Shanty Boy Hill

Hidden behind the ball fields, down a path lined with raspberry bushes, lies a small cemetery; a relic from the logging heyday in Fosterville/Winegar/Presque Isle.

To find this cemetery, park behind the Presque Isle Town Hall located at 8306 School Loop Road, walk down between the ball fields, and take the path to the right once you hit the woods. Down a path lined with raspberry bushes, you'll find a sign constructed from a saw from the original mill and the story of the Shanty Boys that reads, "As lumbermen they lived inshanties in the woods. They were the workers who cut our forests, rode the logs, broke the jams, and, often died doing these things."

During the early years when Fosterville and Winegar were lumber company towns, there was no cemetery in the Presque Isle/Winchester area. An area of land was chosen near where current Highway W ends in Highway B, up the hill from the mill. Some of the first people to be buried there were a group of orphans who worked for the lumber company who died when their shanty caught fire. Locals who died from natural causes and lumberjacks who died from injuries were also buried here until the town built a new cemetery along Highway W. Few families could afford a headstone, so white wooden crosses were used to mark gravesites. The area became known as "Widowmaker Hill" from the logging term that took the lives of many lumberjacks.

Eventually the cemetery fell into disrepair, and the town of Presque Isle with the American Legion fixed it up. According to Michael Dunn and the Lakeland Times, the town held a contest for North Lakeland Elementary School students to name the cemetery. Early lumberjacks were known as Shanty Boys because they lived in small shanties that could be moved around easily. Drawing inspiration from them, the spot was named "Shanty Boy Hill." There are four specifically marked stones in the cemetery: Joseph Grogg, Arthur Peterson, Oliver Jakeway, and one reading simply "Hovde." Arthur Peterson was 24 when he was crushed by some logging cars. It is unknown what happened to the others named on stones, however there is a record of people who were buried in Winegar and are presumed to be at this spot. Lumberjacks Mrs. Gosh, Mr. Hanson, Mr. Hoffman, and Mr. Dufor were all killed in tree mishaps. A man named Gallager supposedly die after drinking too much moonshine. A man named Sprangeal died after attempting to use dynamite to bust up a stump and instead he "dynamited his eyes out and his scalp off" (Dunn).

Dunn, Michael. "Presque Isle's 'lost' cemetary." The Lakeland Times (Minocqua) . .

Shanty Boy Hill, The Heritage Society of Presque Isle. Accessed July 29th, 2024. https://www.presqueisleheritage.org/copy-of-winegar-wi.