Peshtigo Fire Museum honors William Ogden during dedication ceremony

PESHTIGO – The Peshtigo Fire Museum and Peshtigo Historical Society invited the public to an ice cream social on Sunday, Aug. 2.

During the event, the museum held a dedication ceremony for the monument honoring William B. Ogden.

The process of creating the monument began with discussions last year before an order was placed in spring from the same company that created the Peshtigo Fire monument. The monument was delivered on June 15.

Museum director Laura Marotz led the ceremony, where she explained that Ogden was a railroad executive and served as the first mayor of Chicago.

In 1856, he purchased a sawmill in Clarksville, which he would later renamed to Peshtigo and established the Peshtigo Lumber Company. The business ventures included ownership of 125,000 acres of white pine and a woodenware factory.

Marotz described the factory, “It was the largest of its kind in the world. It was four stories tall — it was huge. They made everything from clothespins to buckets and axe handles.”

Additional industrial infrastructure included a company store, boarding house, railroad to the Peshtigo Harbor and a large steam sawmill at the harbor. At the harbor a barge line transported lumber and factory products to Chicago and other parts of the country.

“But, on Oct. 8, 1871, he lost everything. All of his business holdings in Peshtigo were destroyed. This entire town was destroyed to ashes in less than one hour,” Marotz said.
Fortunately, the area around the Peshtigo Harbor was spared during the firestorm. Ogden was then able to use the remaining sawmill to support efforts to rebuild the town.

Following the fire, Ogden would marry Marianna Tuttle Arnot in 1875 before passing away two years later.

Marotz closed the ceremony, “He is considered the father of our town [because] he did so much to build this town… So, we dedicate this to Mr. William B. Ogden.”
Following the event, attendees were welcome to explore the museum, speak with “Conflagration” author Susan Gordon and enjoy ice cream from Hoppe Dairy or root beer floats from Forgotten Fire Winery.
For more information about local history and upcoming events, visit Peshtigo Fire Museum on Facebook.