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HISTORIC HUMBIRD


HISTORIC HOTEL BAR MATCHBOOK FOUND - EDWIN KLEINSASSER & JIMMY
We found another lost treasure and uncovered a new mystery! Deep within the recesses of the internet, we connected with a retired musician in Connecticut who had collected memorbilia from the locations he played at in his youth. He graciously sold us this old matchbook from the late 1940's - early 1950's to add to our growing collection. We know from our research that this matchbook was produced for owner Edwin Kleinsasser who was here in our property around the late 40's to
Mar 11


HISTORIC ITEMS FOUND AT THE HUMBIRD
During a deep clean of the bar, we discovered some old treasures hidden underneath our bar back! All items were in poor condition, covered in dirt and debris, but we painstakingly used archaeological techniques to clean them off, taking time to not damage the items further. What we uncovered was a screenshot of the mid 1950's, when owners Ed & Louise Shramek ran our property, which at the time they called HOTEL HUMBIRD & BAR . Seeing all these items together, we feel transpor
Feb 26


THE MURDER OF ALVIN MARSHALL AND IT'S HUMBIRD TIES
Front page headline of the case. The Wisconsin State Journal, September 4, 1931 Did you know that at one point our town and our property were part of a notorious murder? It was Monday August 31, 1931 when Alvin Marshall, State Annuity Appraiser left his house in New Lisbon, WI to make his rounds as a property assessor. He carried with him $1200 in annuity checks from the State Dept for any payments he may have to give out and several traveler’s checks for his expenses while o
Jan 16


THE CREATURE FROM THE HUMBIRD LAGOON - LAKE EMERSON
Whilst attending the Great Lakes Paranormal Convention (September 12-14, 2025) we had the pleasure meeting with author Chad Lewis, where we discovered that our local area has its own Lake Monster legend. This prompted us to investigate further to uncover more information. Enclosed are news articles detailing our very own Creature Feature residing in Lake Emerson. Newspaper article from the LaCrosse Tribune and Leader Press dated August 12, 1926 Newspaper article from the Mad
Oct 30, 2025


HISTORIC PICTURE DONATED TO US - DEER HUNTING SEASON, 1992
We have been told by many that there used to be pictures of hunting groups on our walls. Several people have come in looking for them and have been disappointed to learn they all vanished over time. Taken, thrown away....so many memories have been removed from our place over the years. This weekend we were gifted this replacement photo by our wonderful friend Carl Spurling! This photo features many current and past Humbirdians and we are so honored to have it in our possessio
Oct 27, 2025


HISTORIC BAR CHIPS DONATED TO THE HUMBIRD
Over the weekend, our friend Lucas Eisberner, son of Theresa Eisberner , a former owner, generously gifted us some more old bar tokens for our historical collection. He identified the neon green token as one from his mother (circa 1986-2000). In addition he gave us another Cesafsky token (circa 1940's-50's) and a beautiful Centennial Souvenir Bar Token from Orv & Tillie Smith's time (circa 1969)! We are so grateful for gifts such as these. So much of the historical items from
Jul 15, 2025


HISTORIC POSTCARDS SHOWING THE HUMBIRDS WONDERFUL PAST
A car on King Street pre 1916. The Humbird can be seen with many people sat and standing outside. In the midst of our chaotic Holiday weekend, we were visited by Alan Bryner who brought us his amazing collection of old Humbird postcards and photos! Alan is an avid collector of all things Humbird and it was thrilling to flip through the stack he has amassed. We got to see so many photos we've never seen before of our awesome little town. Although Alan isn't ready to part with
May 24, 2025


BASEMENT INITIALS MYSTERY. CAN YOU HELP SOLVE IT?
We love a good mystery and hope maybe someone locally can help us solve it! We found these initials carved into the wall in our basement. Since we don't know when these were carved, it's a bit of a needle in a haystack. EK - could this actually be the etchings of George King's daughter Elizabeth? She was only 21 in 1870 and did reside in the building. Her full name was Maria Elizabeth King, but since her mother was also named Maria, they called her by her middle name. WH - ou
Mar 19, 2025
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