USA > Wisconsin > Racine County > Racine > Racine, belle city of the lakes, and Racine County, Wisconsin : a record of settlement, organization, progress and achievement, Vol. I > Part 15
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The Burlington Gas Company was established in 1907. The officers in 1916 were: H. A. Runkel, president; W. H. Bushman, secretary; Edward F. Rakow, manager. The company has a modern plant, about twelve miles of mains, and is now operated in connection with the Wisconsin Gas & Electric Company.
The postoffice previously mentioned as having been estab- lished in the early part of 1837, under the name of Foxville, has developed until the receipts for the fiscal year ending on June 30, 1916, amounted to $15,515.68. Free city delivery was introduced on June 15, 1908. Besides the postmaster and assistant post- master, the office now employs three city carriers, one parcels post carrier, six rural carriers, one substitute carrier, five clerks and one substitute clerk, or nineteen persons in all. The Burling- ton office is also the source of a star mail route, which carries mail to the postoffices at Rochester and Waterford. Congress recently made an appropriation of $72,000 for a new postoffice building.
Among the Burlington manufacturing interests are a brass foundry, a large veneer and basket works, a blanket factory which has recently established a branch in Chicago, brick and tile works, a condensed milk plant, a vending machine factory, and a number of smaller concerns, such as cigar factories, etc. The city has well paved streets, good sidewalks, a number of fine churches, a good public school system, two banks, two weekly newspapers, a telephone exchange, good hotels, an opera house, a Business
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Men's Association, and a number of cozy homes. The popula- tion in 1910 was 3,212, an increase of 686 during the preceding decade, and in 1915 the assessed valuation of the property was $4,230,848.
CALDWELL PRAIRIE
Old maps of Racine County show a postoffice by this name in the northwest corner of the county, located in Section 5, Town- ship 4, Range 19. It took its name from JJoseph and Tyler Cald- well, who settled there in the spring of 1836. Caldwell Prairie was never platted as a town and the postoffice has long since been discontinued. The people living in that section now receive mail by rural free delivery.
CALEDONIA
A few miles north of Racine, on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, is the little Vilage of Caledonia, in the township of the same name. It was never officially platted and was formerly known as "Stern's Crossing." Polk's Gazetteer of Wisconsin for 1915 gives the principal business interests of Caledonia as two general stores, a coal vard, a harness shop and the express office. The postoffice has three rural routes, which supply the surround- ing country with mail daily.
CORLISS
The incorporated Village of Corliss is situated in the western part of Mount Pleasant Township, seven miles west of Racine, at the crossing of two divisions of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad. It was formerly known as "Western Union Junction." The village was surveyed by Samuel D. Austin on August 13, 1901, for the Brown Corliss Engine Company of Mil- waukee, of which Julius Wechselberg was president and W. S. Whiting was secretary. Three days later the plat was filed in the office of the register of deeds under the name of "Corliss." The company built a large factory for the manufacture of Corliss engines, but after a time reverses came and the works were closed.
On July 20, 1907, a new survey of the village was made by T. H. Knight, county surveyor, and on September 14, 1907, a petition was filed in the circuit court asking for the incorporation of Corliss. An election was ordered for October 28, 1907, at which 182 voters expressed themselves in favor of the incorporation and only three votes were cast in the negative. The court then issued
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the order declaring Corliss to be an incorporated village, accord- ing to the laws of the state.
Corliss has gas, electric light, a good system of waterworks, a bank, two hotels, two physicians, several general stores and small shops, a public school and a nursery. Being located at the junetion of two lines of one of the country's great railway sys- tems, the shipping facilities are unsurpassed by any village of its size. In 1910 the population was 525, and in 1915 the property was valned for taxes at $683,630.
DOVER
This is a flag station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, twenty-one miles west of Racine and in the township of the same name. It was laid out by Captain John T. Trowbridge, the first settler in Dover Township, and was first known as "Brighton." Captain Trowbridge was the first postmaster. Subsequently the name was changed to Dover, which is still the name used by the railroad company, but the postoffice has been changed to Rosewood. Some grain and live stock are shipped from Dover, which is its greatest business activity.
