Buffalo County, Wisconsin - Chapter 13: Modern Cities and Villages, 1919

Buffalo County has four incorporated cities, Alma, Fountain City, Mondovi and Buffalo City, and one incorporated village, Cochrane. Nelson, Gilmanton and Modena are also flourishing settlements, while scattered throughout the county are many small hamlets and community centers of more or less importance. The early history of the important points has been told in earlier chapters.

Mondovi, the largest city in Buffalo County, is pleasantly situated at the terminus of the Mondovi-Fairchild branch of the Chicago & North- / western Railway. Ford Creek from the east and Whelan Creek from the north, here join and form Mirror Lake, which finds its outlet into Beef River through a short stream called Mill Creek. The business section is on a broad plateau west of the creek, while the station and elevators are east of it.

Founded by Americans from the eastern states, the city has the air of a New England or New York town, with its broad streets, its magnifi¬ cent shade trees, and its sightly homes surrounded by beautiful lawns and flowering shrubbery.

Excellent opportunities for an education are provided by the public schools, consisting of kindergarten, graded school and high school, and by the Sacred Heart Parochial School taught by the Sisters of St. Francis. The religious life of the community is cared for by the Methodist Episcopal, Catholic, Congregational, Norwegian Lutheran, German Lutheran and Evangelical churches.

Among the fraternities, the Masons, the Eastern Star, the G. A. R., the Women's Relief Corps, the Knights of Pythias, the Woodmen, the Royal Neighbors, the Beavers, the Knights and Ladies of the Maccabees, the Yeomen and the Equitable Fraternal Union.

There are two mills, the Ruseling Mill and the Lockwood Roller Mills ; two creameries, the Farmers' Co-operative Creamery and the Dairyman's Association; a canning factory, the Mondovi Co-operative Canning Co.; three lumber companies, the Mondovi Lumber Co., the O. & N. Lumber Co., and Walter Walsh ; a cement block factory, several stock buying firms and bridge contractors, and two elevators, the Mondovi Equity Exchange and the Badger Grain Co.; a first class hotel, four garages, and a wagon maker.

There is a good opera house and public hall, the Bijou ; a well-equipped hospital; two newspapers, the Buffalo County News and the Mondovi Her¬ ald ; two banks, the First National and the Mondovi State Bank ; four law offices and two physicians.

The municipality has a city hall, a fire department, a waterworks system supplied by a flowing well and a reservoir, and there is also an ex¬ cellent sewer system. Electricity is furnished by the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light & Power Co. The city owns the grounds where the annual county fairs are held.

The first school in the vicinity of Mondovi was taught in 1857, by Mrs. George Sprague in a board shanty. The district about 1860 erected a log schoolhouse about a mile and a half south of the present city. In 1871, a building was erected at a cost of about $3,000, on the site of the present high school building. This was burned in the winter of 1890-91, and in the fall of 1891, the present high school building was erected at a cost of $14,000. The kindergarten building was erected in 1900, and the graded school building in 1905. The first high school class, consisting of Mabel Farrington, Eva Fisher and Anna Smith, was graduated in 1890. The principals have been A. M. Locker, Hans Hanson, Henry Kneipe, George M. McGregor, Fred Thomas, James Nesbit, W. S. Freeman, W. T. Ream, P. T. Neverman, D. A. Schwartz and C. W. Dodge.

The Mondovi Co-operative Canning Co. was organized April 4, 1914, with an authorized capital of $25,000 and a paid-up capital of $13,500. The original officers and directors were: Henry Hurtley (president), Louis Haunschild (vice president), Jacob Canar (treasurer), Edward Ruplinger (secretary), James Dillon, Louis Whitworth, Ole J. Ward, Frank Koepp and Joseph Warren. Previous to this there had been an earlier effort which did not materialize. At once upon organization in 1914, Fred H. Bertschy, the manager, started work, and by September, the factory was erected, and started operations canning corn. In 1915 facilities were added for canning stringless beans, and a warehouse erected. After the season of 1916, Mr. Bertschy left and was followed by Philip Koch, who has since been in charge as superintendent and manager. The original officers are still serving, with the exception that Ole J. Ward has succeeded Jacob Canar as treas¬ urer, and William Linse has been added to the list of directors. The fac¬ tory has a large output, and cans the Mondovi and Kindergarten brand of . com, and the Kindergarten brand of beans.

