Whitewater memorializes Weinberg family history | Wisconsin Jewish Chronicle

Whitewater memorializes Weinberg family history 

 

A new sign has been installed at Cravath Lakefront Park in Whitewater to commemorate the history of the Weinberg family, who operated a scrap yard in Whitewater at the site of the park.  

The scrap business was founded by Ukrainian immigrants Bernhard and Mollie Weinberg in the early 1900s. The operation began on 4th Street but was moved to the site of the park on Cravath Lake when Bernhard died and Ben, one of Bernhard and Mollie’s children, took over the business.  

The Weinberg family retained the land until the 1970s, when it began to change hands until it became the property of the city.  

“It was made into a park, and I came back for a high school reunion and noticed it was a very beautiful park, it was called Lakefront Park,” Frank Weinberg, grandson of Bernhard and Mollie, said. “And my brother and I decided to contact the city of Whitewater and try to make a donation, and we donated several trees. And the city manager said, ‘would you like to have some kind of historical marker?’” 

That original marker, which was attached to a rock, was taken down by the city because it was being damaged by landscaping work. A new sign was installed in the fall of 2020 after Weinberg asked the city to replace the old marker.  

The display is titled “From the Weinberg Family to a City Park” and explains the history of the Weinberg family in Whitewater. It features historical images of both the family and the land where the park sits.   

Weinberg said the sign memorializes his family and educate parkgoers about the history of Whitewater.  

“There are a lot of people in small towns that probably never even met anyone that was Jewish or knew that there were several Jewish families in our town,” Weinberg said.