Lake History

 

Way-way back, 12,000 years ago, there was no lake. The advance and recession of the Wisconsin Ice Sheet left behind huge chunks of ice forming kettles (bowl shaped depressions), many of which became the lakes that dot northern Wisconsin. These lakes form the greatest concentration of glacial lakes in the world, 1,129 lakes and rivers in Oneida county alone.

 

The lake we now call Two Sisters, covers 719 acres and is up to 65 deep. It was once called Black or Black’s Lake after the Black brothers who logged the area prior to 1900. One of their camps was near Pickerel Bay. It was officially changed in the 1920's as some thought the name ‘Black’ implied the lake was not clean. So it was changed to better promote tourism. It is what is known as a headwaters lake, recharged by springs from the ground water beneath this area. We can thank these springs and the dam on the north shore of the west (small) lake for our consistent depth. The Northern Woods Resort, situated at the tip of the peninsula between the lake basins, brought the first known dwellings to the lakeshore. It was built around 1903 by the Northern Woods Resort Company shortly after the railroad made it possible for tourists and hunters to travel to this otherwise inaccessible area.

 

William Gunther purchased the property in 1906 and he and his sister Susan began welcoming guests at the hunting and fishing retreat. Guests would travel by overnight train from Chicago to the McNaughton stop and be picked up by oxcart. Susan (Gunther) married Ernest Wendt and in 1914 bought out Susan’s brother William. Susan and Ernest became the first year-round residents on the lake. They raised their children—Malcolm, Walter, Georgianna and Edgar—without benefit of electricity or modern plumbing or heating. Electricity came to the lake in 1948 and telephone service not until 1965. Walter Wendt purchased the resort in 1956 from his parents and operated it until around 2012. One of his nieces still live in the resort’s idyllic setting.

 

By the 1920's, as roads made the area more accessible, a few people began to summer on the lake. Cottages and even year-round homes were built. Long-time residents Bill and Dorothy Barr bought land on the lake in 1950 and in 1953 built their cabin on the north shore where their family still gathers each summer. Bill, a WWII marine pilot, flew his family up to the lake for weekends in an amphibian Republic Seabee plane. Dorothy and the kids picked up rocks for their fireplace along the few roadways in the area. At one time there were six resorts along the shoreline. As the demand for summer cottages grew, most of the resorts were broken up and sold off to individuals.

 

The lakeshore was rezoned in 1975, increasing minimum frontage 150 feet. In 1975 several forward-thinking individuals formed the Two Sisters Lake Property Owners Association for the protection and betterment of the lake. They recognized Two Sisters Lake as the clean, clear jewel that it was. This group was instrumental in the building of the dam on the north shore of the lake to regulate the water level. The members also instituted water quality testing, which now gives us 50 years of data regarding the lake and its surrounding environment. Through the efforts of our organization and its supportive members, Two Sisters remains as clean and clear as it was 50 years ago, despite the increasing density of dwellings over the years.