A Century on the Shore: Harbor Fish Market and Schram’s Dance Hall

The Harbor Fish Market and Grille in Baileys Harbor opened just 10 years ago, but the building the restaurant calls home, which stands in much the same form as the day it was built, will be celebrating it 100th anniversary this September.

The Schram wedding in an earlier Fish Market incarnation.

In 1908 a young man in his twenties, August Schram, built a small tavern and dance hall in Baileys Harbor. When it became too small for its popularity, Schram constructed a larger building attached to it to the north. Today, those same buildings still stand, known as The Harbor Fish Market and Grille and Custard’s Last Stan.

Schram’s Dance Hall was a wild joint, a real old-fashioned saloon, complete with bullet holes in the walls and ceilings. August and his young wife Martha hosted dances, weddings and public meetings in their tavern, which, for a while, was the tallest building around. On a small stage in the back of the saloon, August and his band entertained guests long into the evening.

August died of Septic in 1917 at the young age of 36. His wife remarried John Wasserbach in 1920, and together they opened an ice cream parlor with five-cent cones and 15-cent sundaes in the smaller building and lived above it. Soon after, they opened “Wasserbach’s Tap” in the larger building. Martha and John continued the tradition of the dance hall, hosting full orchestras and masquerade dances. Guests could even stay overnight in the living quarters above the tavern. They also played movies on Sundays.

Wasserbach died in November of 1963, and one month later, Martha Schram-Wasserbach also passed away. The building was sold to Harold and Dolores Kiehnau in 1964, who in turn sold the building again to Peter and Mary Charles in 1984.

The Fish Market bar looks much the same as it did a century ago.

Peter Charles was really the first to serve a full menu of food. He called the business “The Frontier Restaurant” but it was known to all as “The Frontier Saloon.” They did very little remodeling, and in fact, they kept the old booths from Wasserbach’s for use in the dining room. The Frontier Saloon had a lot of character; it was known for its western flair and the glass birdcage in the middle of the dining room that held many exotic birds.

When Charles sold the building to Carl and Karen Berndt in 1997, it needed a lot of work before it was ready to become Harbor Fish Market and Grille in 1998.

“It was very dark,” Karen explained. “The first thing we did was put floor to ceiling windows in the dining room.”

However, the Berndts did everything they could to preserve the historic integrity of the building.

“When we remodeled, we were trying to keep it just like it was,” she explained. “But we consulted the National Register, and the restrictions were so great that there were some things that we just had to update.”

Another look at the early days in Baileys Harbor.

The kitchen, for example, was not equipped to handle serving hundreds of people in one day. They had to triple its size to make it fully functional. Also, the building was not handicap accessible.

“We tried so hard to keep the original siding,” Karen said. “But it was just so expensive, and it had no insulation. It’s still there underneath though.”

However, there was a lot the Berndts were able to save; the ceiling in the bar area is the original tin ceiling, complete with bullet holes. The hardwood flooring is also original, though this too presented some problems.

“It’s hard to keep up hardwood floors,” Karen admitted. “The old varnish absorbs everything; and there’s a natural tilt to the floor, so at first our tables were sliding all over the dining room!” They fixed the problem by installing hydraulic pieces to the bottom of the tables so that they self adjust.

The bar in the front of the Fish Market is partially the original. When the Berndts decided to extend it 10 feet, they hired a professional woodworker who matched the bar perfectly. The original half sits in front of beveled mirrors, which are new, but were inspired by photographs of the original mirrors of Schram’s. “At first I was unsure about the beveled mirrors,” Karen explained, “but Carl pushed for it. And I’m glad he did because I really like the way it looks.”

The bar area truly has the feel of an old-time saloon. The smaller area next to the bar now holds a pool table, but it used to be a separate room altogether, in which women sat to wait for their husbands. The bathrooms in the bar area used to be part of a hallway which connected the larger building to the smaller one, which is now Custard’s Last Stan.

The bright dining room still has a lot of its original character. For example, the barn roof ceiling was preserved, though “we did add some support poles just to be safe,” said Karen. The Berndts also added an outdoor eating area surrounded with beautiful gardens.

Today the Fish Market, open year round, offers patrons a taste of New England right here in Door County. Known for their lobster boils on Monday, Friday and Sunday evening, they also serve breakfast and lunch. Keeping up the bar’s history of being the town’s late-night hangout spot, the Fish Market hosts “The Fish Shack” Tuesday through Saturday nights in the summer – a late night lounge featuring musical entertainment and drink specials.

Every once in a while, Karen said, the Fish Market has a customer who remembers celebrating a wedding in that same building many years ago, or a bar patron who recalls driving his motorcycle right into the bar – something for which Wasserbach’s Tap was known.

Carl and Karen have done an incredible job honoring the past and joining it together with the future, including planning a celebration for the building’s 100th birthday.

“I’m not sure what we’re going to do yet,” Karen admitted, “but something special – some special features and a historical splash of some sort.”

So whether you come for delicious, fresh fish, or just a cocktail, be sure to stop by the Harbor Fish Market and Grille in Baileys Harbor; it is truly a sight to be seen.

The Harbor Fish Market and Grille is located in downtown Baileys Harbor at 8080 Highway 57. For more information call 920.839.9999 or visit http://www.harborfishmarket-grille.com.