WAUSAU – The Marathon County Historical Society’s September History Speaks will feature Rick Lohr as he shares his experience visiting Myanmar (formerly Burma) in 1998. He’ll discuss the country’s cultures and the political background of the current civil conflict.

Lohr holds a master’s degree in teaching from the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point, with a concentration in 20th century East Asian history. He’s now retired having spent many years teaching at local schools.

This History Speaks program is presented live at 2 p.m., Sept. 17 at the Woodson History Center, 410 McIndoe St., Wausau, in conjunction with the Marathon County Public Library. The presentation will be livestreamed on Facebook and YouTube Live, and a recording of the program will be available on the Historical Society’s Facebook page and YouTube Channel (along with many of our past programs).

History Chats: Notable “Lasts” in Marathon County History

Thursdays at 12:30 p.m.

September marks the end of the second full year of doing History Chats and so to mark the last month of programming before starting on year three, the historical society will highlight interesting “lasts” in Marathon County’s history.

All History Chats programs are at 12:30 p.m., every Thursday, and are livestreamed on YouTube and Facebook Live. They will also be available to view afterward as recorded programs on the historical society’s YouTube channel, Facebook page and on Wausau’s public access channel 980. These programs are presented in cooperation with the Marathon County Public Library.

Sept. 1: The Last Log Drive, 1912

The MCHS has a peculiar photograph that supposedly represents the “last log drive” on the Wisconsin River. Ben Clark takes a look at the photograph in question to learn what log drives were, how the peculiar photo format came to be in our collections, and whether this was actually the last log drive on the Wisconsin River.

Sept. 8: The Last Passenger Train Out of Wausau

Since the railroad first arrived in Marathon County in the 1870s, it became the favored means of travel for just about everyone. But by the middle of the 20th century, the number of people riding trains fell drastically, and eventually the passenger trains stopped coming up to Marathon County. This week, Gary Gisselman takes a look at the story of the last passenger train to leave Wausau.

Sept. 15: The Last Fur Auction in Hamburg

So impressive was the influence of the four Fromm Brothers that in the 1930s all the fur buyers of note in the United States made trips up to their farm in the town of Hamburg to take part in their fur auctions – for a few years at least. This week, Ben Clark takes us to the Fromm Brothers ginseng and fur farm to see how the prestigious auctions came to an end and what came next.

Sept. 22: The Last White Pine is Cut

It is not too much of an exaggeration to say that without the great white pines that were plentiful across the Wisconsin River Valley, the communities of Marathon County would look much different today. Gary Gisselman takes a look at the so-called “last virgin white pine” cut in Marathon County, and how it ended up at Marathon Park today.

Sept. 29: The Last Trolley Ride

For decades, the people of the Wausau-Schofield area traveled around by electric street car. The trolleys changed the landscape of the area and how people lived their lives, but eventually trolley service came to an end. Ben Clark explains the story of Wausau’s trolleys and the formal ceremony in which they were replaced by a new fleet of buses.

MCHS is in the Woodson History Center at 410 McIndoe St., Wausau. Exhibit and office hours are Tuesday – Friday 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Admission is free. The research library is open from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Tuesday – Friday. Tours of the Yawkey House Museum are available Tuesday – Sunday. Call for times and prices.

For more information, call MCHS at 715-842-5750, email info@marathoncountyhistory.org or visit www.marathoncountyhistory.org.