Alma, the county seat of Buffalo County, is located on a narrow strip of land between the Mississippi River and the towering bluffs which form its background. The business street extends parallel to the river at about the level of the old steamboat landing, while the residence street, lined with beautiful homes and substantial public buildings, is several rods higher, but also parallel to the river. A series of cement steps constructed by the city connects the two streets, and these steps, together with the moss-grown sluice ways for surplus water, and the terraced walls connected with many of the private residences and gardens, add greatly to the picturesque ap¬ pearance of the village.

Settled in the forties, and then known as Twelve Mile Bluff, the place began to assume the aspects of a village in the middle fifties, and since then the growth has been of a gradual nature, hastened somewhat by the establishment of the county seat here in 1861, and the Beef Slough rafting operations from 1867 to 1889.

Alma was incorporated as a village in 1868. Conrad Moser, Jr., was the first president, J. J. Senn the first clerk, Jacob Wirth the first treas¬ urer, and the first trustees were William Ehrich, John A. Tester, Fred Laue and William Brigaboos. The city was incorporated in 1885. The first mayor was Martin Polin; the first clerk John H. White; the first treasurer, Charles Neumeister. Fred Laue is the present mayor. The aldermen from the first ward are H. B. Niehaus, Christ Buhman and John Meili; from the second ward, R. C. Achenbach, W. H. Beneke and C. H. Kaste; from the third ward, Frank Harry, Christ Van Wald and William Henninger. The treasurer is T. S. Saby. The clerk, H. F. Ibach, is with the colors, and his place is being taken by S. P. Ibach.

Fire protection was furnished in the early days by a bucket brigade. In 1870 a hook and ladder company was organized. Six years later a hand engine was purchased and an engine company organized. Later a Silsby engine was in use until the present waterworks were established in 1912.

The waterworks are justly a matter of pride to the people of the city, and are embodied in what is known as the Ludlow system. Water is pumped from wells to the reservoir on the bluff back of the city, at an elevation of 175 feet, thus giving an eighty-pound pressure. This provides the principal streets with water for domestic use and fire protection, hy¬ drants being located at convenient points throughout the city. The con¬ struction committee consisted of J. S. Tenny, J. A. Ganz and Peter A. Turton, Mr. Tenny at that time being the mayor and Mr. Turton the clerk.

Electric light service has been provided for the past twenty-five years, the first contract for street lighting having been let to George A. Kurtz, December 5, 1893. Mr. Kurtz sold to Dr. George Kempter. Later R. M. Smith, the present manager, organized a stock company. Of this company he gradually acquired the stock, and in 1918 sold to the Wisconsin-Minnesota Light & Power Co.

In addition to its excellent public school system, Alma has the Buffalo County Training School for Teachers, established in 1902. Four churches are represented here, the Swiss Reformed, the Evangelical Association, the German Lutheran and the Catholic. Christian Science services are also held. Among the fraternities may be mentioned the Blue Lodge and East¬ ern Star of the Masons, the Knights of Pythias, the Modern Woodmen, the Woodmen of the World, the Royal Neighbors and the Beavers. The people have always taken a deep interest in music, and the Alma Concert Band

There are several natural parks in the vicinity of Alma. Back of the city, the picturesque bluff is owned by E. F. Ganz, and a private roadway winds through the wood land to its top, a short distance back from which his home is located. At the top of the bluff, Mr. Ganz has installed a flag pole which can be seen for many miles up and down the river.

Among the business and professional activities of Alma may be men¬ tioned the newspaper, two banks, five hotels, three garages, a brewery, six grocery stores, two boot and shoe stores, a lumber yard, an oil station, two coal and wood establishments, a wiring and electric light supply house, one grain elevator, one grain and produce warehouse, two millinery estab¬ lishments, three hardware stores, three general stores, two agricultural implement dealers, two blacksmiths, eight saloons, one livery stable, one stock yard, one flour and feed establishment, one drug store, one fur estab¬ lishment, one tailor shop, and an investment company, as well as a physi¬ cian, an attorney, a photographer and two real estate dealers.

The first school in Alma was taught in 1856, by Dr. John Ehing, a grandfather of Otto F. and William D. Ehing, proprietors of the Union Hotel. He received his certificate from Philip Kraft, town superintendent of schools, and taught in the house which, with alterations, is now occupied by Darwin Ulrich. A school building was erected in 1868. This was aban¬ doned in 1867 when the present school was erected on the present site, the old school building being converted into a jail. The school building has been modernized from time to time, and is now well equipped with modern conveniences and appliances. The principal, H. H. Lubenberg, has for many years past been connected with the Buffalo County Training School.

Fountain City, the first permanent settlement in Buffalo County, is attractively situated on the banks of the Mississippi, under the shade of the overhanging bluffs. Many of the houses and gardens are located on terraces built into the sides of the bluffs, giving to the place a picturesque¬ ness which has attracted the admiration of travelers from near and far.

