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| This page describes the early recreation possibilities in the townships, the rich history of sawmills in the village, and the devistating Chatham Fire. |
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| Dedication of Camp Shaw, Chatham, August 1938. |
| Recreation was simply fun when time could be found. Baseball was played in open field and pastures. The fact that cows and other farm animals also frequented the same area only added to certain hazards, such as sliding into a base that was not always a base. Baseball and Softball were once favorite summertime sports in the township. Teams in Chatham, Eben, Slapneck, and Rumely were a sort of "farm system" for young players who hoped to advance to the Chatham all-stars of the 1920's and 1940's. Intense rivalry developed between the Chatham and Trenary teams. |
| Some of the Chatham players who once performed on the local diamond come easily to mind - the Posio brothers (Hank and Onen), "Curly" Lincoln, Lowell ( Bob) Featherly, Ted and Matt Tunteri, Vic Brisson, the Kallio brothers (Toivo, George, and John), Matt Heribacka, "Doc" Hakala, Carl and Otto Zenker, George Maki, Alex Johnson, "Big Bill" Anderson, John Lammi, Onen and Tom Pantti, and the Pelkki brothers, Art and Ed. All games were played on Sunday afternoon and virtually all other activities came to a halt as loyal fans flocked to the old fairgrounds diamond to see their heros do battle. Chatham's number one fan was Vern Richmond. His "needling" of opposing teams, an art he honed to perfection, while irritating the rival players, never failed to entertain. Winter sports were where you found them. The fun was the same. There was never a lack of snow on nearby hills for skiing, and ice on the Eben quarry pond could always be depended on. However, if one wanted to skate badly enough, he was expected to first shovel off snow off the ice. |
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| Since the days of Charles Johnstons's mill in the old town of Rock River, sawmills have been a vital part of the township's history. The earliest mill in Chatham was built in 1905 by a man named Hale. It operated successfully for a year and later was destroyed by fire. Several small mills have since been run at various times and locations throughout the township. Mills owned and operated by John Samanen, John Anttila, Matt Jussila, and Anselm Maki were used chiefly for custom sawing. In the 1940's, Eli Lampi operated a mill at the Eben quarry site. Larger mills in Chatham that have been important factors in the economy of the community have been owned by Vern Richmond, Joe Brisson and the Richmond and Hawley Company. George Maki was a long-time sawyer for Richmond and Hawley. Sawmill fires, always a threat, caused disruption but not an end to the operations. Vern Richmond's first mill, built in the 1940's, burned. He rebuilt and this mill, too, was destroyed by fire. Richmond and Hawley (Frank Richmond, brother of Vern, Ronald Hawley, and George "Sonny" Richmond, Vern's nephews, all of Trenary) then took over the mill around 1950. Frank Richmond died in 1982 and "Sonny" Richmond took over. Sonny continued as the headman until about the mid-90's, when son, Jay Richmond, took over the helm. A major fire destoryed the mill in the spring of 1999, and the company never rebuilt. Small sawmill operations continue on the property, but the history of large scale sawmills in the village seems to be over. Joe Brisson, another energetic local businessman, began logging north of Chatham in the 1940's and built his sawmill just west of the Richmond-Hawley mill. It was destroyed by fire in 1951, but Joe put up a modern mill on the same spot, known as the J&F Brisson mill (Joe and Freda). Since Joe's death in 1970, the mill has been operated by his long-time employees. Disaster struck once more, in May 1983, however, when the mill was again almost completely destroyed by fire. Operations continued, non-the-less, until about 1993, when the company offically went out of business, and the buildings left vacant. |
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| These men survey the damage after the devestating Chatham Fire of 1925. |
| There was a period in the past that was plagued with a series of fires, some of mysterious origins (one fire reportedly started in an ice house) and several business places were destroyed. The climax was the disastrous Chatham fire of April 7, 1925, which burned virtually burned the entire village. Fortunately, no lives were lost. Despite losses in business as well as homes, Chatham was soon rebuilt. Today, the township is protected by a modern volunteer fire department. A more recent disaster occurred in July 1978 when a severe hailstorm hit the area. Many homes, business places, farm buildings, cars and crops were extensively damaged. |
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| In this picture, the only thing left surviving in the Chatham fire of 1925 was the Pacific Hotel. |
| Questions, Comments, Suggestions? E-Mail Me At: [email protected] |
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| Last Update: January 28, 2005. |
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