FRANKSVILLE
Located in the southwest quarter of Section 33, Township 4, Range 22, is the little Village of Franksville, a station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, seven miles from Ra- eine. It was surveyed by S. G. Knight in April, 1874, for Daniel B. Rork and H. B. Roberts, and the plat was filed with the register of deeds on the 25th of May following. Franksville has a postoffice, express and telegraph offices, a telephone exchange, a hotel, a blacksmith and wagon repair shop, and manufactures cement blocks, sauer kraut and drain tile. There are also two general stores and some smaller business establishments. The Wisconsin Gazetteer for 1915 gives the population as 180.
GATLIFF
This place can hardly be called a village. It is a small station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad about three and a half miles west of Racine, established there for the accommoda- tion of persons visiting the Racine County Insane Asylum, which is located a short distance south of the station.
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HONEY CREEK
Honey Creek is a village on the Wisconsin Central Railroad on the west line of Rochester Township. The greater part of the village is in Walworth County; the bank, postoffice and sev- eral of the leading business concerns being west of the line divid- ing the two counties. William Child made the survey of Honey Creek on September 14, 1895, for Benjamin and Esther S. Heme- bangh, Charles Babcock, Georgiana Pront and Frank Baldwin, and on October 5, 1895, a plat of that part of the town lying in Racine County was filed in the office of the register of deeds. While not a large place, it is a trading and shipping point of con- siderable importance for the people in the western part of Racine and the eastern part of Walworth County.
HORLICKSVILLE
About two miles northwest of the City of Racine, in Mount Pleasant Township and on the line of the Chicago & Milwaukee Electric Railway, is the little hamlet of Horlicksville. It was never regularly surveyed and platted, but has grown up near the Rapids of the Root River, where one of the earliest settlements in Racine County was established. The place takes its name from the Horlick family, several members of which live in the vicinity. The well known Horliek malted milk is made here. There is a general store and a few minor concerns, but the principal busi- ness is the operating of the stone crushers in the quarries along the Root River.
HUSHER
On the line between Sections 9 and 10, Township 4, Range 22, in Caledonia Township, is the unofficial Village of Husher. It is one of those neighborhood trading posts and rallying centers that grow up in nearly every county of the Union and has no special history.
IVES GROVE
One of the early settlements of Racine County was made at Ives Grove in the summer of 1835 by JJoseph Call. The Grove is situated in the eastern part of Yorkville Township, in Section 12. Township 3, Range 21, on the road leading from Racine to Roch- ester. In the latter part of 1836 or early in 1837, Joseph Call sold his claim to Marshall M. Strong and Stephen N. Ives, who in turn sold it to Roland Ives and soon after that a postoffice
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was established there and given the name of "Ives Grove," by which the place has ever since been known. The postoffice has been discontinued and the inhabitants now receive mail by rural carrier from Union Grove.
IVES STATION =
Ives Station, or "Ives," as it is commonly called, is on the line of the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, three miles north of Racine, in Caledonia Township. On November 23, 1896, the village was surveyed and platted by Harry I. Orwig for W. K. Cook, George Baldwin, John O'Laughlin and Benjamin Barrett, and the plat was filed with the register of deeds on December 5. 1896. At that time and for some years afterward a large stone crushing business was conducted here, but in recent years Ives has found a formidable competitor in that line in Horlicksville, with the result that it has lost some of its former activity.
KANSASVILLE
This little village is located in the southern part of Dover Township, on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad, eighteen miles west of Racine. No plat of the village was ever filed with the register of deeds. Among the early settlers in this part of the county were Samuel Ormiston, James Ballack, Aaron Putnam and the MeKeys. Kansasville grew up after the railroad was built and received its name when the postoffice was estab- lished there a little later. It now has a general store, a hotel, a creamery, a blacksmith and wagon repair shop, a public school, telegraph and express offices, a Congregational Church, and some other institutions. The Wisconsin Gazetteer for 1915 gives the population as 300, but this is probably too high an estimate. From the postoffice two rural routes supply daily mail to the surround- ing country. Considerable quantities of grain and live stock are shipped from this point.
KILBOURNVILLE
In Section 18, near the west line of Caledonia Township, is the little hamlet of Kilbournville, where a postoffice under that name was established in early days. The office was discontinued some years ago and mail is now delivered by rural carrier from Caledonia, a mile and a half east, which is the nearest railroad station. A church, a public school and a general store, with a few scattering dwellings, are about all that is left of Kilbournville.
