Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Above: View of The East Twin and West Twin rivers meet at the Two Rivers harbor before journeying into Lake Michigan. Photo licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International: Chris Rand.
Two Rivers, Wisconsin - Home of the invention of the Ice Cream Sundae.
Two Rivers is a city in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin located on the shores of Lake Michigan.
A post office called Two Rivers has been in operation since 1848. The city was named from
its location at the confluence of the Mishicot and Neshota rivers (now known as the East Twin and West Twin Rivers, respectively).
The Point Beach State Park is just north of Two Rivers on the shores of Lake Michigan.
The birthplace of the invention of the Ice Cream Sundae
Soda fountain owner, Ed Berners of Two Rivers, Wisconsin is reputed to have invented the first ice cream sundae in 1881. Berners' customer George Hallauer (a local who had moved to Illinois and was vacationing in his hometown.) requested that Berners
serve him a dish of ice cream topped with the syrup used for sodas. Berner liked the dish and added it to his regular menu, charging a nickel.
There is a Sundae Week every summer, and the city gathers in Central Park for an old fashioned band concert and ice cream social during the annual Sundae Thursday.
Two cities lay claim to creating the original ice cream sundae.
Besides Two Rivers, Ithaca, New York also claims title to the sweet invention. The two cities have sparred in a good-natured "Sundae War" for several decades.
H.L. Mencken the famed newspaper columnist, political commentator, and essayist also weighed in on the debate.
In Mencken's 1945 book, The American Language: Supplement 1, while writing on the suffix "DAE" as in sundae, wrote that the "most plausible of their theories ascribes the introduction of the 'sundae' itself
to George Hallauer of Marshall, Illinois, and the invention of its name to George Giffy of Manitowoc, Wisconsin."
The Wisconsin State Historical Society recognizes Two Rivers, Wisconsin as the birthplace of the sundae. In 1973, the Society erected a historical marker in Two Rivers Central Memorial Park on the northeast corner of the intersection of Washington Street / State Highway 42 and 17th Street, that reads:
For more information on Two Rivers, Wisconsin, visit Wikipedia.
Or, visit the City of Two Rivers website at www.two-rivers.org.
Buy Ice Cream Sundae toppings and books about Two Rivers at Amazon (Click on image below).
Two Rivers, Wisconsin
Manitowoc County
Above: Two Rivers, Wisconsin. Coordinates: 44°9′18″N 87°34′35″W
The birthplace of the invention of the Ice Cream Sundae.
Above: The Bernard Schwartz House (also known as Still Bend), designed by Frank Lloyd Wright in Two Rivers. Photo licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported: Royalbroil.
Above: The Historic Washington House in Two Rivers, Wisconsin. The Historic Washington House is free and open to the public.
The old inn and saloon is now an ice cream parlor (a replica of Ed Berner’s ice cream parlor) and museum operated by volunteers. It provides historical information about
the area. The top floor houses a ballroom with a mural-painted ceiling and a stage for live performances. The ballroom also functions
as a used book store.
Above: It's official - Two Rivers is recognized by the Wisconsin State Historical Society as the REAL birthplace of the ice cream sundae.
