Jacob G. Stroh

Jacob G. Stroh was a well-known Waterloo historian and archaeologist who early evidenced an absorbing interest in the beginnings of Waterloo County history.

In his youth he lived on Queen Street, Berlin, near the tavern operated by his grandfather, Frederick Gaukel on the site of the Walper Hotel and was fascinated by its Indian customers. Relics of their encampments in the area were dug up later, and Stroh built up a very comprehensive collection of these artifacts which was given to Doon Pioneer Village.

Employed earlier by the Breithaupt and Lang tanneries, Mr. Stroh ultimately established his own tannery on Bridgeport Road, Waterloo, which brought him into frequent contact with distant farmers who supplied him with hides and for whom he frequently tanned a skin in return for a prized Indian object that the farmer’s plough had exposed.

His public service included forty years as a member of the Waterloo Library Board.