Seppala’s Cottages

Arvid with musky at Rest Lake house (Koller Park in background) late 1940s

Finnish immigrants, Arvid and Vienna Seppala, owned and operated Seppala’s Cottages on Rest Lake. According to a map in the 1959 Manitowish Waters Chamber booklet, the location of these cottages was in the general area of Ilg Road, east of the Rest Lake dam. 

Arvid lived on Rest Lake, current address 13828 Ilg Road (Long’s). He was a mason and a guide. He would troll with silver spoon tackle and row all around Rest Lake. A frequent customer of his was Mr. Corson (owned what is now Murphy’s, 6014 Zephyr Point Lane). Arvid was in charge of the timbers at the dam to control the lake level; he went through the dam twice!

Both Arvid and Vienna moved to the United States in their early adulthood, marrying in 1932. They moved to the Manitowish Waters area, where they resided until 1958 when they moved to Ironwood, Michigan.

Arvid Seppalla with beaver pelts c1930