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SCENES IN HORLICK PARK
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KNEELAND
This is another postoffice that was discontinued when the rural free delivery system was inaugurated. It is situated in the west side of Section 10, in Raymond Township, a short distance west of the South Fork of the Root River. The principal busi- ness enterprises are a general store and a blacksmith shop. Mail now comes daily by rural carrier from the postoffice at Caledonia.
LAMBERTON
In the northeast corner of Caledonia Township, near the county line and on the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad, is the rural postoffice of Lamberton, so named from one of the early settlers in that part of the county, William E. Lamberton, who was for many years one of the prominent citizens of Racine County. As a village, Lamberton is insignificant and about its only importance is the postoffice.
LINWOOD
On the Root River, in Section 23, Township 4, Range 22, is a thickly settled neighborhood upon which has been conferred the name of "Linwood." It has never been platted as a village and a public school near the line between Sections 23 and 26 is the only institution worthy of mention.
NORTH CAPE
The rural Post-Village of North Cape is situated near the western boundary of Raymond Township, in Section 30, Township 4, Range 21. Although about seven miles from Union Grove, the nearest railroad station, North Cape is a place of considerable business activity. It has a money order postoffice, telephone connection with the surrounding towns, a flour mill, a general store, a tile factory, a physician, a dealer in agricultural imple- ments, a public school, Methodist and Lutheran Churches and a population of about 100. North Cape has furnished four members of the State Legislature - Knud Adland, Hiram L. Gilmore, Patrick G. Cheves and Adam Apple. Mr. Apple afterward served also in the State Senate.
NORTH RACINE
The Town of North Racine was surveyed and platted by Edward F. Leidel on September 21, 1905, for the Great Northern Realty Company and the plat was filed the same day it was com-
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pleted - September 21, 1905. It shows a town of some preten- sions, consisting of twenty-three blocks and a total of 839 lots, located in Sections 15, 16, 21 and 22, in Caledonia Township, but as the basis of its establishment was speenlation it has not come up to the expectations of its founders.
RAYMOND CENTER
In the settlement of Raymond Township a little village grew up in the exact center, which in time became known as "Raymond Center." A postoffice was established there in the late '30s or early '40s by the name of "Raymond" and the word "Center" was finally dropped. For some time it was a trading point for the people of the township, but when the postoffice was discon- tinned most of the business interests sought new locations. A Congregational Church was established here at an early date and the old church and school house still mark the site of "Ray- mond Center" after the greater part of its glory has departed. Among the early settlers were Stephen O. Bennett, Joseph Nel- son and Thomas West, all of whom afterward represented Racine County in the State Legislature.
ROCHESTER
The incorporated Village of Rochester, in the Township of the same name, is pleasantly situated on the Fox River, twenty- three miles west of Racine and four miles east of Honey Creek, which is the most convenient railroad station. Franklin Hathe- way, in his "Reminiscences," published in Volunne XV of the Wisconsin Historical Collections, says his uncle, Joshua Hathe- way, who was one of the government surveyors in Racine and Kenosha Counties, was the first to select this place as a townsite. In his survey he became acquainted with a Potawatomi Indian who informed him that the word Waukesha was the Potawatomi for "Fox." When the surveying party reached the banks of the Fox River at the mouth of the Muskego Creek, Mr. Hatheway was so impressed with the site and the possibilities of water power that he decided to locate a town there at some future time. In this project he was joined by Mr. Cox and Mr. Myers, two others of the surveying party. Mr. Hlatheway then took his hatchet and blazed an oak tree, and upon the white surface of the wood wrote the word "Wankeeshah," the name selected for the future city. He afterward claimed that this was the first
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time that word was ever written in English. That was early in 1836.
Unknown to Hatheway, Cox and Myers, Levi Godfrey and John Wade had visited the same spot and selected elaims in the fall of 1835. In 1836 Mr. Godfrey brought his family to the claim he had selected and began housekeeping in a shanty six- teen feet square and so low that he had to stoop in entering the doorway. A little later he built a larger log house and opened a tavern, which became historie as the place where the conven- tion was held that nominated Captain Gilbert Knapp for the Legislature in the fall of 1836. Godfrey's original shanty was the first structure erected by a white man within the present village limits.
