WILLIAMS BAY — It was a warm and sunny day when Finn Goodman sat down at Edgewater Park and started playing his guitar with one simple goal: make people smile during times of trouble.
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35 historic Williams Bay photos
Williams Bay history - 1
The first Lady of the Lake passenger boat.
Williams Bay history - 2
An historical image of Williams Bay shows the Chicago and Northwestern railroad depot that once welcomed visitors from Chicago, after a stop in Lake Geneva.
Williams Bay history - 3
Inside the Williams Bay Public Library during the early days with women identified only as Mrs. Pierce, Mrs. Kuhlman and Mrs. Bartholomew.
Williams Bay history - 4
This image depicts the homestead of the Israel Williams family, village founder for whom Williams Bay was named.
Williams Bay history - 5
Oliver Southwick's general merchandise store in early Williams Bay days.
Williams Bay history - 6
Williams Bay resident Grover Spotz, who worked for the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, shown around 1951.
Williams Bay history - 7
First school in Williams Bay, shown around the year 1900 northeast of the current former elementary school where the current Doug and Kathi Swangren residence is located.
Williams Bay history - 8
Yerkes Observatory is shown around the year 1907, when the Williams Bay astronomical facility was a relatively new addition to the community.
Williams Bay history - 9
Note the formal attire of visitors to the YMCA Camp around the year 1890.
Williams Bay history - 10
Even as early as this image dated 1902, fishing enthusiasts could not resist trying their luck in the waters of Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 11
Reuben Palmbach is shown in front of an early Williams Bay fire station.
Williams Bay history - 12
Boys enjoy a chance to cool off swimming in the bay by Holiday Home Camp around the year 1907.
Williams Bay history - 13
Passengers load and unload onto boats at Williams Bay around the year 1900.
Williams Bay history - 14
Early ice shanties on the frozen lake at Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 15
Ned Grim is shown alongside a vintage car model in the 1930s.
Williams Bay history - 16
Yerkes Observatory and the surrounding lakefront campus is shown in an aerial from the early 1900s.
Williams Bay history - 17
Luke's Restaurant in Williams Bay, with a car that seems to suggest the 1950s or '60s.
Williams Bay history - 18
The Stenstrom family of Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 19
Downtown Williams Bay, year unknown.
Williams Bay history - 20
Brothers Frank and Laddie Fleishman are shown having a little waterfront fun with an unidentified woman circa 1929 or 1930.
Williams Bay history - 21
Handling a canoe near Conference Point around 1920 is a group of young women, including Margaret Houston, second from left, grandmother of current Geneva Lake Museum director Janet Ewing.
Williams Bay history - 22
Trains and boats kept a tight schedule when they were the main mode of transportation in and around Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 23
An unidentified woman feeds ducks and chickens with Yerkes Observatory looming large in the background.
Williams Bay history - 24
Three women cool off in the water of Williams Bay in this undated photograph.
Williams Bay history - 25
Sunday school students shown inside Williams Bay Lutheran Church around the early 1950s.
Williams Bay history - 26
Summer resort life draws a crowd in an undated photo in Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 27
An early calling card for the Water Safety Patrol, based in Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 28
Edwin Brant Frost, a former Yerkes Observatory director who died in 1935, for whom the current Frost Park is named at the corner of Geneva and Congress streets.
Williams Bay history - 29
Members of the Class of 1925 at Williams Bay High School.
Williams Bay history - 30
Members of the Williams Bay-based Water Safety Patrol stand ready for action circa 1965.
Williams Bay history - 31
An early hotel overlooking the Williams Bay lakefront just north of the Lackey Building circa 1895.
Williams Bay history - 32
Oscar and Erma Stenstrom enjoy a day in the sun in Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 33
Two youngsters walk the pier as boat passengers fill up a boat at the Williams Bay Municipal Pier.
Williams Bay history - 34
An early map of Williams Bay.
Williams Bay history - 35
The Williams Bay Municipal Pier on Geneva Lake continues to see boat traffic daily throughout the summer.
