website watertownhistory.org
ebook History of Watertown, Wisconsin
116 S First
Address
is site of first hospital in
Watertown
Wethonkitha is an
Indian word
This is a local organization, not national
The object of the club shall be:
To be an Auxiliary to the Wethonkitha Club,
thereby endeavoring:
1. To
promote the social welfare of its members.
2. To
give its members in every condition of life, especially in times of trial, the
stimulus of Christian comradeship and the inspiration that comes from
association with women of kindred aims.
3. To
promote intelligent citizenship and the highest type of patriotism.
1923
BOWLING ALLEYS PROPOSED
FOR ST. MARK’S / Watertown, WI
Lack
of approval led to FORMATION
OF THE WETHONKITHA CLUB
Maas Bros. Building Contractors, Albert W. Maas,
draftsman
The St. Mark’s Men’s Society was organized in 1921
“to establish a social center for the members of the church, to give them the
recreation desired, which, however, shall not conflict with the rules of our
church, and to give aid and support to church and synod whenever found
necessary.”
. . . The club flourished for the first two years of
its existence, showing a membership of well over one hundred.
Then, however, it approached the congregation in 1923
for permission to install some bowling alleys at their own expense in the
basement of the building [lower level of the old church], the request was
received with some apprehension. A
committee was appointed by the congregation to determine whether bowling in its
midst could be “reconciled with our doctrine and church life.”
The committee headed by Pastor Klingmann
returned an unfavorable report and recommended that the club’s request be denied
because a precedent would thereby be established which might at a later date
prove dangerous to the sound growth of the congregation. The club did not receive approval to install
its bowling alleys, even thought it had purchased them in anticipation of a
favorable decision.
All this was discouraging to the young club and
contributed much to the formation of another men’s society in Watertown, the Wethonkitha club, where members of Wisconsin and Missouri
Synod Lutheran church members in and about Wisconsin would have their clubrooms
and bowling alleys.
After this “set back” membership in St. Mark’s Men’s
Society diminished until it was disbanded nine years later in 1932. St. Mark’s 1854-1979 booklet
1940s
BOWLING LANES
Lou Kuckkan, one of Watertown's sports legends, has been long
and enduring. His start came back in the
1940s when he bowled at the old Wethonkitha Club
lanes on South First Street. Watertown
Daily Times article, 04 19
2008.
1949
25th ANNIVERSARY DINNER / LADIES’ AUXILIARY
1954
May WETHONKITHA AUXILIARY SISTERS OF THE SWISH
1954 CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION
Mrs. C. Ebert, Mrs. D. Schmutzler, Mrs.
A. Blasing, Mrs. C. Hartman, Mrs. G. Niemann, Mrs. R. Harthun, Mrs. A.
Reuschel, Mrs. G. Hackbarth, Dora Rippe, Mrs. H. Fredrich, Mrs. G. Knispel,
Mrs. Robert Otto, Mrs. Ralph Otto, Mrs. K. Kohlhoff, Mrs. W. Zickert, Mrs. C.
Abel, Mrs. E. Albrecht, Mrs. G. Piper, Mrs. C. Bergmann, Mrs. W. Gorder, Sr.,
Helen Baurichter, Mrs. A. Fischer, Agnes Mieske, Mrs. A. Engelbrecht, Mrs. W.
Otto, Mrs. L. Lange, Mrs. A. Rupnow, Mrs. A. Krier, Mrs. W. Brandenstein, Mrs.
G. Ziemer, Mrs. A. Hintz, Mrs. C. Graf, Mrs. A. Schlueter, Mrs. A. Karberg,
Mrs. W. Geise, Mrs. C. Piper, Mrs. J. Westermeyer, Mrs. L. Bast, Mrs. L.
Schmutzler, Mrs. F. Zautner, Mrs. E. Telschow, Mrs. L. Riemer, Mrs. A. Erdmann,
Mrs. F. Raether.
c.1954
ASSESSOR IMAGE
112, 114 & 116 South First
1955
05 16 RAZING 112 S. FIRST
Work
of razing the building in South First Street which formerly housed the Western
Union got underway this morning. The
building is being torn down by street department workmen. The building is located on the south side of
a parking lot, also owned by the city.
The council had planned to use the lot and the building site for a
parking ramp. This plan, rejected by the
voters in a referendum held in April, has now been abandoned, and the entire
area will be fixed up for street level parking.
08 26 WESTERN
UNION OFFICE
The
Western Union Telegraph Co. has been ordered to move from its quarters at 112
South First Street by Oct. 31 so the city can utilize the property for its
South First Street parking plans, it was disclosed today. W. A. Krienke, manager of Western Union,
announced that as yet the company has not decided where it will locate. There have been reports that if quarters can
be made available in the Carlton Hotel, opposite the present site, that may be
done. The city of Watertown acquired the
building occupied by Western Union, as well as a strip of land directly to the
north, from the Wethonkitha Club Realty Co., some time ago in order to provide
ample space to carry out contemplated plans for the proposed automobile parking
ramp. The city already owned the major
portion of the lot which it plans to use for parking purposes.
10 14 The Western Union office, located in
South First Street, has been given some additional time to vacate the building
it now occupies, city officials disclosed today. The building is to be part of
the site for the proposed automobile parking ramp and was acquired from the
Wethonkitha Club some months ago. Originally the telegraph company was to
vacate it by Oct. 31. The telegraph company will move its office and equipment
to quarters in the Hotel Carlton, directly across the street. Work on changing
the installations will be under way as soon as arrangements are completed.
