Ashland Historical Society Museum

05/29/2026

1950s - Looking west down the 500 block of W. 2nd Street. You have to love the cars! Starting on the right would have been Coey's Vaughn Avenue Texaco Service, Northern Electric Company, Ashland Outlet Store, Army & Navy Store, Electronic Sales & Service, Royal Theatre, Wilfred L. St. Louis - Barber, and The Hot Shoppe Restaurant. In the next block on the right would have been the Ashland School of Vocational and Adult Education, and then the Federal Building/Post Office. Going down the left side would have been the Vaughn Library, Robert Oien & Co. Furniture, Eagles Hall No. 239/Leona Pentony Tavern, Band Box, Home Electric Company, The Vogue, Bardon Land Company, Peter Lamal Agency, Erdman Children's Shop, and Rexall Drug Store/Masonic Temple.

Enjoy. Jim.

05/29/2026

1949 - Paul Zinnecker sent these to us, which he found in his mom's scrapbook.

Enjoy. Jim.

05/28/2026

1950s - Hultman's Frozen Food Center, 508 E. Second Street, Ashland, Wisconsin. Now that's a "cool" photo! Get it?

Enjoy. Jim.

05/27/2026

Here's a post for my dear friend Jean Fromholz Ronning, who owns the Neighborly Bar in Ashland, Wisconsin. The first photo is around 1925 of H.J. Fromholz and family on their City Dray and Truck Line truck, 319 W. Third Street, Ashland, Wisconsin. Henry J. Fromholz would be Jean's grandfather.

Henry J. Fromholz (1877-1967) came to Ashland, Wisconsin, in about 1898 and was partners with William E. Valleau. Their drayage business was known as Valleau & Fromholz. The were located at 102-110 Second Avenue W., which would be where the A&P Supermarket would later be located. His wife was named Bertha Fromholz (1883-1951). There were three children, Ruth, Ralph and Robert.

In 1903, Mr. Valteau went to work for the American Express Company, at which time Mr. Fromholz would continue the business on his own. Mr. Fromholz also had a confectionery at 201 E. Second Street in the area of 1909 and into the 1910s. This location would later be the Dutch Inn and Browzer's Book Store.

In the 1920s, Mr. Fromholz's City Drayage and Trucking was located at 319 W. Third Street.

In the 1930s and 1940s, the business, now Fromholz & Son, would be located at 209 Ellis Avenue. In the 1950s, the business would be located at 1406 W. Sixth Street.

Enjoy. Jim.

05/26/2026

November 22, 1905 - The Duluth News Tribune. The newly built Ashland High School located on Ellis Avenue in Ashland, Wisconsin. The architect was Henry Wildhagen of Ashland and it was erected by A. Donald & Company, Ashland's pioneer contractors. Frank Tomlinson was a partner with Mr. Donald and would continue on construction in Ashland and the surrounding area for many years. Note some of the other places A. Donald & Company was the builder on in 1905 as outlined in the attached article.

This new school was needed at the time in order to handle the number of students in Ashland. The old school before this was located at the corner of Second Avenue E. and E. Second Street next to the Knight Hotel and would be the future City Hall (see attached photos).

Enjoy. Jim.

05/25/2026

View of the 400 and 500 blocks of W. Second Street, Ashland, Wisconsin, looking west in 1888 versus 1962. Note the big building in the middle on the first photo was the F.J. Pool building with the Vaughn Library on the second floor and offices on the third floor.

Enjoy. Jim.

05/25/2026

1919 - John Philip Sousa, American composer and bandmaster, in Ashland, Wisconsin. The first photo shows the band marching in the 200 block of E. Second Street, Ashland, Wisconsin.

From the Britannica website:

John Philip Sousa (born November 6, 1854, Washington, D.C., U.S.—died March 6, 1932, Reading, Pennsylvania) was an American bandmaster and composer of military marches.

The son of an immigrant Portuguese father and a German mother, Sousa grew up in Washington, D.C., where from the age of six he learned to play the violin and later various band instruments and studied harmony and musical theory first with John Esputa and then with George Felix Benkert. In 1867 he began to follow the career of his father as a trombonist, but later he took engagements as an orchestral violinist and served as a conductor. He also began composing.

