| Additional Information: | PARK BUILDINGS OF FIELDSTONE AND LIMESTONEPROBABLY ONCE A FACTORY
2021: Bruemmer Kewaunee County Park is located on the site of a former 19th-century lime kiln and quarry. The entire park encompasses approximately 96 acres and includes 19th-century buildings associated with the former lime works; park buildings from the 1930s; and modern buildings and structures associated with a zoo located in the park.
The storage building (AHI #26288) is a long one story building with stone walls and wood frame end gables clad in drop siding. Each end gable has a “false front” parapet that provides wall area for large paired barn doors to open against. The stone side walls have alternating small window openings and larger access doors. Most of these openings have been boarded over. The north side wall also contains several concrete partition walls, probably constructed to form storage pens for stone or gravel. This building, like the other stone buildings on the property, was built prior to 1900.
The office building (AHI #244694) is rectangular in plan with a standing seam metal cross gabled roof. The first story walls are of stone parged with stucco, and the gables are clad in vertical metal panels. The building contains several modern steel entry doors, a modern metal overhead vehicular door, and several historic two-over-two double hung windows. This building, like the other stone buildings on the property, was built prior to 1900.
A small building (AHI #244695) is located northeast of the large storage building. This building has stone walls, vinyl-sided gables, and modern roof and eaves. Each side of the building has a former window or door opening, all of which have been boarded over. This building, like the other stone buildings on the property, was built prior to 1900.
The frame shed (AHI #244696) is clad in vertical boards and has a standing seam metal roof. The main elevation contains four sets of large vehicular doors. This building probably dates to the late 1920s, after Kewaunee County began leasing the property for use as highway department repair shops.
The first park pavilion (AHI #244697) has a metal roof, stone half walls with concrete coping, and a concrete floor. Wood posts with diagonal upper braces support the hipped roof, which has exposed rafter tails. A stone fireplace and chimney is located at the south end of the main portion. The pavilions were both built around 1929.
The second park pavilion (AHI #244698) is similar to the first pavilion, with stone half walls, wood posts, and exposed rafter tails. The second pavilion also has a side wing with full-height round wood posts with diagonal upper bracing and exposed rafter tails. The gable end of the side wing is clad in vertical boards, the bottom of edges of which are cut into half-diamond patterns. The pavilions were both built around 1929.
The bandstand (AHI #244699) has a low concrete base and is accessed by three steps. The perimeter is enclosed with pipe railings on two sides and wood panel half walls on the other sides. Steel posts with angled braces support steel Ibeams, which in turn support the flat roof with exposed rafters. The bandstand was probably built around 1940.The current park is located on the site of a former lime kiln works. The earliest stone quarry and lime production at the site started around 1860, with several subsequent owners and operators (including Seth Moore, part of a prominent family of local Euro-American settlers) before being purchased by the Nast Brothers Lime & Stone Company, who owned multiple quarries around the state. Nast Bros. operated the lime kilns until 1916. The Western Lime and Cement Company acquired the Nast Bros. operation but closed the site by 1920.
Several years later, the Kewaunee County Highway Department began leasing several buildings on the lime kiln property for use as repair shops. The County Board of Supervisors purchased 96 acres of the former lime kiln property, including the buildings, for $10,000 in November 1929. The park was established in 1929 when the County Board approved the expenditure of $350 towards “beginning the work of beautifying the grounds.” The Kewaunee County Hunting & Fishing Association added pens for a flock of fifty pheasants shipped from the State Game Farm at Poynette in 1935, followed by a pair of a pair of monkeys in 1936, a pair of bears in 1938 and two fawns in 1939. The property has remained in use as a zoo to the present. |
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| Bibliographic References: | “County Board in Annual Session,” Kewaunee Enterprise, November 16, 1928.
“To Beautify Park in West Kewaunee,” Kewaunee Enterprise, June 28, 1929.
“Erect Pheasant Pen at Bruemmer Park,” Kewaunee Enterprise, April 25, 1935
Patty Williamson, “Restoring Glory at Bruemmer Park Zoo,” Door County Living, September 4, 2015.
“Two Fawns Added to Kewaunee County Zoo,” Manitowoc Herald-Times, Dec 12, 1939.
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