Mishicot Historical Museum

By Michael Steeber and Michael Jindra

In May of 2021, a surprise package of photos arrived at the Mishicot Historical
Museum. Upon closer inspection, the photos are believed to be the best collection of
early (turn of the twentieth century) Mishicot photos found so far.

The photos may have been lost if not for Laurel G. Brandt, 78, of Sparta WI who
discovered his grandpa’s scrapbook and donated it to the museum. His grandpa,
Gustave Vater, was the pastor of St. Peter’s Lutheran Church in Mishicot from 1902
until 1908. It was during his time in the village that high waters swept through the
streets. The flood, which likely occurred in late March 1904, “completely submerged”
much of Mishicot and forced many families adjacent to the river to leave their homes,
according to an article in The Manitowoc Daily Herald.

Recognizing the significance of the event, Pastor Vater walked a circle around the
village with his camera, capturing photos from all directions. Those broad landscapes
depict an early Mishicot nearly unrecognizable today save for a few landmark
buildings. Some buildings have never been seen in photos before.

The pictures reveal large sheets of ice floating through the village past buildings and
trees. Water threatens to wash out the South Main Street bridge, and deserted streets
lie eerily silent. The flooding is certainly unlike anything Mishicot has experienced in
recent memory, worse than large floods in years like 1959 and 1966.

“Grandpa enjoyed photography, so most of these photos were taken by him,” wrote
Brandt. Over the years, Pastor Vater’s photo collection was passed to his daughter,
Mabel, and later to her son, Laurel. The scrapbook also contains street scenes from
Mishicot and Rockwood (where he also pastored), surrounding farms, local villagers,
postcards, and Confirmation classes at St. Peter’s Church, totaling more than one
hundred photos. The images offer a rare look into early rural life, in an era just before
the automobile took over, so horse and buggies predominate. German was still the
church language, as seen on his wedding certificate.

Gustave Vater (1875–1953) was originally from the Milwaukee area and attended
Lutheran seminary before coming to Mishicot. He married Emma Ida Kloszinski, the
daughter of a Rockwood area farmer, at what is now Rockwood Lutheran Church, and
had three children in Mishicot — Mabel, Louis, and Chris — and another four — Victor,
Gerhardt, Gertrude, and Lothar — after moving to Prairie Farm, WI and later Cataract,
WI.

The 1904 photos of Mishicot’s flood are annotated and available to view in the museum’s digital collection.

This article was originally published in March 2023 and first appeared on the Manitowoc County Historical Society Blog and the Herald Times Reporter.