The city is incorporated, has good churches and schools, good fire pro¬ tection, pure water from artesian wells, some sightly buildings, and a good representation of business concerns. Social life is not neglected, and espe¬ cial attention has been paid to musical affairs. For several years it has been the center of government improvements on the river in this vicinity, and this has added to its business importance.

The Parish of the Immaculate Conception also maintains an excellent parochial school housed in a suitable brick building of two stories. The usual eight grades of study are maintained.

Situated at the outlet of one of the richest farming countries in west¬ ern Wisconsin, the city is unusually well supplied with business houses. It has a bank, a newspaper, three good hotels, a mill, an elevator, a brewery, a lumber yard, two planing mills, two garages, a foundry and machine shop, a cigar factory, three agricultural implement dealers, a bottling works, a shoemaker, a blacksmith, a plumber, two contractors and builders, a pho¬ tographer, a drug store, a meat market, a milliner, three clothing 'stores, two hardware stores, a grocery and a bakery and confectionery store. The professions are represented by a physician, a lawyer and a dentist.

The place continued as a village until April, 1889, when it was incor¬ porated as a city. Charles R. Bechman was the first president, H. Roettiger was first treasurer and Henry Friedel the first assessor. From the first ward the officers were : Alderman for three years, A. Dressendorfer ; alderman for two years, M. Feuerhak; alderman for one year, William Schuster; county supervisor, George Schwoebel; justice of the peace, F. Roettiger ; constable, John Spehn. From the second ward the officers were : Alderman for three years, William Heck; alderman for two years, F. H. Bitter; officer for one year, Jacob Stoll; county supervisor, John Schmitz; justice of the peace, R. W. Feigel; constable, M. Fiedler.' The present mayor is Dr. Paul J. Reinhardt, the clerk is Paul Fugina, the treasurer is Paul Rudiger, while the aldermen are Samuel Schaffner, William Wild and Valentine Thoeny from the first ward and Romeo Kaste, Alexander Bachler and Emil Florin from the second ward.

A year after the village was incorporated, fire protection had its origin. December 4, 1871, Liberty No. 1 was organized as the nucleus of the fire department, with Fred Roettiger as chief and Fred Baechler as assistant, with sixty members composed of the leading citizens of the village. The equipment was increased from time to time and in January, 1893, an engine was purchased from the Ahrens Fire Steamer Co. The city is now well equipped for fighting fire. The water is furnished from artesian wells. Electric light service dates from January, 1889, when Henry and Frederick Roettiger installed a plant at their planing mill. These gentlemen still hold the franchise, but the current is furnished by the Wisconsin & Minne¬ sota Light & Power Co. The city hall, a brick structure erected in 1879, still proves adequate for its purpose, and public gatherings are held in the Concordia Hall.

Education has been an important factor in the development of Foun¬ tain City. As early as the winter of 1854-55 school was taught in a log house owned by John Buehler, the teacher being Mrs. J. R. Penny. The first schoolhouse was built of brick by Henry Teckenburg in 1859. A new schoolhouse was erected in 1867 at a cost of some $7,000. The present school is a substantial brick building of six rooms, modern in every respect. It was built in 1900, the officers of the board at that time being Martin Fugina, president ; Charles Prussing, clerk ; and F. J. Bohri, treasurer ; the cost with equipment being $15,000. There are seven teachers including the principal, and aside from the usual graded and high school studies, a major commercial course is maintained.

When the Chicago, Burlington & Northern was opened in 1886, the advantages of a railroad station near to Buffalo City were apparent. Con¬ sequently the railroad company bought a tract of land on the present site of Cochrane, and transferred it to the St. Paul Land Co., a co-ordinate or¬ ganization. This company platted the village of Cochrane and began selling lots.

The first purchasers were J. L. and G. M. Rohrer, who had been farm¬ ing in the vicinity, and saw their opportunity of embarking in the hardware trade in the new village. They at once erected a building on the corner where G. M. Rohrer's large business house now stands, and started in busi¬ ness. At the same time J. B. Hofer bought the corner opposite, and erected what is now the Herold Hotel. J. G. Runkel erected a general store the same year. Paul Huefner erected a warehouse. The Kemp store was opened in 1887. J. P. Schnug erected a general store in 1888. About the same time, H. E. Kochenderfer started a blacksmith shop. Fred Laue, of Alma, opened a lumber yard with Adolph Buecker as manager. With this beginning, the village has enjoyed a substantial growth.

