Jim and his mom, Fern Imse are shown here at the Quiet Lake Assocation meeting last Saturday. Thanks to Jim for providing us a glimpse of Teal Lake's rich heritage with the Imse family history on the lake.
Through the 1920's Paul and Mamie Imse were traveling up from
Milwaukee to vacation in the Hayward area. They kept trying various resorts on
various lakes, looking for the right land to buy. Finally in 1929 they bought
some shoreline on the south side of Teal Lake and decided to camp there for
vacation. One of the typically sudden summer thunderstorms blew down the tent
and scattered their gear. So they spent the rest of the vacation at Kingfisher
cabin in Northland Lodge, and decided they should build a cottage on their new
land.
Frank and Maud Currier had a lumber mill at the corner of County A
and Twin Lake Road. They supplied the lumber for the small cottage that was
built in 1930. The cottage was completely simple, on cedar posts. The exterior
walls were just 2x4 and siding, neither insulation nor interior paneling. The
interior walls were just bead board, on one side. Even with the porch included
there was so little space inside that most all waking hours were spent
outdoors.
From then on the family of six would drive to Teal Lake at the
earliest summer date possible. Some years they would park outside the school on
the last day, and then take the four children directly north from school to the
cottage. Mamie and the four children would stay all summer, until the last
possible date before the start of school. Through the summer Paul would be
driven into town on Sunday night, board a sleeper railroad car, and wake up in
Milwaukee for a week's work. Then he would board the same sleeper on Friday
night and wake up Saturday morning in Hayward for a weekend on the lake.
At times there were thoughts of quitting his Milwaukee Gas &
Electric job to run a resort on Teal. In those years Borgeson built Sunset
Lodge on one side, and Eccle built Isle View Lodge on the other side, across
the bay.
The only watercraft was a locally-made cedar strip Peterson boat,
and its only propulsion was oars. In later years a three horse Evinrude was
added. Idyllic summer months would pass with all the fun in the woods, on
shore, in the rowboat, and so on. It's a mile and a half to what was then the
nearest farm, at the corner of Neumaier Road and 77. That was one way to keep
the kids busy, to send them for a bucket of milk. She could also send them
eight miles round trip to get the mail at Dow's Corners. Diagonally opposite
Dow's was a long bannister of mailboxes all lined up. In those days Walter Ross
would take the extra-passenger car to pick up resort guests at the train station,
that's how station wagons got named. He would stop and give the kids a lift to
Dow's on his way into town. The new place, Shawville, at the foot of Ghost
Lake, didn't open up until later. By then mail was coming to the end of the
driveway.
Through the years, Paul and Mamie continued to come, but not
always for the whole summer. The four children, Marion, Phil, Tom and Janet,
each married and brought their families for vacations. After the war, though
Mamie died, there were yet more people at the cottage as all the grandchildren
began to know the fun of Teal Lake. Soon the front porch was extended around
the side and enclosed. This nearly doubled the interior space. Electricity
arrived soon, which meant running cold water. But no phone was installed until
the 1980's. Later came a water heater. Soon Paul was Grampa, doing not much
more than watching the lake, reveling in memories, and napping. One day he woke
from a nap, saw the sunbeams dappling the birch bark and leaves, and remarked,
"I didn't know where I was for a moment. But if I'm not going to know
where I am, there's no better place for it than this."
From Paul's estate, Tom and Fern Imse bought the cottage in 1978,
and it was kept busy for many more years. Tom's sons have now sold the family
place, but Jim lives just next door on Eccle's Bay.