In 1837 Mr. Godfrey enlarged his tavern, Alonzo Snow opened a general store, and Martin C. Whitman built a saw-mill. The settlement was then known as the "Upper Forks." to distin- guish it from the one at the mouth of the White River, which was called the "Lower Forks" (now Burlington). Early in the fall of 1839, A. W. Doolittle, the first county surveyor of Racine County, was employed by the owners of the land at the "Upper Forks" to survey and lay out a town. As most of the proprie-
tors - Martin C. Whitman. Levi Godfrey, Obed and Hiland Hurlburt and Philo Belden - were from Western New York, they selected the name "Rochester" for their town, and the plat was filed with the register of deeds in October, 1839. Henry Mvgatt, Elias Smith, David Anderson, Consider Heath and Mar- garet A. Cox, who owned some of the adjoining lands, filed the plat of their addition on June 16, 1840.
Mary, daughter of Levi Godfrey, was the first white child born in Rochester. The first marriage was that of John Cole and a Miss Fowler, which was solemnized in the fall of 1836. Mr. Cole walked to Racine for his license, which cost him four dollars. Mrs. John Wade, who died in February, 1837, was the first death. The first school house was built in 1840 and the first teacher was a daughter of Dr. E. G. Dver, of Burlington. Peter Campbell built the first brick house, in which he conducted the "Union Hotel" until his death in 1856.
A man named Ford started an iron foundry on a small scale near Martin Whitman's saw-mill. When the mill was destroyed by fire in 1839 the foundry was slightly damaged. Philo Belden
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then built a mill on the Muskego and in 1842 added a flour mill. Two years later he bought out Mr. Ford and added the foundry to his business. A little later Richard established a wagon fac- tory, which did a good business for several years, but finally ceased operations.
On June 27, 1912, a petition, signed by Thomas Edwards, H. C. Wood, J. E. Jackson and others, was filed in the circuit court, praying for the incorporation of Rochester. A census previously taken showed a population of over one hundred and fifty, as required by law. Judge Belden granted the petition. provided a majority of the citizens were in favor of incorporating, and ordered an election to give the voters an opportunity to ex- press themselves. J. E. Jackson, George Ela and A. A. Burgess were appointed inspectors to conduet the election, which was held on August 20, 1912. The proposition to incorporate was car- ried by a vote of 41 to 36, and under the order of June 27th Rochester was declared an incorporated village.
The principal business interests of Rochester are the flour mill, two general stores, the hotel, a creamery, a blacksmith and wagon shop, and a florist. There is a good public school building and the usual number of small shops to be found in villages of this class. According to the Wisconsin Gazetteer for 1915, the population is estimated at 256, and the same year the property of the village was valued for taxation at $181,992.
SYLVANIA
This is a small railway station on the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad in the southeastern part of Yorkville Township, ten miles west of Racine. It was formerly known as Windsor Station. A few dwellings in the immediate neighborhood and the little station building constitute the entire village.
TABOR
When the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad was built be- tween Chicago and Milwaukee, a station was established in Cale- donia Township, about five miles north of Racine, and given the name of "Tabor." For some time it was a trading and shipping point of some importance, but was gradually outstripped by the adjacent and all that is left is the name on the map and recollec- tions of its former prestige.
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THOMPSONVILLE
On the line between Caledonia and Raymond Townships, about ten miles northwest of Racine, is the old Village of Thomp- sonville, so named after one of the early settlers in that locality. Located at the junction of three highways, it is easy of access and in early days was the chief trading point for the farmers in that section of the county. Then came the railroads, which diverted business to other points and Thompsonville began to decline. The postoffice there was discontinued and mail is now brought daily by carrier from the postoffice at Franksville. A general store, a blacksmith shop and a creamery are now the principal business enterprises.
UNION CHURCH
About a mile and a half southwest of Wind Lake, in the western part of Norway Township and on the road leading to Waterford, old maps of Racine County show "Union Church." It was never platted and, strictly speaking, is not a town or village. The Norwegian immigrants who settled this township were mostly Lutherans, but as settlers of different religious views came in they all joined together in the erection of a building that should be free to every denomination. A settlement grew up about the church and a postoffice was established there under the name of "Union Church." The postoffice has been discontinued for years, and as the several denominations grew stronger each built a house of worship of its own. A few years more of progress and the old Union Church settlement will have been forgotten.
