For the past 10 years, the Manitowoc County Historical Society has been working on moving the historic Meeme House from its location in the Town of Meeme to the Pinecrest Historical Village.
The building itself was moved in 2018, and now it, along with the polling house and the horse stable, are all in place.
Amy Meyer, the Executive Director of the Historical Society tells Seehafer News that the exterior is nearly completely refurbished, and now the focus is on the inside.
“With the $1.2 million project, we have already raised about $850,000,” she explained. “We are in the final stretch to really make that interior a proud example of what this building was in about 1915.”
The structure was built in 1855 and was used as a stagecoach stop for many years. Once the train tracks were put in place, the owners, the Herr family, had to adjust and turned it into a hotel and saloon.
After the end of WWII, the hotel aspect of the building was ended, and the upstairs was boarded off and not entered until the Historical Society purchased it in 2013.
“We are very fortunate to have been able to collect a lot of mementos either from inside the walls, in the floorboards, or even just stuck between a board at the wall,” Meyer noted. “We have been able to find some old tickets for entertainment in the theater, at the stage, as well as some old posters.”
While the structure has a ton of significance locally, Meyer tells us it also has some state significance as well.
She noted, “The Meeme House is one of five stagecoach inns still standing in the state of Wisconsin…but this is the only stagecoach inn and livery stable match with the Meeme Livery Stable, which is where the horses would have stayed.”
The interior of the structure is still under construction, and Meyer tells us they are waiting to really start the project until they have all the money they need to pay for it.
If you would like to volunteer to help or would like to make a donation toward the project, you can either visit the museum at 924 Pine Crest Lane or visit ManitowocCountyHistory.org.