10 28 The Western Union Telegraph Company
started moving operations yesterday. It is moving its Watertown office to new
headquarters in the Carlton Hotel, across the street from its old office in
South First Street. The telegraph company is vacating the building directly
north of the Wethonkitha Club, the city recently having purchased it along with
a strip of land and plans to utilize the land as part of the South First Street
parking area, on which a car ramp is to be constructed.
12 12 Four members of the City Council last
night applied the brakes to plans for construction of an automobile parking
ramp in South First Street. The fifth
was not able to be at the adjourned meeting due to out-of-town business. The
four councilmen voted unanimously to reject all bids submitted for the ramp
after it was officially stated the lowest bidder, Farmer Bros. of Tomah, had
made “an honest error” in computing their basis for their estimate. Their bid
figure was between $8,000 and $10,000 too low, the county was informed. The bids were filed Nov. 8.
1957
03 19 Ray
Dobbratz is the new president of the Wethonkitha Club. He was elected at a meeting held Thursday
evening in the club rooms on South First Street. Other officers elected are: Robert Beisner,
vice president; Tom Doering, secretary; Duane Veldhuizen, treasurer. The new officers will be installed at the
April meeting.
1959
03 13 Tom Doering was elected president of the
Wethonkitha Club at a dinner meeting of the organization Thursday night. Others elected were: Lester Lange, vice president; Lester Bast,
secretary; Roger Hamann, treasurer, and Raymond Dobbratz, director. Dobbratz has been president for the past two
years. WDT
1969
04 11 INSTALLATION OF NEW
OFFICERS
Thomas
Block, treasurer; Merle Zastrow, secretary; Arnold Mueller, vice president;
David Kahler, president; Harris Boeder, past president and present director;
Jack Nass, installing office.
07 13 JAYCEE SLOW PITCH INVITATIONAL TOURNEY
Dan
Herbst of Watertown Wethonkitha eluded the tag of
Racine Bob's catcher for an inside the park homer, but Wethonkitha
lost the game 9-7, in the Jaycee Slowpitch
Invitational tourney.
c.1970
2003
03 01
Abstract from Watertown Daily Times article
Social club located at 116 South First
Street, along the Rock River, with the name coming from an Indian word that
means good fellowship or gathering place.
All stockholders of the club are
Lutheran laymen; only members of the Missouri or Wisconsin Lutheran Synod are
eligible to join.
The club was formed in 1923 by a group
of 12 Watertown Lutheran men who agreed that they needed a meeting place that
would provide opportunities for socialization outside of their church.
Specht’s Harness Shop
This property was site of first hospital
in Watertown
Meetings were first held at Raue’s Hall,
on the third floor of what is now the Morgan Stanley Witter building at 200
East Main Street. In 1923 the members
purchased the Sprecht property on
South First.
Club members purchased stock in the
newly formed Wethonkitha Realty Co. to pay for the building. The realty company still controls the stock
(800 shares).
In 1955 the club sold the north portion
of the building to the city for the Western Union building.
For a time, the Wethonkitha Club was
also the site of the Watertown Chamber of Commerce office.
06 03 A longtime Watertown private social club building is
going on the sale block. The Wethonkitha Club, a well-known
rental facility owned and operated by Wethonkitha Club members, will be sold,
according to Rich Blank, business manager.
Following a trend that has plagued many local clubs experiencing a drop
in membership, the Wethonkitha Club no longer has enough members or volunteers
to keep pace with the bookings needed to pay the bills. “The building is for sale although it is not
listed yet,” said Blank. “Our membership
has been dropping and it is hard to recruit new members. In 1971, we had over
140 members, but now we only have about 65.”
WDT
Sale
of building, society history
WDTimes article
2009
06
10 NEW
ELECTED OFFICERS
The May banquet for
the Wethonkitha Auxiliary was held at Lindberg’s By the River on May 28. Hosting the event was the entertainment
committee. New elected officers for the
upcoming year were installed during ceremonies.
Marilyn Baneck is the new vice president and Sandra Herbert the new
treasurer. Serving another year are
Sandi Haseleu, president; Hazel Nagel, secretary; Jeri Shaw, outgoing
treasurer; and Kay Uhlhorn, outgoing vice president. New members of the entertainment committee
include Linda Redfield, Darlene Kuerschner, Cindy Schultz and Linda Uttech. Lucy Saeger and Rose Degner are on the
auditing committee.
2023
05
08 CELEBRATE
100th ANNIVERSARY
The Wethonkitha Club met April 13 at Lindberg’s by the River to
celebrate the club’s 100th anniversary. The
club originated on April 4, 1923, and had its first official meeting on May 2,
1923.
“Wethonkitha”
means “to get together” or “to assemble.” The purpose of the club was to give Lutheran
men, especially young men, a place where they could get together in social
gatherings, not as members of their own particular church, but as Watertown
Lutherans of the Synodical Conference.
In June 1923, the
building at 114-116 S. First Street was purchased by the Wethonkitha
Realty Company, which was formed for this purpose, and was used as a meeting
place. In 1924, a four-lane bowling
alley was installed in the basement of the building.
By April 1924,
there were 152 paid-up members. The
building was sold in 2010 due to a decreasing membership and the club has been
meeting at Lindberg’s since then.
Cross
References:
2005, Image of building, WHS_005_215
Image of property WHS_005_215
Dr.
E. J. Hoermann was one of the founding members of the Wethonkitha
club.
History of Watertown,
Wisconsin