“It Used to be Different.” from the January 1, 1891 Republican

It Used to be Different.

The New Year started in with one of the wildest snowstorms imaginable, although the weather was warm. While talking with an old resident who has resided in Door county for about thirty years he gave us some of the experience of a cold New Years day in the winter of 1863-4. In those days Sturgeon Bay was not what it is to-day by a long way. The city consisted of a hotel, that being the old Cedar Street House, a store, a saloon and a few houses. Where the Lawrence block now stands was then a stumpy piece of ground without any buildings, while the Cedar Street House was about the only building in that square, the rest of the block being covered with stumps and logs. Back of where Bayside cemetery is now situated there was a lumber camp and was considered to be quite a distance from town. The 31st of December, 1863, was a day somewhat like last Wednesday, fully as warm, only bright and clear. Toward night it commenced to snow and as it snowed the wind came up and it grew steadily colder. Before bedtime it had got extremely cold, while the snow was also quite deep, and being driven by a gale it piled up in mammoth drifts. The 1st of January was clear and the cold had become so intense that the mercury thermometers failed to register, and it was not known how cold it was. People in those days was poorly provided with shelter, their houses in many instances being built of logs with chinking between, while in many cases the only means of making heat was with an old rickety cook stove that had been brought here by the settler when he came. The woodpiles were covered with snow and the people burned the fences or anything in the shape of wood that he could get hold of. Our informant had occasion to go to the well and upon returning with the bucket of water he was informed that he had frozen his face. He stepped outside to rub the part with snow in order to thaw it and while thus engaged he froze his hand equally as bad. Many people sustained more or less frostbites, some while traveling only a short distance, and everybody experienced great difficulty in keeping warm. D. H. Rico kept the Cedar Street house in those days and it was with great difficulty that the people managed to keep warm even in this house where three stoves were kept going, and after the siege of cold weather had passed the walls of the house were covered on inside with fully an inch of frost. Where the snow had blown up in piles it was drifted in so hard that the pedestrian could walk over drifts without sinking in at all, and it was with great difficulty that people were able to get at anything on the ground. Before the cold spell Green Bay had been open, but it froze up and the strong wind carried all the snow off, so that when the weather had moderated the bay was covered with a glassy surface, and when the fishermen went out on it the next week they found from twelve to twenty inches of ice wherever they went. This was only a few of the many experiences that were passed through by the settlers, and hardly gives an idea of what was encountered in those days. There was only a trail between here and Green Bay, and the mail facilities were very primitive. The travel from this place was mostly in the summer time when the traveler had to go in a sailboat or else walk, and as a consequence travel was limited.

Weather-related posts
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/weather-related

Articles about New Year’s Day
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/new-years

Articles by Joseph Harris, Jr.
https://doorcounty.substack.com/t/joseph-harris-jr