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Union, Wisconsin

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1889 and the latest in 1981. It stands in Union town. It lies in ZIP code area 53536. The Survey maps it on the Evansville quadrangle. It stands 942 feet above sea level.

Union within Rock County

On record in Union

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Topographic sheets covering this place

10 surveys from 19 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

8,068 words on this township

History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute, published 1856 names this settlement in its chapter on Union Town. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

Is the most North-western town in the County, and 16 miles North- w«st from Janesville. ' The face of country is similar to that of Magnolia, except that it has less prairio; and the land generally iiot so rolling. ' The earliest settlers were Ira Jones, Stephen Jones, Boyd Phelps, Charles McMilleB, Hi- i-am Griffith, John Sayles, Erastus Quivoy, "Washington Higday, Samuel Lenis, Jacob West, John T. Baker, Levi Leonard, Willis T. Bunton. This town was organized in 1842, and at that time included what is now Union, Porter, and north half each of Center and Magnolia.

Passage source: History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute, published 1856.

Ira Jones, Esq., a gentleman, held in very high esteem by his fellow citizens, resided in this town. He represented his district in Assembly of tha Legislature a few years since, and has for several years been chairman of the

Passage source: History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute, published 1856.

Board of Supervisors, besides holding other offices of trust. Mr. J., during tie past winter, while drawing wood, fell from the load and the wheel of the loaded wagon passed over his body, injuring him so severely, that he died in a few hours.

Passage source: History of Rock County, and Transactions of the Rock County Agricultural Society and Mechanics' Institute, published 1856.

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 Union Town - it names this place 26 more 26 times.

Fires near this place

17 since 2004

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 17 fires within 5 miles of Union between 2004 and 2020, burning about 252 acres in total. None started naturally. 2 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
Debris and open burning5
Missing data/not specified/undetermined4
Recreation and ceremony4
Arson/incendiarism2
Smoking1
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
4 July 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources83
14 July 2012Arson/incendiarism26 acresLeopold Wetland Management DistrictBIGLOW RD
11 July 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2019135
5 May 2013Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesTRAILER DRAGGING
3 May 2020Recreation and ceremony1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources55
1 May 2020Recreation and ceremonyunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources54
9 April 2019Debris and open burningunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources2019076
8 April 2019Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural ResourcesBADFISH

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Rock County

Mines and quarries near this place

8 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 8 workings within 5 miles of Union: 6 past producers, 2 producers. 2 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, 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
Brunsell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Brunsell PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Halverson QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Knutson PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Reindahl QuarriesStone, Crushed/BrokenProducer
Rock County Highway DepartmentStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer
Union PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer
Wealti Limestone QuarryStone, Crushed/BrokenPast Producer

Every working recorded in Rock County

Storms near this place

8 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Union in 8 storm reports between 1995 and 2025: 6 thunderstorm wind, 2 hail. 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
April 2006HailUnion$4,360,000no account filed
July 2006Thunderstorm WindUnion$75,000Trees and power lines down in a large swath from northwestern to southeastern Rock County. In the city of Janesville, at least 3 cars were damaged by felled trees or tree branch debris. Several roads were temporarily blocked by tree debris.
October 1996Thunderstorm WindUnion$20,000no account filed
July 1999Thunderstorm WindUnion$1,000no account filed
March 2025Thunderstorm WindUnion-Trees down in the Town of Union.
March 2007HailUnion-no account filed
June 1995Thunderstorm WindUnion-no account filed
July 1995Thunderstorm WindUnion-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Rock 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
Evansville3.1 miles19
Cooksville3.3 miles19
Stebbinsville7.0 miles19
Fellows (historical)7.5 miles16
Magnolia7.5 miles17
Cainville8.3 miles17
Fulton9.3 miles19
Leyden11.2 miles16

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 UnionAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q7885337The 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 1575858. 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.