Hotels: Prepared by Edith Moul Scott, June 1959. Page 3.
1890--NATIONAL HOTEL, now the Hotel Waupun. Was built by the National Hotel Company, consisting of G. W. Mitchell, G. F. Wheeler, and L. D. Hinckley. Mr. and Mrs. P. Keuchenburg, as host and hostess for many years, were famous for their hospitality and good cooking.
REMINISCENCES ABOUT EARLY HOTELS:
Louis Spanagel about the Exchange Hotel. In an interview with Mr. Louis Spanagel in 1938, he reported that his father, August Spanagel, first came to Waupun in 1847 but went on into the country for a number of years. He returned in 1863, during the time of the "Nigger" war and took over the management of the Exchange Hotel. Louis recalled that as a boy he crawled in around the chimney to put out a fire in the hotel. The Exchange Hotel, which at a little later time was called the City Hotel, had twenty five rooms, five of the rooms having two beds each. It was heated by a long stove which could take six pieces of cord wood at one time. The cooking stove had eight griddles, and a long pipe, in the straight part of whcih there was a drum which was used for baking. Mr. Spanagel remembered watching the Boston House burn down in 1871. It was known then as the Shipman House because of its proprietor.
GEORGE WILCOX, son of Seymour Wilcox, about the opening of the Exchange Hotel. Interviewed by Agnes Hoard Bertsch. "On June 1st, 1845, there was four feet of snow, which soon melted by the rain. Dance that night in the hotel. One hundred couples. People came from Green Bay, Fond du Lac, Madison and Milwaukee. Some of the teams were taken to Ackerman barn. The swale by the Althouse shops was so full of water that it was necessary to swim the horses across."
ERNEST STEVENS--about hotel at Chester (East Waupun). Mr. Stevens' father was the operator at the Northwestern Depot at Chester. "In the early days--40s to 80s--Horicon Lake or Marsh was a mecca for hunters as game was abundant. Many sportsmen came from Chicago, other places and the immediate vicinity. There was a hotel for their accommodations in Chester. It was built by Mr. McEwan, father of Dr. Hugh McEwan of Fond du Lac, at a cost of $5,208, in the early 70s. There were more than fifteen rooms, a nice dining room and a barroom."
The following is taken from an article in the Leader News of March 16, 1944. "The hotel at Chester in those days was a prosperous affair, and at certain seasons of the year was filled to capacity. Mr. McEwan ran the hotel back in the 70s when the hunting was reported at its best. Later Mr. McEwan sold the hotel to Mike Hall, father of Frank Hall of Waupun, who ran the hotel until his death about fifty years ago. The Hotel then was discontinued. Burned later. Mr. Hall recalled that once his father and mother were offered a considerable sum of money if they would move their hotel to Waupun, since the businessmen felt that too many travelers were staying in Chester, where the food was excellent and the service good. Mr. Hall paid Mr. McEwan $2,500 for the hotel. Besides being a stopping place for the many hunters the hotel was apparently social center for many Waupun residents. Ned Linsley remembers that many times during the winter months a party of people who make the trip to Chester by sleigh, would have an oyster supper at the hotel and spend the evening dancing. Only those in formal dress were allowed in the dining room at times, Ed Haueison reports.
Mr. L. L. Young told me that the Simpson House, run by Mrs. M. A. Simpson, consisted of two buildings on the North side of Main Street, east of the railroad tracks.
Edith Moul Scott