Learn about the Fire of 1871

“Peshtigo Fire I: Refuge in a Field,” 1968, oil on fiberboard by Mel Kishner. Image courtesy of Wisconsin Historical Society.

The June 19th Gibraltar Talks program is “Memories of the Fire of 1871.” Learn the hardships faced by our neighboring townspeople, in a fire that consumed more than 1,000,000 acres in Northeastern Wisconsin and Michigan.

Presenter Barb Chisholm is a member of the Peninsula Belgian American Club of Southern Door County and recently retired from being an Emergency Room nurse at Ministry Door County Medical Center after 45 years.

Chisholm will give history on the fire from where it engulfed land on both sides of the Bay. This talk hits home with Chisholm’s first person interpretation of her great grandmother, who along with her great grandfather, were faced with this fire of destruction. Learn the incredible events these two encountered in trying to stay alive. A fire, which in as little as two hours, killed between 1,500 and 2,400 men, women and children.

The program will be held at 7 pm at the Fish Creek Old Town Hall located at 4176 Maple Street in Fish Creek. Gibraltar Talks programs are free and open to the public; audience participation is encouraged and refreshments will be served. Freewill donations are appreciated. For more information, call 920.868.2091 or visit historicnoblehouse.org.