Business & Tech
The Cellar Still Buzzing After 150 Years
The former Oakwood Hall is celebrating its 150th birthday this month.
As much as the Oak Creek area has changed over the years, transforming from a farming community to a buzzing city, some things have stayed constant.
The Cellar, 812 W. Oakwood Road, is certainly one of them: the bar-restaurant is celebrating its 150th birthday this month.
To be sure, the business—formerly Oakwood Hall, situated in the heart of the town of Oakwood—has also made many notable changes over the decades.
But just as it was when Henry Studer hosted his Fourth of July parties, the building remains a hub of activity, with a regular slate of weddings, graduation parties and community events.
And after all these years, it's still known for its pizza.
"It took years to build that up, so why change?" said co-owner Bill Nelson, who bought the business in 1999.
Oakwood Hall: catch-all store
Studer's Oakwood Hall was an 1800s version of a shopping center—a combination saloon, dry goods store, grocery store, post office and dance hall."Studer's was a shopping center where a man could cut the dryness of the hayfield from his throat with a glass of cool, dark beer, or a bonneted housewife could finger a bolt of cloth and, if her egg money allowed, buy enough material for a new dress," according to an undated Milwaukee newspaper story.
Studer was also remembered for his annual Fourth of July celebration, according to the story, which told of picnics and dances that no one in the town missed.
The Oakwood Hall dance hall was on the third floor, which is now unused. A living quarters remains on the second floor.
Its placement near the railroad tracks certainly contributed to its status as a hub, though the tracks used to be on the other side of the building.
Many dignitaries, such as Frederick Miller, stayed at a hotel once operated on the second level, Nelson said.
For the locals, it was a destination.
"I can only imagine how far and how long of a day it would be to go shopping," Nelson said. "You jump in your horse and buggy and come from Raymond, or Caledonia, or wherever."
The Cellar emerges
The business changed names several times until the Cellar name stuck in the 1950s, Nelson said.
Nelson and Shirley Miksa bought the Cellar in 1999 and continue restoration efforts 14 years later. They have added to the menu, expanded the dining area and restored the foundation of the building.
Despite the growing number of food and bar options in the Oak Creek-Franklin area, the Cellar has stayed successful with a diverse clientele, Nelson said.
"There will be a day we'll have a pig farmer and we'll have a banker sitting next to each other at the bar," Nelson said.
"We enjoy having that diversity," Miksa added.
The Cellar will kick off a 150th anniversary celebration on Sept. 27, with live music outside.
A special invitation-only dinner is set for the next night. Food will be prepared by Suzanne Schlicht, a finalist on Hell's Kitchen.
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