City Spirits: Kroll’s West

GREEN BAY – The history of Packers game hotspot, Kroll’s West, can be tied back to a family-run hotel once located at 317 Main Street in Green Bay.

That business, which would eventually be tied to the Kroll family, provides a running backdrop for female ingenuity.

In Perwez, Belgium, Victorien Deforge met and married William Bodart in 1852.

The couple came to America in May 1856, making a home in Brown County’s Robinsonville for a short time before coming to the Green Bay area.

The family worked a farm near the East River for three years before building the Bodart House on Main Street in the late 1850s.

The Bodart House included boarding rooms, a restaurant and a bar.

After nearly three decades of growing a strong business and serving others, Victorien passed away in 1888.

“The early married life was one of hardship and privation, and the financial success that has come to the family in later years is greatly due to her unceasing industry. A brave, courageous wife and mother and a free-hearted neighbor, she has closed a life-work of marked usefulness,” her obituary read.

After her death, the family pulled together to continue operations, including Frank and August and their families.

In the early morning hours of Feb. 19, 1901, August Bodart’s 11-year-old daughter arrived at work and discovered a fire.

A Press-Gazette article recounts how the young girl successfully extinguished the blaze enough to get it under control before the fire department arrived.

Her quick actions left the business with minimal damage — a mirror, showcase and slight damage to the bar.

The loss was estimated at $300, which was covered by insurance.

In 1905, William also passed away.

Earlier that year, his children began the legal process to have William declared “incompetent to manage his own affairs.”

His obituary declared him “the oldest saloonkeeper in Green Bay, and one of the oldest Belgian settlers in the city.”

Following William’s death, his four children entered into a dispute over ownership, and the building was put up for sale.
“Forty or fifty bidders were on hand to buy the property when the sale was to have opened in the office of McGillan & Fontaine, but just a few moments previous to the time set for it, an agreement was reached among the children on the price of $7.700, and August Bodart became the owner,” the Press-Gazette stated.

“The old landmark was given by the mother to the four children at the time of her death, about 18 years ago. The husband, William Bodart, lawfully held his ownership during his life, which ended six months ago. Since that time, the four children failed to reach an amicable settlement of the estate until the sale to the son was made.”

August set to making some improvements, including a new front, modern fixtures and improvements to the woodwork and floors.

He later added a partition to the dining room, making the front section into a sitting room.

This story will continue through several editions