For some ten years after the village was started the old one-room schoolhouse continued to do service. Then a second room was added. The present modern brick school building of four rooms was erected in 1915 at a cost of some $18,000. It covers ten grades of study and is doing excellent work.

The village has two churches. The Methodist Episcopal church is a substantial wooden structure erected in 1893. Previous to its erection, the Methodists of this vicinity attended service at Buffalo City. In 1901 the German Lutheran people erected a brick veneer church of ample propor¬ tions, and in 1914 put up a parsonage of the same material. Three lodges are represented here: Rose Valley Camp, No. 883, M. W. A., White Rose Camp, No. 1220, Royal Neighbors of America, and Oak Leaf Council, No. 797, Yeoman of America.

was incorporated by the local business men, and the manufacturing started. It did not, however, prove the success anticipated, and the project was abandoned. A co-operative cheese factory was erected soon after the vil¬ lage was started. Many years afterward it was replaced by the present creamery. The Pepin Pickle Co. of Winona maintains a pickling station here, and makes quite extensive shipments.

The village has a newspaper, a bank, two hotels, two general stores, a lumber yard, an elevator, a concrete block factory, two hardware stores, one of which has furniture and undertaking departments, two agricultural implement establishments, one of which deals also in live stock and the other in automobiles, a garage, a meat market, a harness store, a jewelry store, a livery and draying establishment, a wall paper dealer, a blacksmith and machine shop, a barber, a fur dealer, a contractor and builder, a phy¬ sician, a dentist and an attorney, and two insurance men, one of whom also deals in real estate. Many of the buildings which house these various activities are sightly structures of brick, pebble dash or cement blocks.

Cochrane was incorporated as a village in 1910. The first president was G. M. Rohrer, the first clerk was John Meili, the first trustees were J. B. Hofer, Fred Kurtsweg, H. E. Kochenderfer, Ferdinand Hansen, A. R. Molink and J. L. Rohrer. G. M. Rohrer is still the president. D. H. Herold is the clerk. The trustees are A. H. Rohrer, Frank Gahnz, Ferdinand Hansen, R. C. Heuer, John G. Thoma and Charles A. Siewert.

There are some excellent village improvements. A fire in 1911 re¬ sulted in the organization of a volunteer fire department the following year. The apparatus is housed in the village hall, a wooden structure erected in 1911. In 1912 the village was bonded for $7,000 and a water¬ works system installed. The reservoir is located 300 feet above the level of the village and affords ninety pounds pressure for fire protection. Prep¬ arations are being made for the installation of an electric lights system by the Wisconsin & Minnesota Power Co. In 1916 the main streets were macadamized, and these streets are also lined with cement walks. The Kockwelp Park is a two-acres natural park west of the school grounds, in charge of the Cochrane Park Club organized in 1917. The people of Coch¬ rane and vicinity are much interested in music. The Excelsior Band was organized as early as 1890. In 1892 it was reorganized as the present Fireman's Band. The Cadet Band was organized in 1916.

James Nelson, an Englishman, settled on the Mississippi, at the mouth of the Chippewa, probably in the early forties. He was there in 1844, and the place was already known as Nelson's Landing. At that time Nelson's Landing was a popular stopping place for those who came up the Missis¬ sippi in the winter time along its west bank, and crossed over at the foot of Lake Pepin into the Chippewa Valley for the purpose of visiting the logging camps along the upper river. Although his name was given to the township, the present settlers know nothing of Nelson, where he came from or where he went. For a time a ferry was maintained between Nel¬ son's Landing and Reed's Landing in Minnesota.

Settlers gradually began to come into the town, but the greatest influx came in the middle fifties. With the other early settlers came Jacob Smelzer, George and John Butler and Jacob Gould, who located in the pres¬ ent vicinity of Nelson Village. With the establishment of the ferry and the building of the road across the bottoms, the present site of the village became a natural stopping place for travelers.

In 1884, after the Chicago, Burlington & Northern was surveyed, the village of Nelson was platted around the present site of the depot. But the residents were determined that the village should be established on the terrace,, where the nucleus had already been started. Consequently John Butler erected a frame building and opened a general mercantile estab¬ lishment, which he conducted until 1902. The railroad came in 1886. In that year Fairview was platted, including the present business center of the village of Nelson. The same year an addition was platted to the village of Nelson. With the opening of the railroad, Edmund Geibel erected and opened a store near the station. For a time the rivalry between Fairview on the present site of the business center, and Nelson at the depot con¬ tinued. In 1888, Fairview had a store, a blacksmith shop and several saloons, while Nelson at the station had the depot, coal sheds, warehouses, a store, a hotel and two saloons. But in time the business center grew up in what was then known as Fairview, and the combined village took the name of Nelson.

