An Abridged Timeline: The Nymphea Becomes the Showboat

Life as the Showboat

*this story is a work in progress

The Nymphea was purchased by ambitious entrepreneur, Jeff Jones, in 1930 for use as a lunch counter at his newly proposed cabin campground. Jones, a Milwaukeean, bought property on Second Lake where he first built a “modernized” cottage for himself and family. He later intended to build a private road and other cabins for a resort type style property. The land already boasted a private power plant and spring fed well for fresh water. To reach it’s new home the retired Nympea was moved by river to Second Lake and then hauled up to the hill near a main road about 6 miles northwest from Stevens Point.

“Decorated in colors of red and yellow and equipped with gasoline pumps to match, tables, ice cream, cold drink, and light lunch dispensaries, the boat… serves as a stopping place for autoists.” Jones named his new lunch counter, The Showboat.

While going through his grandmother’s things, Thomas Becher found an amazing photo negative of the Showboat as the original refreshment stand. The photo is likely circa early to mid 1930s before the cabin building was added. Note the car on the right and the barn roof in the back ground. Deerwood Coffee served here! Deerwood Coffee was produced by the Copps Coffee Company in Stevens Point from 1917- 1948.

Over the next decade there are a number of news stories about the Showboat baseball team and games held at the diamond behind the building. The team must have brought people out to the remote spot bringing popularity with them. It looks like the team had done well with Jones as their regular manager over the years.

Tragedy struck in 1938 when a Milwaukee boy drowned in Second Lake on the Showboat property. This was the second death associated with the boat. There was much press about the incident and it is possible that Jones left town after. He is not mentioned in local papers after that time and it is noted that the next owner purchased the property from the First National Bank so it’s possible Jones may have lost the property. The sale consisted of the family cabin, the Showboat itself, and 27 acres of land. It appears Jones never did complete his cabins.

Jeff Jones circa 1936

In 1939 an ad ran in the newspaper mentioning a new proprietor, Anton Kruzitski. The same year his name appears applying for a liquor license. Kruzintski seems to only be involved for the one year. He is mentioned as the new manager of the Showboat baseball team in May 1940 as well, but not after.

A post card mailed in the 1940s lists Mr. & Mrs. Eders as owners. John and Mary Ann Eders purchased the property in 1939 and moved their family from Glidden in September. By the time this photo is taken the boat seems to have been moved completely around and an addition added. The signage has completely changed as well. It is unknown if Jeff Jones built the cabin addition, but it is likely since he had intended to build other cabins on the lake. The gas pumps were also from the time of Jones. Note the sign that mentions credit cards.

Stevens Point Daily Journal, September 1940

Locals mention remembering Tom Eder running the bar in the 50s with his parents. Mary Ann died in 1959. After Mary Ann’s death John moved to Milwaukee and remarried. It seems the bar was passed to Tom. John later came back to Stevens Point passing at the age of 94. Tom committed suicide on his sister’s farm in December of 1964. He was 43. His obituary mentions that he had recently sold the bar.

Stevens Point Daily Journal, December 1973

Ed and Millie Hojnacki were the ones who had purchased the property from Tom. Many locals remember Millie today. Per her obit, “Millie owned and operated the Showboat Tavern in Junction City for many years and later worked at Del Monte in Plover. She enjoyed gambling, going to the South Point Restaurant and the chicken wings at Rusty’s Backwater Saloon.” Mille died in 2013 at age 82. Ed committed suicide at age 58 in 1985.

Don and Rosie Widman bought the property from Millie in 1979 and owned it until 1982. Later the tavern was owned by Roy and Judy Churchill. Today the property is known as Donna’s Showboat.

It isn’t documented when the boat became built into the building. Some say it slowly disappeared, eventually consumed by the building, and t is part of the walls today.

This is an unfinished piece.

If you have any information on the Showboat building and property please contact us! We are always happy to hear from you to “get the story straight!” Sometimes the best information comes right from our readers. Thank you!

contact@historicstevenspoint.com

An Abridged Timeline: JJ Bukolt’s Pleasure Yacht, The Nymphea

In April 1916 the riverboat Nymphea was built for JJ Bukolt by his employees in his Automatic Cradle Factory. It was the largest pleasure boat on the river at the time in the area, could carry 80 passengers, had a kitchen and a toilet on board. It is often referred to as Bukolt’s yacht in the papers.

Stevens Point Journal Photo

Official Gala Launch, July 3rd 1916 (pictured): Several hundred people attended the event. The boat was hauled by horse and cart to the river at the end of Main Street and launched into the Wisconsin River.

