From The Archives

In May of 1919, the people of Wausau enjoyed a few days of considerable excitement, surrounding the sighting and subsequent hunt for what was believed to be a genuine "ghost."

This is a look into the life of the nation's youngest female pilot and later a pioneer in the aviation industry. Marie J. Towle (Grimm) Schutte, born July 24th, 1923, spent her entire life around aviation by choice and circumstance until her death on October 9th, 2010. A native of Wausau, Wisconsin, she ran the Wausau Municipal Airport for 40 years alongside her husband at the time, Lyle Grimm; not to mention the countless awards she earned for her influence in aviation. 

Wausau's Beautification Week

For nearly 30 years, Beautification Week was held in Wausau. In 1971, the Beautification Committee of the Wausau Chamber of Commerce organized a extensive community effort to encourage the cleaning up and beautification of the City of Wausau. With the help of service clubs, garden clubs, local churches, businesses, and city leaders, the event helped promote the idea of city beautification for their community.

Over the course of the 1970s, the celebration of Beautification Week featured a number of notable events.

The Third Graders at Marathon Area Elementary have spent the last twelve weeks studying a notable individual from the past and then recorded a short video to show what they learned about them. And these videos were compiled to create a virtual "wax museum."

Click the links below to see the google pages for each of the classes with the videos they created!

Mr.  Ikert's Class

A quick overview of the creation of the Marathon County Park Commission and its first decade creating parks for the County.

The Convention of the Master Horseshoers

This panoramic picture from the MCHS photo collection, and it shows a congregation of around 150 people on the Marathon County courthouse grounds in Wausau. This was the 13th annual convention of Wisconsin's Master Horseshoers Association members.

It took a few years for the first settlers to the area started thinking about schools. Afterall, it was not until 1846 (only seven years after George Stevens became the first person to survey the area) that Mrs. James l. Moore gave birth to the first child born in Wausau. Eventually, as more people came to Wausau to settle down and raise a family, the need for educating children became very important.

A special coin to commemorate a Transporation Celebration in 1940 tells the story of a big change public transporation in Marathon County.

The Start of a Tradition