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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall located on the original site - Highway 31 and Highway E The background is the Oakwood Cemetery (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Kenosha County Historical Society) |
"Somers records show that the first meeting in the old Town Hall was held on April 5, 1859, but for 16 years prior to that, town meetings were held at the home of Charles Leet, great-grandfather of Leverett Leet, Somers Treasurer (1967). As of 1967, Leet still resided in the historic family home on Highway 31.
The carefully kept minutes of the first town meetings in the Leet home were dated May 1, 1843. Town officials were elected at that first meeting, and major business including the adoption of fines for letting stallions run at large. Town officials were voted a salary of 75 cents per day for their services, and the board appropriated $25 for the poor.
Somers was known as the Town of Pike at that time and was included in Racine County. The first mention of Kenosha in the records was in 1850, according to Frank Newman, Somers Town Clerk. A division was made in the counties but no reason is given for the change. It was at about this time that the Racine Courthouse burned down, and many records were destroyed.
The name Pike was changed to Somers in 1851, but, again, the records do not give any reason for the change, Newsman said.
The elder Leet's home was a stage stop and inn, a stop-over point for travelers bound for Milwaukee and Green Bay. The house was apparently a natural meeting point for the town board, but eventually members recognized the need of some sort of town hall.
At the annual meeting of 1857, a committee was named to secure a permanent lease to use the basement of the Presbyterian Church across from the Leet home for meetings. This proved unfeasible and a number of special meetings followed to consider plans for building a town hall.
After a period of turmoil, during which building plans were adopted and rescinded, another committee selected the Highway 31 site. The land was donated by Billy smith, who gave three-quarters of an acre for the town hall and the adjoining property for a cemetery (Oakwood Cemetery).
The board met at the Charles Leet home as usual on April 5, 1859, but before any business was transacted, a motion was made to adjourn the meeting to the new town hall. Members then walked to the new building and began its official use which continued for 108 years until the final session on September 11, 1967."
(Source: Kenosha News article , December 1, 1967)
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| (Source: The Kenosha News, September 12, 1967) |
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall Moved and meticulously restored on a new site 1 mile to the north of the original site at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary & Arboretum (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson) |
"Now that the old building has been moved to a new home, it will be restored to its original condition, removing any of the modernizing features which been added during the years. Contractor Peter Ploskee, who will do the restoration work, reported that he was "amazed" at the sound condition of the old structure."
(Source: Kenosha News article, December 1, 1967)
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall - Side View located at Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson) |
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall Interior View (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson) |
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall Interior View (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson) |
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall Interior View (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson) |
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| 1859 original Somers Town Hall Interior View - Voting Booths (Source: Photograph Courtesy of Jacqueline Klapproth Nelson)  |
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