In 1868 he enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps as an apprentice in the Marine Band. He began building his formidable reputation as a bandmaster of great precision through his leadership (1880–92) of this group, which he raised to the highest standard of performance. In 1892 he formed his own band, a carefully selected group capable of equal virtuosity in both military and symphonic music; with it he toured the United States and Europe (1900–05) and finally made a world tour (1910–11).

John Philip Sousa composed 136 military marches, remarkable for their rhythmic and instrumental effects. They include the famous “Semper Fidelis” (1888), which became the official march of the U.S. Marine Corps, “The Washington Post” (1889), “The Liberty Bell” (1893), and “The Stars and Stripes Forever” (1897).

Between 1879 and 1915 he wrote 11 operettas, of which El Capitan (1896), The Bride Elect (1897), and The Free Lance (1906) were particularly successful. He wrote at least 70 songs, 11 waltzes, 12 other dance pieces, 11 suites, 14 humoresques, and 27 fantasies. In the 1890s he also redeveloped a type of bass tuba called the helicon, made to his specifications and eventually called the sousaphone.

Quick Facts
Byname: The March King
Born: November 6, 1854, Washington, D.C., U.S.
Died: March 6, 1932, Reading, Pennsylvania (aged 77)
Notable Works: “The Stars and Stripes Forever”
Subjects Of Study: helicon musical instrument tuba
During World War I, he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and took charge of the band-training centre at Great Lakes Naval Base, in Illinois. For the U.S. Department of the Navy he compiled National, Patriotic and Typical Airs of All Lands (1890). He wrote three novels, an instruction book for trumpet and drum, and an autobiography, Marching Along (1928).

Enjoy. Jim.

05/24/2026

Robert W. "Bob" Parsons, 409 W. Second Street, Ashland, Wisconsin, a manufacturer and jobber of fine Havana ci**rs and to***co. To give you a perspective of where this was located, it would have been where the Harold Arnold Insurance Agency would later have been located to the left of the Office Bar.

Bob Parsons (1864-1940) came to Ashland in 1887 and started his cigar business. He was born in Virginia and worked in a cigar factory there in his teens, where he learned about the business. He married his wife May (1867-1937) in 1888. They had two daughters, Selma and Helen.

Bob Parson's cigar business was known throughout the country for the carved statue of Sitting Bull that sat out in front of his business, which he was very proud of and protected by bringing in each night. The statue was carved by Herman Kruske in 1893.

The statue remained in front of the store from 1893 until 1938, when the business was sold to Bert Mattson and became Bert's Cigar Store. Bob then presented the statue to the Old Settlers' Association of Ashland. The statue would travel over the years to different locations, including the museum when it was in the post office, the courthouse, city hall, and now has been located at the Ashland Historical Society Museum for about the last 10 years.

Enjoy. Jim.

05/23/2026

05/23/2026

June 9, 1973 - Christ Nordlien enjoying the newly built Menard Park in Ashland, Wisconsin, which was previously the location of the Hotel Menard, 701-703 W. Second Street.

If you ever wondered where the name "Menard" came from, here you go:

Père René Ménard =

Early Life and Jesuit Background
Born: 1605 in Paris, France.
Joined the Society of Jesus (Jesuits) in 1624.
Came to New France (Canada) in 1640 as a missionary.
Missionary Work in New France
Served among the Huron people in the Georgian Bay region (Ontario) during the 1640s.

After the Iroquois destroyed many Huron villages, he worked in Quebec and Trois-Rivières.
Known for his austere, humble lifestyle — he often sought the hardest postings.

Wisconsin & Chequamegon Bay
In 1660, he traveled west with a fur-trading expedition, entering the Great Lakes and Lake Superior region.
He is believed to have reached Chequamegon Bay (present-day Ashland/Bayfield area, Wisconsin) and ministered among the Ottawa and other Anishinaabe peoples. A Jesuit report notes he spent winter there, enduring harsh conditions.

Final Journey & Death
In 1661, Ménard set out from Keweenaw Bay (near L’Anse, Michigan) to reach a remote Huron group near the upper Wisconsin River. During a portage between rivers (often said to be in today’s Wisconsin Rapids or Black River Falls region), he became separated from his companion. He disappeared in the wilderness and was never found. His death is estimated to have occurred in August 1661.

Legacy
Ménard is remembered as the first Jesuit missionary to work in what is now Wisconsin.

Many places in northern Wisconsin and Michigan were named for him (including Menard Island, Menard Park in Ashland, and the Hotel Menard).

Enjoy. Jim.