American Legion Memorial Drive

American Legion Memorial Drive. . On January 8, 1928, Robert E. Burns of American Legion Post 165 held a special meeting to finalize plans for a public memorial honoring fallen service members of World War I. The plan was to plant a lane of trees on each side of the new thirty-foot-wide highway, formerly Highway 17, between Two Rivers and Manitowoc. Officials from the City of Two Rivers and Manitowoc County endorsed the plan. American Legion Post 165 mailed approximately 2,220 letters of appeal to residents requesting donations of twenty-five cents. In all, more than $2,900 was raised. One tree would be planted for each Manitowoc County resident who died in the line of duty. , The Legion awarded Chris Hansen, a Two Rivers florist, the contract to purchase and plant 925 elm trees for the memorial project. In October 1928, Hansen, Legion members, and community volunteers planted the eight-foot-tall American elm trees forty feet apart along both sides of the highway. On November 21, 1928, the Manitowoc County Board of Supervisors passed a resolution naming the lakeshore highway "American Legion Memorial Drive". The highway's name was later shortened to Memorial Drive. Many of the original trees planted have been lost due to Dutch Elm Disease and the widening of the highway.