Two Rivers is a town in Manitowoc County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,912 at the 2000 census. The City of Two Rivers is located mostly within the town.

History

There is currently a heated debate between Ithaca, New York and Two Rivers over which city has the right to claim the title "birthplace of the ice cream sundae." When Ithaca mayor Carolyn K. Peterson proclaimed a day to celebrate her city as the birthplace of the sundae, she received postcards from Two Rivers' citizens reiterating that town's claim. Ithaca retaliated with an ad called "Got Proof?" in the Two Rivers newspaper.

Two Rivers' claim is based on the story of George Hallauer asking Edward C. Berners, the owner of Berners' Soda Fountain, to drizzle chocolate syrup over ice cream in 1881. Berners eventually did and wound up selling the treat for a nickel, originally only on Sundays, but later every day. According to this story, the spelling changed when a glass salesman ordered canoe-shaped dishes. When Berners died in 1939, the Chicago Tribune headlined his obituary "Man Who Made First Ice Cream Sundae Is Dead." Two Ithaca High School students, however, claim that Berners would have only been 16 or 17 in 1881 and it is therefore "improbable" that he would have owned an ice cream shop in that year. They also state that the obituary dates Berners' first sundae to 1899 rather than 1881.

Supporting Ithaca's claim, researchers at The History Center in Tompkins County, New York, provide a differing account of how the sundae came to be: On Sunday, April 3, 1892 in Ithaca, John M. Scott, a Unitarian Church minister, and Chester C. Platt, co-owner of Platt & Colt Pharmacy, created the first historically documented sundae. Platt covered dishes of ice cream with cherry syrup and candied cherries on a whim. The men named the dish "Cherry Sunday" in honor of the day it was created. The oldest-known written evidence of a sundae is Platt & Colt's newspaper ad for a "Cherry Sunday" placed in the Ithaca Daily Journal on April 5, 1892. By May, 1892, the Platt & Colt soda fountain also served "Strawberry Sundays," and later, "Chocolate Sundays." Platt & Colt's "Sundays" grew so popular that by 1894, Chester Platt attempted to trademark the term ice cream "Sunday."

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 31.9 square miles (82.6 km²), of which, 31.8 square miles (82.3 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.3 km²) of it (0.41%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 1,912 people, 734 households, and 584 families residing in the town. The population density was 60.2 people per square mile (23.2/km²). There were 766 housing units at an average density of 24.1/sq mi (9.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.69% White, 0.05% Black or African American, 0.47% Native American, 0.21% Asian, and 0.58% from two or more races. 0.42% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 734 households out of which 28.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 72.3% were married couples living together, 3.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.4% were non-families. 17.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the town the population was spread out with 21.7% under the age of 18, 6.9% from 18 to 24, 26.2% from 25 to 44, 32.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 108.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 107.8 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $55,759, and the median income for a family was $60,313. Males had a median income of $38,445 versus $26,824 for females. The per capita income for the town was $25,319. About 1.4% of families and 1.9% of the population were below the poverty line, including 0.5% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.

References

1. Laura Zaichkin, "Sundae wars continue between Ithaca and Two Rivers," Ithaca Journal, June 30, 2006
2. The Ice Cream Sundae - The American Profile
3. Actually, the obituary only notes the sundae's creation "...about forty years ago..." not specifically in 1899, although that is what the math works out to.
4. http://www.theithacajournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070626/NEWS01/706260304/1002 The Ithaca Journal "New intel in the sundae wars: IHS grads scoop up ice cream facts" June 26, 2007, accessed June 26, 2007
5. The author is an Ithaca resident.
6. This website includes jpgs of Ithaca's historical documentation.