The village is not incorporated, but is a flourishing hamlet of between 300 and 400 people, nine miles north of Alma, three and a half miles east of Wabasha, and sixteen miles west of Durand. It has a national bank, a two-room brick school built in 1890 ; Union, German Lutheran and Cath¬ olic churches, lodges of the Modern Woodmen, Royal Neighbors and Beavers, electric light service, an elevator, an hotel, two general stores, one grocery and confectionery store, one meat market, one livery, one garage and farm implement establishment combined, one farm implement establishment, two saloons, one barber shop, one blacksmith shop, one real estate dealer, one hardware store and one lumber yard.

Modena is a flourishing village in section 23, Modena township. It has about 100 inhabitants and has German Lutheran, Norwegian Lutheran and Methodist Episcopal churches, a two-room graded school, a Farmers' State Bank, a hotel, a Farmers' Co-operative Creamery, the Modena Roller Mill, two general stores, a garage, an implement dealer, and a blacksmith shop.

Gilmanton is an attractive village with a mill, a creamery, a bank, four general stores, two hardware stores, one drug store, one hotel, a barber shop, two temporary saloons, two garages, and two blacksmith shops. There is a Union church and a new high school. The Modern Woodmen have a hall and the Beavers also have a lodge here.

Buffalo City, the oldest incorporated city in Buffalo County, is the smallest city in Wisconsin. It has no business houses of any nature. There is a city hall and lock-up, a good modern school, German Lutheran and Catholic churches, and a number of pretty residences. A natural grove furnishes a pretty park.

Bluff Siding, located on the Chicago & Northwestern Railway, in Buf¬ falo Township, two miles from Winona, was formerly the site of an exten¬ sive lime-burning industry. Its business activities are now represented by a store, hotel, and two saloons. There is a schoolhouse in the vicinity.

Cream, nine miles east of Alma, in the Little Waumandee Valley, south¬ ern part of Lincoln Township, has a general store conducted by Adam Rettcher, a cheese factory and a saloon. A school and church are also located there.

East Winona is a junction point on the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy and the Green Bay & Western Railways, and is situated in Buffalo Town¬ ship, at the east end of the Burlington bridge.

Herold, five miles east of Alma, in Belvidere Township, is the site of a general store, a blacksmith shop, a school and a Methodist Episcopal church.

Lookout, in section 22, Dover Township, has a general store, of which Leon Larson is the proprietor, a cheese factory, a school and a Norwegian Lutheran church.

Marshland, a junction point on the Green Bay and Northwestern rail¬ ways, is an important shipping point for the fur and fish industries. It is also a center for the marsh draining and land reclaiming enterprise. It contains a store, hotel and two saloons.

Misha Mokwa, situated in the town of Nelson, 15 miles northwest of Alma, contains a general store, conducted by P. M. Jacobson, a blacksmith shop and feedmill.

Praag, fourteen miles east of Alma, in Lincoln Township, is a small community center containing a general store, conducted by Miller & Mattausch, a store and a saloon combined, and a school.

Trevino is a railroad station at the junction of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul and the Chippewa Valley branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul, in Nelson Township, not far from the mouth of the Chippewa.

Waumandee, a small village with a population of about 100, is located on a river of the same name in Waumandee Township, fifteen miles south¬ east of Alma. It contains a general store conducted by Fred W. Wirtenberger, a brick garage, two blacksmiths' shops, the Farmers' State Bank and two saloons. It also has a postoffice, a good modern public school and a German Catholic church with a two-room parochial school building.

Postoffices. Nearly all the neighborhood and community centers had postoffices in former days. The present postoffices are at Alma with three rural routes, Cochrane with two rural routes, Cream with one rural route. Fountain City with four rural routes, Gilmanton with one rural route, Modena with one rural route, Mondovi with seven rural routes, Nelson with two rural routes, and Waumandee with one rural route.

Anchorage in section 30, township 21, range 11 ; Burnside, section 3, township 23, range 13 ; Beef Slough, at Camp No. 1, on Beef Slough ; Cross, section 5, township 19, range 10; Glencoe, section 28, township 21, range 10; Eagle Creek, section 7, township 21, range 11; Eagle Branch, section 36, township 21, range 11; Lookout, at present location of that hamlet; Marshland at the railroad station of that name; Maxville in a store on Maxville Prairie ; Misha Mokwa at the present hamlet of that name ; Mon¬ tana in section 36, township 22, range 11 ; Urne in section 8, township 23, range 12; and Urban, situated in the upper part of Little Waumandee Valley have been discontinued.