Langlade County Historical Society

08/29/2026

A recent donation had us looking into barbershops that were located in downtown Antigo. We came across a barbershop owned by George Schoenfeldt who worked in the barber business for over 50 years, and we feel that the donated item came from his shop. George Schoenfeldt was born August 17,1896 in Antigo and attended Antigo public schools. At the age of 12 he began his barbering career at the William Davis barbershop as a shoe shine boy and all around keeper from 1908-1911. Then from 1911-1914 he was employed at the Frank Vandervest barbershop. In 1915, he worked at the Hugh McFadden barbershop. In 1916, he became employed by Frank Michealson whose barbershop was in the south side of the I.O.O.F. building (independent Order of Odd fellows lodge No.31) at 5th Avenue and Clermont Street, The barber shop was located at 533 Clermont Street, this building later became known as the Vosmek Drug Store. George Schoenfeldt purchased the barbershop from Frank Michealson on March 1st, 1920 it became the George Schoenfeldt barbershop for 41 years. George married Fantassa Hungerford of Antigo in 1914, and had four children. George retired in July 1961 and Harry Reif brought the barbershop and George assisted Mr. Reif on a part time basis. George Schoenfeldt passed away in 1970.
Now on to the donated item we received, a person who worked at Vosmek Drugstore in the soda fountain area in the store. One day he was helping clean out the basement and he saw a barber pole and he asked if he could have it, afraid that it was going to be thrown away. He was told to take it and he stored it in his mother’s storage building up until it was donated to us.
The barber pole is a Koken Model 149 with illuminated leaded glass, cast iron and porcelain-enameled frame with texture red & white stained glass panels in a signature spiral design. The barber pole was manufactured in the 1920’s by the Koken Companies of St. Louis. Since George Schoenfeldt had his barbershop fron 1920-1961 we think that this pole was located on the south part of the Vosmek building. The barber pole is in good condition with just two little cracks in the stain glass. Once the barber pole is cleaned up, it will be located in our barbershop display area that is located in the basement of the society, which also features another barber pole, shaving mugs and a barber chair.

08/19/2026

The Langlade County Historical Society joins the community in celebrating the life of George Shinners and reflecting on his loss.
George was a forward- looking man, always involved in the next big project, the next big thing, and caring deeply about the quality of lives and opportunities for its young people.
He also had a keen history of the past, realizing that a community evolves and grows based on the path that has been carved and charted by those who came before.
George was a keen supporter of the Society and was instrumental in our major projects in recent years. There would be no 440 locomotive on the museum grounds without George’s expertise; there would be no renovated Deleglise cabin without his involvement; and there would be no new north wing, which made the museum accessible to all, without his role in serving as the construction manager and general overseer.
George was hands-on in everything he did, and the museum complex and the community at large will forever be better through his efforts. Now he is one for the history books.
We will miss our friend. Our deepest condolences to his family and those whose lives he touched. Now let us continue the work George cherished and work toward making an ever-better community while honoring its past.

08/14/2026

08/11/2026

The Langlade County Historical Society Museum would like to invite the community to a book signing. The book “Follow the Signs” is a memoir about Dean Blazek “Mr. Neon” and his 70 year career in the sign industry. Written by his son Michael, the book took two years to write.
Michael who lives in Australia will be here along with his father Dean signing books and answering questions.
Date: Saturday August 15th, 2026
Time: 10:00 am-1:00 pm
Place: Langlade County Historical Society
404 Superior Street
The books is $40.00 and all proceeds will be donated to the society.

07/30/2026

A Summer Highlight:
Each year one of the highlights of summer is the Langlade County Fair and it has been so almost from the beginning of Antigo. From 1880 to 1890 Langlade County’s population grew from 685 to 9,465. In that interval Antigo grew from a small settlement to a sizable city. In 1886, part of the county’s development was the formation of the Langlade County Agricultural Society. One of its first actions of the Society was to establish a county fair. It was held on October 4 and 5, 1886. It was held at Antigo’s first Opera House which was located on the west side of Superior Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenue( the building was destroyed by a fire and replaced with a new Opera House on Fifth Avenue). There was little space to show livestock but farm implement dealers did display equipment and there were presentation on agricultural topics. The first fair was not all business, planners organized horse races on a course that went south on Superior Street from the fair site to the Springbrook bridge at 10th Avenue. It was a great success and the society took steps to expand the fair the following year. The county board appropriated $1,500 to be used to purchase 40 acres of land on the north side of Antigo for use as a fairground. They erected a building at the cost of $1,300 and on October 1, 1887 the second Langlade County fair opened. The following year saw further expansion with the construction of a grandstand under the support of the Antigo Parks Association. Many changes and additions have taken place in the fairgrounds buildings and entertainment over the years since the first fair in 1886. The fair continues to be a major summer event.

07/09/2026

The Wisconsin Historical Society is bringing its traveling “History Makers Tour” to Antigo, and the Langlade County Historical Society is thrilled to be the host. The tour will be here from July 6 through July 31. It’s a traveling exhibition and outreach program by the
Wisconsin Historical Society that brings state history to local communities through pop-up exhibits and artifacts.

The tour that will be here is called “Great Lakes, Small Streams - How Water Shapes Wisconsin."

