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Little Prairie, Wisconsin

32 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1892 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Troy town. It lies in ZIP code area 53120. The Survey maps it on the Little Prairie quadrangle. It stands 955 feet above sea level.

Little Prairie within Walworth County

Topographic sheets covering this place

11 surveys from 32 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

14,241 words on this township

History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Troy Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The Porter families, with their ehildi-en, vere the basis of what was known as the "Porter Settlement,"' near the western central portion of the town. Within the next few years after their arrival, settlers came in very rapidly, among others, there was J'ames Stratton, father of W. J. Stratton, who located on Section 20, in the summer of 1843. His family consisted of his wife and only child. His brother-in-law, Moses Kelloway, had arrived the previous year, and both settled upon the sapie section. Dm-ing the winter of 1843, the first district school established near the settlement was opened near S. B. Chatfleld's house, and the then youthful W. J. Stratton confesses that he has good cause to remember who taught it - John Stewai-t, of La Grange. After the people of the district had used the little log building for educational and religious pm-poses for some seven years, a faction, which may be denominated the aristocratic element, clamored for a frame structure. Their opponents were sturdy, and the last meeting held in the building ended in open warfare. The meeting dispersed, but those who believed that they had outgrown the log schoolhouse did not go to their homes. Before the next morning sun rose, the log building was leveled to the ground, and a frame building duly made its appearance.

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

The Bible Christians organized a society at Little Prairie about the year 1858, holding their first services in a schoolhouse. They subsequently purchased the " Temperance Hall," and remodeled it into a church building, which was destroyed by fire. About l874. the society built another chiu'ch, and organized a society, the first members of which were Joseph Lackey, James Baird, Jerome Cook, Hemy Cook. William H Morrison, William Malcolmson, Thomas Coombs and others. A Sabbath school has been maintained in connection with the church. The first pastor was Rev. Hem-y El)betts, who has been succeeded by the following clergymen:

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

The society of the Seventh-Day Adventists of Little Prairie held their first meeting January ly, 1807, at the house of C. W. Olds, in the town of Eagle, Waukesha Co., Wis. The first Trustees were Pliny Potter, 0. W. Olds and William Cartley. The society owns a church building, but it is not at present in a very flom-ishing condition.

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Troy Town - it names this place 1 more 1 time.

Fires near this place

20 since 2010

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 20 fires within 5 miles of Little Prairie between 2010 and 2018, burning about 91 acres in total. None started naturally. 7 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined8
Arson/incendiarism7
Debris and open burning4
Equipment and vehicle use1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
11 August 2016Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesMCMILLER RANGE FIRE
7 April 2012Missing data/not specified/undetermined4.6 acresWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesMCMILLER RANGE
4 April 2015Missing data/not specified/undetermined13 acresWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesCARLIN TRAIL
30 April 2018Debris and open burning5.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources18028
30 April 2018Arson/incendiarism4.4 acresWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBLUFF ROAD 1
30 April 2018Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBLUFF ROAD 2
30 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2018024
30 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2018025

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Walworth County

Mines and quarries near this place

2 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 2 workings within 5 miles of Little Prairie: 2 past producers. None of them still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Burlington PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Nelson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer

Every working recorded in Walworth County

Storms near this place

5 since 2006

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Little Prairie in 5 storm reports between 2006 and 2026: 3 hail, 2 thunderstorm wind. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
July 2016Thunderstorm WindLittle Prairie$5,000Sporadic tree damage across northern Walworth County.
October 2006Thunderstorm WindLittle Prairie-Powerful thunderstorm winds knocked down large trees.
April 2026HailLittle Prairie-no account filed
May 2025HailLittle Prairie-no account filed
October 2006HailLittle Prairie-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Walworth County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Adams2.7 miles32
Lauderdale Shores4.2 miles32
La Grange4.3 miles32
Troy Center4.4 miles24
Lauderdale5.2 miles32
Mayhews (historical)5.8 miles24
Troy6.5 miles24
Heart Prairie7.4 miles32

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on Little PrairieAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q6651399The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1568373. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.