Jones Island Milwaukee Kaszube Park Wisconsin

Jones Island Milwaukee Kaszube Park Wisconsin Descendants gather the first Saturday in August, at Kaszube Park, to celebrate their heritage of those family members who lived on Jones Island.

Jones Island/Kaszube Park
1439 South Carferry Dr., Milwaukee, WI 53207

The first informal Kaszube picnic gatherings originated about 1977, a few years after the park was established in 1974. The gathering ceased in 1984 but in 2000, the Kupferschmidt brothers, descendants of Jones Island residents, revived the picnic. Fifteen to 300+ have gathered at the annual potluck event.

On the southside of the harbor entrance is the U.S. LIFE SAVING STATION. It consisted of 7 hardy men who lived in the s...
08/02/2026

On the southside of the harbor entrance is the U.S. LIFE SAVING STATION. It consisted of 7 hardy men who lived in the second floor barracks, and a Captain who lived with his family in a rear cottage. They trained 5 days a week in rescue skills. There was a lookout on top of the structure [2 at night] and every 2 hours at night one other would patrol to North Point and back. They were looking for boats and people in trouble. When a fishing tug was late or missing they, along with other fishing tugs, would search. Their duties were search, rescue, and recovery. There were numerous Jones Island drownings on the lake and especially on the river. Many were recovered by the Life Saving crew. The newspaper articles describe some, but not all. Two tell of my (Tom M) great great grandfather "Straightback" Joe Konkel [80 not 90] and his grandson Johnnie Konkel, son of his oldest son Joseph A. Konkel. In 1915 the Life Saving Service became the U.S. Coast Guard.

To get to and from the island you had to cross the river or walk from Bay St. which was least desirable. Obviously, this...
07/29/2026

To get to and from the island you had to cross the river or walk from Bay St. which was least desirable. Obviously, this was a fishing community but lacking many things the city people had.
There was:
-No city water
-No indoor plumbing -No electricity
-No telephone
-No street lights until 1906 -No mail delivery
-No school until 1895
-No sidewalks or sewers -No garbage or rubbish collection as late as 1914
-Limited police and fire protection services
-No bridge to the mainland

Because the island was at lake level and the offshore breakers didn't exist, the residents were subject to the severity of lake storms and winter ice.

The Kaszubes belonged to St. Stanislaus church and giving thanks for surviving the storms, they donated the Rood Beam when the sanctuary was built. They also donated two statues of saints and celebrated their feast days. On the north wall was a statue of St. Joseph, patron saint of the workingman, and on the south wall a statue of St. Barbara. She was the patroness saint of mariners, protector from violent storms [gales], and protector from sudden death [drowning].

Did you know…1868 Valentine Struck and family from the village of Ceynowa on the Hel Peninsula emigrated to Milwaukee an...
07/24/2026

Did you know…
1868 Valentine Struck and family from the village of Ceynowa on the Hel Peninsula emigrated to Milwaukee and Jones Island. 1871 he returned to Ceynowa and in 1872 with others from the village returned to Jones Island. The group included: Jacob Muza #1, John Stein, Andreas Kohnke, Michael Budzisz, Joseph Budzisz, Auguste Golla, Wilhelm Orlowski. All, except Gola, with family. 1876 Valentine Struck, John Stein drowned in a fishing accident while Joseph Budzisz was rescued. Jacob Muza was recognized as the leader on the island. As new immigrants arrived they would get permission from him to build a home and he would show them where they could build. They were to improve the land by filling in wet and partially submerged land. The city had platted a map of what Jones Island should look like with streets and blocks. The 1910 Sanborn Map shows a village with homes partially or wholly on the streets and lots that were not symmetrical and they were enclosed with fences. The brown is the maze of paths running through the island. Harbor street is eroded into the lake.

The house on the water was the home of the lightkeeper and his family. He was responsible for maintaining illumination o...
07/22/2026

The house on the water was the home of the lightkeeper and his family. He was responsible for maintaining illumination of the beacon light at the end of the pier and the light at the end of the breakwater. At the end of the pier was the fog horn which was another responsibility. His job was year round, through all weather [gales, snow, storms, ice etc.] At one time, there was a cat walk to reach the beacon light that was used during storms when waves were washing over the pier. The light on the breaker was only reachable by rowboat, even during bad weather. Emil Tews was considered by the islanders as the "best boatman" on the island, because he was such a strong rower. The lights and foghorn were needed to safely guide boats to port. This job required a person who was dependable, strong, and brave.

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1439 South Carferry Drive
Milwaukee, WI
53207

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