We drink it, fish in it, clean with it, swim in it and travel across it. The Great Lakes region is home to one of the largest freshwater resources on the planet. That water shaped the landscape, history, and communities of our state. Water has always been critical for our survival. The 8 free-standing double-sided banners explore our state’s long relationship with water and the impact we have had on our vast waterways. The panels have reproductions of 70 historic and contemporary photographs and documents.

This traveling tour is free to the public, and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate and learn from Wisconsin history makers and story tellers.

07/08/2026

Thank you to everyone who participated in and turned out for the Independence Day Parade!

The Langlade County Historical Society participated in the parade with a float consisting of a tractor (driven by Ron Korn of the Northwoods Tractor Club) pulling a trailer holding a 10ft tall Statue of Liberty, crafted by Adolph Blahnik, Sr., and associates ca. 1930. The statue was moved from our Military Room in the upper floor of the museum and stored by Matt Shinners of Antigo Construction before and after the parade. Five members of our board of directors walked alongside the float, passing out brochures and stickers to the crowd.

Lady Liberty will soon return to the museum, this time in the foyer at the front entrance. Stop by to see her in her new station, and follow this page to hear about cool events like this one in the future.

07/04/2026

Happy 4th of July. Enjoy the day and the parade this evening. We are hoping for numerous floats to celebrate our 250th.

07/03/2026

In observance of our nation's 250th anniversary, the museum will be closed on Saturday, July 4th. We extend our best wishes to you for a joyous holiday weekend.

07/01/2026

Statue of Liberty
Did you know that the historical society has a replica of the Statue of Liberty? This is the story behind its acquisition.
Adolph Blahnik Sr. Was born is 1879 in Kewaunee County. He was employed in carpentry and millwork. Adolph with his wife and children came to Antigo and founded a very successful firm that dominated the manufacture of church furniture in Northern and central Wisconsin for several years. Adolph was 57 years old when he purchased a building on Sixth Avenue that was home of the Wolf Woodworking plant that was established in 1914 by Vincent Wolf who died in 1932. When the Blahnik’s opened their factory in 1946 they specialized in custom cabinets especially kitchen cabinets. A Lutheran Minister from Merrill gave the Blahnik’s their first chance to make church furniture. Their business continue to grow and they also started manufacturing windows and doors. The Sixth Avenue property was no longer large enough for their business so they sold the building to the Antigo Co-op plant and moved to the abandoned factory of the defunct Antigo Boat Company on Flight Road just northeast of the Antigo city limits. The building was almost 3 times the size of the old one, more equipment was purchased and the building expanded. The plant made many kind of church furniture including pews, communion rails, vestment cases, confessionals, altars, fonts and canopies. The plant average eight church jobs a year and employed 14 people. Jobs came from throughout Wisconsin, the largest job in Antigo was St. John’s Catholic Church built in 1956. The Blahnik’s Manufacturing Company built all the church furniture for the entire interior of the church including pews to seat 900 parishioners. They also made furniture for other Antigo churches- Faith United Church of Christ, Calvary Lutheran, the fonts at St. Hyacinth and St. Mary’s. Churches in Elcho, Neva,Pelican Lake and Pickerel. They also made furniture for churches around the State of Wisconsin. The longest trip was to Fargo, North Dakota, for a Lutheran church which was later destroyed by
a tornado. The commonly used lumber was Oak and Northern Elm. Most church jobs done by the Blahnik’s had a seating capacity that averaged between 250- 500 parishioners, the pews provided 18 inches of space for each person.
Woodworking may have been their principal craft, but the. Blahnik family had another special talent, they were probably better known for “The Blahnik Dance Band”. They entertained throughout the entire area for almost 5 decades. They played at dance pavilions, weddings and at the Antigo High School prom. All the Blahnik’s were versatile musicians and could play several instruments. Besides Adolph talent as a wood craftsman and musician he had a hobby for making wood statues. He started making them while he was working in a furniture factory in Kewaunee before moving to Antigo. Many statues range in size to up to 10 feet tall. Several churches in Wisconsin, one of the Virgin Mary was at St. Mary’s Church in Antigo for several years. Adolph made the replica of the Statue of Liberty during the Centennial celebration of the famed structure in the New York harbor. The statue he made is 10 feet high, he made the statue by bonding 10 feet length of 2 by 10 pieces of lumber into one solid chunk, he then shaped the block to the general proportions of the desire statue. The actual craving for the finished product was done by professional wood cravers and friends of Adolph. His son Alfred helped shape the Statue of Liberty but the actual carving was done by a carver who immigrated to America from Switzerland. In the 1950’s Adolph Sr. retired from the furniture business and his son Alfred became President, son Melvin Vice-President and son Milas was the manager. Each of the Blahnik’s sons knew the entire business and could work at any job. Later in the 1960’s as the brothers were getting older it was decided to close the shop. The shop was eventually torn down and the property re-zoned for residential purposes. Adolph Blahnik Sr died in 1962.
The Blahnik family had to find a home for this beautiful statue and it eventually found its way to the Langlade County Historical Society.
The Statue of Liberty will be in the 4th of July parade this Saturday so when you see her you will know the story behind this statue and a little history of this talented family.