UNION GROVE
The incorporated Village of Union Grove is located in the southwestern part of Yorkville Township, on the Chicago, Mil- waukee & St. Paul Railway, fifteen miles west of Racine. The first settler here was a man named Dunham, who built a frame house on what is now Main Street. The second house was built by William H. Reid. Mr. Dunham remained but a short time, when he sold out to P. P. Faber, who opened the first store about the time the railroad was built. William H. Reid was also en- gaged in merchandising and was one of the early postmasters. The third house in the village was built by John Roche, who occupied part of it as a shoemaker's shop, being the first to ply that trade in Union Grove. Other early settlers were Dr. A. P.
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Adams, who was the first physician, James Russell, S. H. Skewes, J. IT. Hitchcock, Erasmus D. Caldwell, Gideon Morey, Richard Goldsworthy and William C. Bartlett.
On January 26, 1856, a mass meeting of the citizens was held and an association formed for the purpose of laving out a town. Of this association Dr. A. P. Adams was president; James Rus- sell, vice-president; Gideon Morey, secretary, and S. II. Skewes, treasurer and sales agent. C. M. Sprague was employed to make a survey and plat and he completed his work on February 21, 1856. On March 18, 1856, the Union Grove Company was incor- porated by act of the Legislature, with an authorized capital stock of $50,000. A member of lots were sold by Mr. Skewes and Union Grove began "to put on airs," as one of the residents expressed it at the time.
For some reason the survey made by Mr. Spragne was not satisfactory and in the summer of 1859 Sayrs G. Knight was employed to make a new plat, which was filed in the office of the register of deeds on August 27, 1859. Since then the growth of the village has been steady and in 1910 the population was 616, an increase of 96 during the preceding decade.
Union Grove has been incorporated for about twenty years. It has waterworks, electric light, a telephone exchange, telegraph and express offices, a bank, a flon mill, a weekly newspaper (the Enterprise), an opera house, a large pickling works, a branch of the Wisconsin-Pennsylvania Oil Company, a number of well stocked mercantile establishments, a brick factory, a creamery, a hotel, and a number of neat residences. The Old Settlers' Park is located about half a mile south of the village, where reunions are held annually. In 1915 the property was valued for taxation at $621,762. A great deal of grain and live stock are shipped.
WATERFORD
The Village of Waterford is situated in the southeast corner of the township of the same name, on the Fox River and twenty- three miles west of Racine. The first settlers were Sammel S. Chapman and Levi Barnes, who came in the year 1836 and made claims about where the village now stands. Mr. Chapman was from Indiana and after locating his claim so it would cover the water power in the Fox River went back to that state for his family. He became a permanent resident in 1838. Not far be-
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hind Chapman and Barnes came a man named Beebe, who laid claim to the water power, built a shanty near the river and tried to hold it, but Chapman and Barnes bought him off and erected a saw-mill. The next year they built a grist mill with two run of buhrs, one for wheat and the other for corn. This mill was sold in 1848 to Andrew B. Jones, who ran it for about six years, when he removed to Janesville. The first house within the pres- net village limits was erected by Ephraim Barnes. Quite a mim- ber of innnigrants came to this part of the county during the years 1838 and 1839, and in the latter year S. C. Kress opened the first tavern. Six years later he erected the "Waterford House." a much larger building, which was one of the first brick structures in the village.
The first white child born in Waterford was Helen, daugh- ter of Samuel E. Chapman. She was born in 1838, soon after the arrival of the family from Indiana. The first death was that of an infant son of Hiram Barnes, in the winter of 1837-38. The first inhabitant to get married was Ira A. Rice, who went to Kenosha (then Southport) for his bride in 1837. A. B. Jones was the first merchant, and the first school was taught in 1840 by a Miss Caldwell. The postoffice was established in 1843, with Samuel C. Russ as the first postmaster. Mail was then carried by stage from Kenosha to Janesville and the office at Waterford received mail from the east and west on alternate days. There is now a daily mail stage from Burlington.
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