Judging from the make-up of the sign and a few telling details, this was probably painted in the mid-1960s. It was during this time that David Uihlein, President of the Oshkosh Brewing Company, had reclaimed 1864 as the brewery's inception date. That date wasn’t correct, but it was the one used all through the 1960s by the brewery (if you’d like to dive into the tangle of when the Oshkosh Brewing Company actually began, you can do that HERE.)
This morning, I talked with John Allen who is now 89 and lived most of his life in that neck of the woods. Allen says the building was first used as a farm machinery dealership and only later became a restaurant. And the old Chief Oshkosh sign is still hanging in there. Here’s a picture I took of it on Friday.
If you’d like to run up to Winchester and check it out, take Hwy 45 north out of town. When you reach County Road II, exit to the east. Drive in about mile on II and you’ll see it. Or you could take the Wiouwash Trail out of Oshkosh and bike up there. The restaurant behind the sign is now Patty’s Place and I’ve been told they serve a good breakfast. Now if they only had some “Chief” on tap.
