Holt & Balcom Logging Camp Museum in Lakewood attracted a standing room-only crowd at its special event on Saturday, June 27. Don DeWitt, great-grandson of W.A. and Lucy Holt, was the guest speaker.
Using carefully researched historical information he supplemented with photos and maps, DeWitt detailed his family’s role in the lumbering history of northern Oconto County. He also shared rare original footage of Holt operations filmed almost a hundred years ago by Lucy Holt, who owned the first moving picture camera in Oconto.
Several relatives from the Holt family attended, including Peter DeWitt, the oldest surviving descendant of Devillo (Ellen) Holt, who was in partnership with Uri Balcom when Camp One, commonly known as the Depot Camp, was opened in Lakewood.
Before Don’s presentation, camp manager Bob Brown led tours of the museum, the oldest logging camp in the United States sitting where it was originally built.
