Everett Resort

In 1853 the great Northwoods was called the ‘pinery’ and white pine was the king. By the turn of the century the king was no more. In the early years of logging in this area, stands of virgin timber were cut and floated down the Wisconsin River to sawmills, leaving a few trees and a lot of stumps. Getting the logs to the mills was expensive, dangerous and very inefficient

However, railroads arrived in Eagle River in 1883, bringing settlers and supplies, and logging began in earnest. The train crews also took logs to mills, but also took back stories of the clear lakes, great fishing and fresh air. By the 1890s resorts began springing up across the north and families from the cities were coming north to spend the summer close to nature. Fred Morey built a resort on Catfish Lake in 1896 and started a summer tradition.

The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad was one of the first companies to actively market summer tourism in the Northwoods. The trains that hauled logs out of the woods also carried passengers. Trains and boats were the means of travel in the days when roads, if they existed at all, were a collection of mud, dust and potholes.

In 1896 Fred Morey built a resort on Catfish Lake consisting of a few log cabins and a kitchen-dining room. Edward Everett bought it the next year along with most of the peninsula measuring several hundred acres between Catfish and Cranberry Lakes.

Mr. Everett was just the man for the job. Her was ambitious and had a personality to match. Soon the resort acquired a wide reputation and families from St. Louis, Chicago and other cities were trekking north each summer. At this time cities were hot, crowded places in summer. where there were occasional outbreaks of illness from water supplies and the air was thought to be unhealthy. Early advertising stressed the health benefits of ‘summering’ in the Northwoods with clean air and pure water.

Arriving guests disembarked at the one room train depot in Eagle River and along with their baggage, families and often a servant or two, were transported to the bridge north of the depot. They descended the wooden steps to a pier where the Rival, a handsome 45’ steam launch carried them to the Everett Resort. It took about an hour to cover the nine miles – but what a great way to begin a holiday!

The Everett had every amenity. There was an ice house filled with tons of ice cut each winter and stored between layers of sawdust until summer. Fishing was the most popular summer pastime and the Everett employed 28 guides for guests’ convenience. When they set out in the morning, they took along a large basket of lunch - either ready to eat or to be cooked at one of the many picnic sites the Everett created along the lake shores. Milk and cream came daily from a nearby farm. Sanitary arrangements included nice, clean outhouses behind each cottage and a bathhouse, which could be reserved in advance. Hot water was provided by a coal stove but required advance planning. Spring fed lakes are very cold. Eventually some of the ladies decided to bathe in the lake, first covered with stockings, knee-length bathing suits with sleeves to the wrists and caps well over the ears. It must have been a challenge to actually wash.

The resort operated on the American Plan, which included meals with lodging. A crew of well-trained waitresses recited the menus of the day tableside. The food was said to be excellent with a good variety. Service began at 6:00 A.M. each day. Of course, all cooking was done on a coal range. Light came from oil lamps and water was pumped by hand.

By 1917 Mr. Everett had installed a large (and noisy) kerosene generator, which provided the first electricity used on the peninsula along with a few electric light bulbs. An electric pump was added brining water to the cottages. The generator was turned off by 10:00 P.M. to allow guests to sleep in peace.

Popularity demanded that Mr. Everett expand until there were 34 cottages, each with the name of a tree, flower or bird. The other facilities also expanded and more and more improvements were added. Eventually the linens outgrew a closet and were stored in their own dedicated building.

Many guests reserved ‘their’ cottages every summer and some bought land to build. These families became close-knit and the community became known as the Everett Colony. It was inevitable that a group of wealthy members of the Colony gave financial backing to build a golf course and clubhouse and they were the select life members. Now golfing and a lively social life were added to fishing up north.

Boating too became popular. Two Colony families jointly owned a boat name the BeeBee – from the initials of their last names and it was reputed to be ‘the fasted boat on the lakes’.

In 1930 financial difficulties overcame the Everett and 29 property owners formed a corporation and bought stock, purchasing the resort from Mr. Everett. In 1951 Morrie Holzman bought the resort and sold off the cottages that had not been bought by Colony members.

The resort exists today in a reduced form with lodging and a bar build on the lakeside. It is a popular venue for weddings, reunions and celebrations too.

The Everett Colony has left its imprint on the homes that cluster along Cranberry and Catfish Lakes. Like all early lake homes the ‘front’ door faces the lake and in most cases a guest arriving by car will enter at the rear of the building. This is a legacy of the days when arrivals were by water. The lakes are still the focus of life on the peninsula and not many years ago mail was still delivered by boat. Many homes have remained in the same family for five or six generations.

Eagle River Historical Society. Wisconsin: Its History and Its People . Eagle River, WI. 2007.

Jones, George O.. McVean , Norman S.. History of Lincoln, Oneida and Vilas Counties. Minneapolis and Winona, MN. H.C. Cooper and Company, 1924.