VIDEO/PHOTOS: The three-bedroom, two-bath house on this city’s east side blends into the neighborhood.
The front door of 150 S. Beebe Ave. is adorned with a Green Bay Packers welcome sign. The walkway is framed by a pair of maple trees.
There has been remodeling and additions over the years, but the history, while not visible, remains.
For some reason, 150 years ago, what is now the home of Wade and Kathy Schenk was spared from the deadliest fire in U.S. history that destroyed not only Peshtigo but much of northeastern Wisconsin.
The wind-whipped fire, which happened on the same day as the Chicago Fire, consumed more than 1.2 million acres of land and killed somewhere between 1,200 and 2,400 people. The actual death toll is unknown, but about 800 of those who died lived in Peshtigo, where every single building in the community was turned to ash. The exception, on the night of Oct. 8, 1871, was a home under construction just a few blocks from the Peshtigo River.