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By Henry Dykstra This wonderful volume includes recollections of the author's childhood in Wood County, Wisconsin during the 1920s and 1930s. While the title sounds like a very long number from an old crank-style telephone, it actually refers to the two parents and ten children in the author's family. Henry Dykstra moved to Sheboygan County in 1941, and farmed there for over fifty years. -
By Richard A. Dykstra Thirty-five heartwarming stories about growing up in rural Wisconsin during the 1950s and 1960s. -
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By Richard A. Stoelb This is the story of the men of Company F, 127th Infantry, 32nd Division, Wisconsin National Guard who left Sheboygan, Wisconsin for Federal Service on October 15, 1940. They would fight in the Battle for Buna on the island of New Guinea against the Japanese in World War II. Richard’s father, Roland Stoelb, was one of those soldiers who fought in the jungles of the Pacific to stop the Japanese during World War II. Roland along with dozens of boys from Sheboygan spent their Time in Hell, many of them making the ultimate sacrifice. Richard’s story personalizes the fight in the Pacific and honors the boys from Sheboygan. -
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On a cold, cloudy evening, February 20, 1919, Zion Reformed Church in Sheboygan was reportedly "packed to the doors" to hear a concert. The highlight was to be a cantata performed by the Zion Choir, but the program listed them as "assisted" by a new entity: the Sheboygan Community Orchestra, led by John Schmidt, "who certainly needs no introduction," according to the anonymous review published the next day in the Sheboygan Press. In the months to follow, that body of players would be performing on their own, and by the time of their third concert they would be calling themselves the Sheboygan Symphony Orchestra. They are still the SSO, one hundred years after their founding in the fall of 1918: the oldest symphony orchestra still functioning in the state of Wisconsin. They have performed continuously, except for pauses during the Great Depression and in the midst of World War II; and though they were called the Sheboygan Civic (Symphony) Orchestra from 1936 to 1973, there has been a continuity in both personnel and musical vision, linking one generation to the next over a 100-year span. -
By Millersville Historical Research Group
The history of the area dates back to 1846 when the first immigrants found their way along the Pigeon River and settled in the area. At first the two settlements were known as Howards and Mueller Villa, later becoming Howards Grove and Millersville.
But in 1967, the two communities incorporated as Howards Grove-Millersville, becoming Sheboygan County’s 10th village, the fourth largest. It also brought the village fame with its cumbersome 24-letter title, the longest in the state. Eventually, the city dropped Millersville and took Howards Grove as its proper name. This book follows the history of just the Millersville portion of the area.
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By Edgar Harvey Jr.
This book deals with many of Ed Harvey’s predecessors as Sheboygan County Surveyors. Harvey, after years of research, found that they included men of great character, and others whom we could term “shysters”. They included some pretty unremarkable individuals and others of great genius. Although they were humble surveyors while they worked in Sheboygan County, some of these men invented great things, or were otherwise involved in major events which changed the history of the entire nation or the world. One man worked on the Brooklyn Bridge project. Another worked on the Panama Canal. At least two of these men prepared maps which shaped the boundaries of nations. With all the same care, the same men prepared surveys which depicted the boundaries of comparatively small, private properties in Sheboygan County; An interesting and fresh way of analyzing Sheboygan County History.
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Originally platted as the village of Rochester, Sheboygan Falls took shape in the late 1830s and 1840s. Settled by Yankee entrepreneurs from the East, "Sheboygan at the Falls" was a strong settlement from the beginning, surviving even the financial panic of 1837. A city of Greek Revival and Cream City brick architecture, Sheboygan Falls boasts two districts listed on the National Historic Register -
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By Elmer Koppelmann The citizens of Sheboygan County have always gone above and beyond the call of duty in times of military need; the Second World War was no different. Some 3000 young men and women served during World War II on all fronts and in all capacities from this county alone. Recorded here, after eighteen months of searches and interviews, are vignettes of 234 soldiers- one young woman and 233 young men from the Sheboygan County area who lost their lives. Four others- Joseph J. Archbold, Elmer C. Prahl, Roland Thompson, and Douglas Thornberg are noted as making the ultimate sacrifice, but regrettably, no information was found other than their names. -
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By Richard A. Dykstra Here are thirty additional stories about growing up in rural Sheboygan County. Two favorite chapters are “The Airport” and “The Ice Box.” In the first you will appreciate the gullibility of children and in the second you will want to check Dykstra’s nose to see, if like Pinocchio, it has grown a foot or two. Besides the silly and nonsensical stories there are those with a much deeper meaning as in “Revisiting the Gift,” “Three Conversations with Dad” and “Grandma’s Quiet Life.” Dykstra's appreciation of family shines through the pages of all of his books. -
By Janice Hildebrand In Sheboygan County there was a lively trade with the Indians for deer hides and other animal skins. Barter with the Indians brought the first traders to the county in the early 1800s. The tanneries of the county were an offshoot of the fur-trading days and were among the first clothing-related businesses to get started in Sheboygan County. Everything from shoes to gloves to harnesses were made of leather. Follow the history of the leather business in the county. -
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By Floyd Odekirk and Adrian Falchion Waiting on DEROS: A Soldier’s Story could not have been accomplished without the efforts of a Veteran, a writer and the spirit of every soldier walking within the pages of this book. Floyd Odekirk pursued the emotional task of bringing back the images of his tour in Vietnam (1968-69) so that the writer, Adrian Falchion, could paint in all its vibrant and dark colors the truths of war. Following the completion of 19 stories, Floyd Odekirk offered the light to his Veteran Brothers Michael Bennett, David Higgins, Craig Johnson, Dale Moravec, Donald Burch, Patrick Callahan, Joseph DeAugustine, Robert Moneypenny, Daniel Michael Pruitt and Thomas Vojvodich who each shared a story for the sake of honoring other soldiers. -
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This publication is a chronological account of the sister city relationship between Sheboygan, a city in the state of Wisconsin, and Esslingen am Neckar of Germany. These articles span the years 1967 to 2017. The stories are told by actual headlines, story excerpts, photographs, and informational pieces gathered through articles in the Sheboygan Press, publications in the archives of the Sheboygan County Historical Research Center and Mead Public Library. The articles selected are meant to include a brief history and highlights of special visits and envoys. It is impossible to include everything. Many photos were available, but individuals and dates were not identified so they were not chosen. In a world that began with cablegrams, western union, letters, then phone and fax, communication evolved with the technology of cell phones, emails, the internet and FaceTime. In the beginning, travelers’ postcards and letters often arrived after they returned home. The bulk of the written material was found before all of this new technology replaced the newspaper stories. Some years there was more material than others. During the 1990s and beyond information was in the hands of individuals, not printed publications. -
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Wisconsin's 37, The Lives of Those Missing in Action in the Vietnam War. By Erin Miller with John B. Sharpless Foreword by Major General John D. "Don" Logeman (Ret.) The signing of the Paris Peace Accords in 1973 signified the end of the Vietnam War. American personnel returned home and the 591 Americans held captive in North Vietnam were released. Still, 2,646 individuals did not come home. Thirty-seven of those missing in action were from Wisconsin. Using the recollections of the soldiers' families, friends and fellow servicemen, the author tells the story of each man's life.
