Neshoto Mills
Charles and Emil Hacker at the Neshoto Mills around 1889. (Picture may backwards)
Neshoto Mill Events
1836......A.M.Burnham " squatting" on land, started to build sawmill on
the north bank of the West Twin River
1837......Neshoto Lumber Company took mill over from Burnham
1837......Financial Panic of 1837, mill closed down
1841......Bank foreclosed on Neshoto Lumber Company
1843......Westley Truesdale bought mill at public auction, sold to
Frederick Borchardt sometime after, (date not known).
1848......Frederick Borchardt sold mill to Isaac Taylor and Nelson
Pendleton
1853......Widows of Taylor and Pendleton made George Cooper and Thomas
Jones partners to run mill
1862......Cooper and Jones purchase mill from widows of Taylor and
Pendleton
1879......Charles Hacker and Rudolph Behringer buy mill from Cooper and
Jones
1881......Hacker and Behringer build grist mill next to first mill on
north bank
1884......Charles Hacker and Henry Warnke move a mill from Kingsville to
Neshoto, placed on south bank of West Twin River
1899......Charles Hacker and Joseph Holly Sr. become partners
1908......Joseph Holly Sr. and George Sladky become partners
1908......Island mills close, equipment sold to Holly for mills
1916......Joseph Holly Sr. drown, Holly heirs decide to run mills
1949......Holly Mills burns, decided not to re-open.
The Holly Mills
In 1899,Joseph Holly Sr. entered into a partnership with Charles Hacker to
operate a saw and grist mill in Shoto. When Mr. Hacker moved to Manitowoc
in 1908, he sold his partnership to Joe Holly's father-in-law, George
Sladky. Holly and Sladky became the owners of the Neshoto Mills. Mr.
Holly ran the mills until a tragic accident happened January 27,1916, when
he fell into the river and drown while trying to clear ice away from the
dam. Even though there was a frantic search, ice covered the river away
from the dam and he could not be located. His body was swept downstream,
and was not recovered until April 7, 1916. He was found about a 1/4 mile
from where he fell in by friends Ed Bishop and Fred Jachimstal. The whole
community was devastated by the loss of their dear friend. Mrs. Anna Holly,
along with her two young sons Joseph Jr. 15, Alvin 13, and an uncle,
Frank Sladky, decided to continue the operation of the mills. Joe Jr.
owned and operated the mills for 33 years until another disaster struck on
June 18, 1949. The mills were destroyed by a fire so great it could be
seen from Kewaunee. The Town of Two Rivers did not have a fire department
until 1950, so fire departments from Mishicot, Rockwood and Francis Creek
responded to put the blaze out. They had a hard time just getting to the
fire because of the folks that lined the road watching the blaze made it
almost impossible for the fire trucks to get through. Loss was set at
$40,000.00, and Mr. Holly decided not to rebuild the mill. Mr. and Mrs
Holly moved to Omega where they operated Holly's Bar and Resort at Stone
Lake until retiring in 1967. They then moved back to Shoto to be near to
their family. They were married 48 years when Joe died in 1977. Mrs. Lilly
Holly, 95, lives at Shady Lane in Manitowoc, Wisc and loves to reminisce
about Shoto. Five years after the fire, part of the mill that survived the
fire became their son Eugene's Shoto Woodworking Shop.
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