Sheboygan County Historical Research Center

09/01/2026

Online seminar.

Register Now for the Live Online Seminar

08/31/2026

You may have seen this photo in the Plymouth Review this week, but we think it deserves a second look! Road Construction at Mill St. at Caroline - August 24, 1976. Check out that house between the gas station and the railroad trestle!

08/29/2026

In the early 20th century, millions of Jewish people fled Russia due to persecution and poor quality of life. Some of them ended up in Wisconsin. In Sheboygan, a former synagogue with an historic stained glass window acts as a testament to the area’s once thriving Jewish community. Molly Hunken...

08/29/2026

The settlement of Cascade had its beginnings in the late 1840s. The exact year has always been in question (1846,1847,1848). As Yankee settlers streamed into Sheboygan County they sought prime real estate, and most desirable in their business-oriented minds was land with waterpower.

Yankees were people migrating from New York and New England of primarily English, Scottish and Dutch ancestry. Their families had been in the United States for generations. When Wisconsin land sales were opened to the public it was those Yankee settlers who had first choice, and they chose prime land sites.

The village was founded by James and Ruby Smith Preston, Peter Preston, James’ brother, and Rev. Huntington Lyman. The first land transactions were dated February 1, 1848, though the group may have been in the area a bit before, scouting the land they wished to purchase.

08/29/2026

Rhine Mills
Located in the town of Rhine, Hwy MM, this was mill settlement on the Sheboygan River.
The first attempt to drain the Sheboygan Marsh was made in 1869 by John Bertschy, an enterprising business man who owned a flourishing flour mill and grain elevator at Sheboygan. Foreseeing its possibilities for farming purposes, he purchased the major portion of the marsh from the state, which had acquired it under the Swamp Land Act. Although without any training as an engineer, Mr. Bertschy planned the work of reclamation himself.
During this time the company built a large lime kiln at Rhine Mills to manufacture lime from the limestone in the vicinity. Tamarack logs obtained in the marsh furnished cheap and convenient fuel for burning the limestone.

08/25/2026

Stop in and get a copy of SCHRC's newest book, History Uncovered.

Do you remember when the Sheboygan Glass Company exploded in downtown Sheboygan? Or that Schreier Malting suffered $284,000 in loss after the 1911 fire. Were you aware that much of Sheboygan closed up shop to allow their employees to watch the launch of the steamship Helena from Rieboldt and Wolters shipyard in 1888.

$15.00 plus tax. Or you can order at schrc.org.