Peeling Back The Bark
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October 15, 1934: Glued Laminated Timber Comes to America
By Eben Lehman on October 15, 2018On October 15, 1934, workers broke ground for a new school gymnasium in Peshtigo, Wisconsin. To this day, this small city in the far northeast corner of Wisconsin remains best known for being totally consumed by a massive forest fire …
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CCC and the Art of Woodsmanship
By Eben Lehman on March 21, 2013Eighty years ago, Rudy Wendelin was a young artist fresh out of the University of Kansas School of Architecture struggling like many others to find work during the Great Depression. Relief came in 1933 when he applied for a job …
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July 16, 1894: Consolidated Water Power Company Formed
By Eben Lehman on July 16, 2012On this date in 1894, a group of men with water and property rights along the Wisconsin River reached a monumental agreement. The group decided to combine their holdings in order to build dams and consolidate water power in the …
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October 8, 1871: Peshtigo, Wisconsin, is Consumed by Fire
By James Lewis on October 8, 2011On this date in 1871, the town of Peshtigo, Wisconsin, and several smaller surrounding communities were obliterated by fire. The “booming town of 1700 people was wiped out of existence in the greatest fire disaster in American history,” according to …
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June 29, 1915: First Aerial Fire Patrol Took Flight
By James Lewis on June 29, 2011On this date in 1915, what is believed to be the world’s first forest patrol flight was made at Trout Lake, Wisconsin. Aviation pioneer and wealthy Chicago sportsman Logan “Jack” Vilas made the initial flight in order to demonstrate the …
