A. J. Lucia Cycle Co.

The OCHS has a small file entitled “Transportation”.  In it are only a few items.  A few were about the railroad which were moved to that file, and about fishing which were moved to that file.  That left only 4 items.

One proved quite interesting.  It mentioned the Lucia brothers who had a bicycle shop in Oconto.

I had heard years ago that there had been such a shop but nobody could corroborate it.  Now I had a name.  From there I found other information.  [The Internet is great.].  I found Albert Joseph Lucia on FindAGrave.com, buried in Green Bay with a note that says “Albert Joseph (A.J.) along with his brothers Howard and William, owned and operated Lucia Brothers Garage in both Oconto and Green Bay, Wisconsin; they were Packard Dealers.  Before selling automobiles they also sold bicycles and participated in many bicycle races.”

Then I found an ad on the Oconto WIGenWeb site that shows an address.  Their store must have been right at the present intersection of Main Street and Brazeau Avenue.

Another item from the Oconto WIGenWeb site stated “The stellar attraction the following year [1902] – outdrawing even the trained lions, baseball games, and acrobats – was an automobile of the Lucia Cycle Company which ran an exhibition mile during intermission in the horse racing events.”

Then I found a book “Just Packards” by Angelo Van Boggart.  In Chapter 14 “Packerland’s Plentiful Packard Dealerships” author Richard Jansen states:

“The story starts with A. J. Lucia, who had a bicycle shop in Green Bay, and his brother, Howard, who had a similar shop in Oconto,Wis.  They combined forces and formed the Lucia Brothers Motor Car Co. in 1901, and they delivered the first car in Green Bay, a two-cylinder Duryea.  Over the years, the brothers handled Buick, Dodge, Duryea, Franklin, Hudson, Pope, Stevens, Thomas Flyer and the Waverly electric.

In 1921, the dealership became the exclusive dealer for Packard, and by 1934, its territory included 12 Wisconsin counties and seven Michigan counties.  Despite the brothers’ large area, it wasn’t big enough to keep the brothers in business through the Depression, so after 1934, the Lucia Brothers dealership was no more.”

So another business in Oconto is documented.  If you know the story of any please share it with our membership.