Stevens Point Journal Photo

July 15, 1916: The boat caught fire 2 weeks after maiden voyage causing significant damage, but not sinking the boat. The fire was blamed on oily rags tucked under the rear deck at the back of the engine that apparently had spontaneously combusted. The cabin was the most damaged, but the hull was sound. The fire was reported in numerous Wisconsin Newspapers. The watercraft was immediately cleaned up and put back to work with in two days. Papers mention that is was chartered for a picnic the next day, it unlikely made that date since they didn’t have it back in the water until Sunday. That day it is said the boat ferried 500 people to an island event.

In the fall of 1916 The Nymphea was pulled in to be dismantled and rebuilt of over the winter at Bukolt’s factory.

Summer of 1917: Bukolt’s riverboat was rebuilt with a Ford Model T engine. The ship was enlarged and specialties were added. A player piano was brought on board and a 12 foot deck with a canopy was added at the stern giving the Nymphea a classic riverboat appearance. Once again the boat was launched into the Wisconsin River.

The Nymhea was used as transportation for many picnics and events that were held on Martin’s Island and at Waterworks Park. There are numerous mentions of it’s use in the newspapers. It seems Bukolt was generous with his boat and often lent it for use to ferry riders to the islands.

In July 1917, a 9 boy drowned while waiting for the Nymphea at the dock at the end of Main Street. He was playing with friends, slipped, and fell into the water. None of them could swim and efforts made to save the boy were too late. It is the only known death associated with the boat while it was still on the water.

In November of 1919 The Nymphea almost went over the Consolidated dam but was luckily saved by paper mill employees when they shut the damn gates slowing the water. It is said that the boat hovered over the edge of the water fall and was pulled to safety with the use of a pole. It This is one of the last articles mentioning the boat.

Stevens Point Journal

The Nymphea seems to disappears from the papers after the fall of 1923 with no mention of it being permanently docked or why. John J Bukolt died in 1929. But that is not where the story of the legendary riverboat ends.

Follow the story with the second part of the time line here

The Emerson School Property Part 4: A New Start

This is the final installation of the Emerson School Property Series

Photo courtesy of Dave Simonis,
circa early 2000

Nearly a decade after complaints were raised about the aging structures on Clark Street, a new vocational school was completed on Michigan Avenue in 1962. An incredibly modern building, the new facility was welcomed by the city. The vocational school moved to the new building and vacated the ailing 19^th century property slated for demolition.

By 1962 fresh dirt covered the ground where the original imposing red brick Queen Anne structure once stood. No sign was left of the decrepit 40-year-old temporary barracks. Some of the space was paved over for parking and on the Reserve Street side of the property playground equipment was eventually installed.

1915 The Nooz Commencement Booklet

During the 1960s the Annex continued to be used by the junior high. As Stevens Point’s population continued to increase, classroom space was again needed. Benjamin Franklin Junior High opened the fall of 1968, and later, in 1970, a new up to date three-year high school opened, today’s Stevens Point Area Senior High. That same year Emerson’s seventh and eighth grades moved to the PJ Jacobs building to join the freshmen, and Emerson began life as an elementary school for grades three through six, with the younger students attending nearby Jefferson Elementary.

Circa 1980s. Note the stone with in front on the left near the flag pole. It had a plaque donated by the graduating class of 1907. The location of the stone is unknown to author today. Photo source unknown.

In 1982 the property changed hands from the City of Stevens Point to the newly independent Stevens Point School District and usage shifted. The building sat vacant for a bit. It was later used by Jefferson Elementary students while an expansion was added to their school. Various extracurricular activities were held at the building over this time like aerobics classes, wresting practice and tap dance lessons. Emerson hosted its final students over the course of the last decade in the 20^th century. During 1991- 2001 it was used for the growing SPASH Alternative Programs which had moved from the old Grant Elementary School, another building slated for the wrecking ball. Parts of the Emerson facility were off limits during that time due to safety concerns. The aging building was nearing its end.

Note the fencing in front of the school. This photo was taken most likely after a condemn order was imposed. Circa 2002. Photo Source unknown.

The final 79-year-old brick structure was demolished in 2002. Long gone were the days of cramped classrooms, the barracks and basketball at the Parish House and Normal School. “The large smoke stack [sic]…tumbled with one hit to the center by a massive crane…” and thus ended the 109-year era of public school buildings on the property.

Over the course of a century, the Emerson property served the area’s students well. It is only right that after nearly 20 years of vacancy that the land continues to serve the children of the city in one of the best ways known, as a public park with space to grow and be free.

Google image circa 2018

For more information on the project plans for this property please see Friends of Emerson Park and consider making a donation

Read Part 1 here / Read Part 2 here / Read Part 3 here / Read Part 4 here

Sources Used

• Stevens Point Daily Journal
• Portage County Gazette
• Stevens Point High School yearbooks
• Emerson High School yearbooks
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
• Personal accounts