Civil
Townships and Localities
The civil towns correspond to the
county map and are
listed in boldface, followed by
the names of communities (both incorporated and unincorporated) found within
the surveying borders of those townships, as well as historical
information.
Townships that are Defunct
- Marinette (est. 1879, separated into
Porterfield and Wausaukee in 1887). [Note:
the City of Marinette is still there, as always. It
is located within the surveying boundaries of the Town of
Peshtigo.]
- Girard (est. 1913, dissolved 1924).
- Crivitz (est. 1897, dissolved 1927).
[Note: the Village of
Crivitz exists within the surveying boundaries of the Town
of Stephenson.]
Town
of Amberg (Pike)
- Includes Amberg (village),
Coles, Marek (was Cota), Miscauno Island, Pike
- 1883 - Warren Buckman, first permanent
settler, arrived with supplies and set up
a trading post west of the Pike River.
- 1884 - Charles Dahl, second permanent
settler. He was a surveyor for the
railroad.
- 1887 - William Amberg and [?] Cameron
established granite quarries.
- 1888 - William Amberg, a Chicago
businessman who established granite
quarries in the area, platted the village
and gave it its name.
- 1890 - Town of Amberg established. (Area
formerly called Pike by white settlers.)
- 1903 - Village of Amberg destroyed by fire, but was
rebuilt. Population est. 500.
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Athelstane
- Includes the unincorporated villages of
Athelstane, Girard Junction, and Intervale.
- 1902 - Town of Athelstane established. It
was one of William Amberg's quarry
locations and was named by his Scotch
foreman, Alex A. Marten, for the
blue-gray color ("athel") of
the stone ("stane").
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Beaver
(Armstrong Dam)
- Includes the unincorporated village of
Beaver.
- Originally known as Armstrong Dam, after
"Pinochle" Armstrong who
homesteaded the land. He built a 60-room
house where he offered room and board to
lumbermen coming off the spring log
drives in exchange for their services
clearing his land in summer.
- 1902 - Town of Beaver set off from the
towns of Coleman and Crivitz.
- Town named
for Beaver Brook, a tributary of the
Peshtigo River.
Map
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Beecher
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Town
of Dunbar
- Includes the unincorporated villages of
Dunbar, Colman Siding, and Walton.
- 1880s - Dunbar Station was a railroad
stop, said to be named for a camp cook
named Dunbar who took charge of supplies
for the lumber camps of the area.
- 1899 - Town of Dunbar formed.
- A.C. Wells - First representative to
county board.
- Chief industries were the Girard Lumber
Company and the Dunbar & Wausaukee
Railroad.
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Town
of Goodman
- Includes the village of
Goodman and an unincorporated settlement known as Sidney
- Named for the James B. Goodman family who
established a lumber mill and company
town in 1907.
- 1908 - Town of Goodman established from
part of the Town of Dunbar.
- 1955 - Calumet and Hecla, Inc. bought the
Goodman mill, and the houses in the town
were sold to private individuals.
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Town
of Grover
- Includes unincorporated communities of
Harmony (Harmony Corners), County Line,
May Corner, and Wilcox.
- 1860 - Edgar Annis established a 200 acre
farm. Other farmers were O.F. Peck, Levi
Leslie, William McFarland and Swen Olson.
- 1864 - Harvey England, from New York
state, settles in the area and engages in
farming and lumbering.
- 1892 - Town of Grover created from land
taken from the Town of Peshtigo. Ernest Lepinksy, A.H. Colburn and F. Weinhart
were the first town officials.
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Town
of Lake
- Includes the unincorporated community of
Loomis.
- 1902 - Town of Lake set off from Peshtigo
Township.
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Town
of Middle Inlet
- Includes
unincorporated settlements of Middle
Inlet and Sweetheart City.
- 1910 - Town of Middle Inlet formed from
part of Town of Wausaukee.
- Town named for the stream which flows
through it, the middle of three streams
that flow into Lake Noquebay.
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Town
of Niagara
- Includes unincorporated village of
Faithorn and the Village of Niagara
- 1889 - John Stoveken, Sr., first settler
and first to attempt to harness the Lower
Quinnesec Falls on the Menominee River,
established a small pulp mill here.
- 1910 - Town of Niagara formed from part
of Town of Amberg.
- 1913 - Village of Niagara incorporated.
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Town
of Pembine
- Includes the unincorporated communities
of Pembine, Chapin, Hardy, Holmes
Junction, Kremlin, Prest and Van Horne.
- 1847 - Named by government surveyors for
the Pemene-Bon-Won River flowing through
the area. Pemene is a native word for
cranberries.
- 1914 - Town of Pembine established.
G.C.
Phelps first representative to county
board.
Map
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Town
of Peshtigo
- Contains Marinette, Menekaunee
(East Marinette), Peshtigo (was Clarksville), and Peshtigo Harbor.
- 1838 - J.H. Leavenworth built a sawmill
on the west bank of the Peshtigo River.
- 1850 - Leavenworth built another mill on
the east bank of the river. Population:
566.
- 1867 - Wagon road joined Peshtigo and
Peshtigo Harbor.
- 1871 - The village and much of
surrounding area destroyed by forest
fire. See The
Great Peshtigo Fire.
- 1879 - Town of Peshtigo established.
Included all of the western part and the
northern half of the county not included
in the town of Marinette.
- 1887 - Village of Peshtigo incorporated.
- 1903 - Peshtigo obtained city charter.
Marinette
- 1842 - Jonathan Cory Hall, the first
doctor on the Menominee River, arrived in
the area.
- 1853 - J.J. Sherman came from New York to
study with Dr. Hall.
- 1871 - Dr. Benjamin R. Hall graduated
from Rush Medical College in Chicago and
began his career in Marinette treating
survivors of the Peshtigo Fire.
- 1879 - Town of Marinette established. The
town extended 75 miles upstream on the
Menominee River, and included what is now
Florence County. 1853 population: 478,
more than half of whom were native
Americans. There were three permanent
dwellings: the homes of Marie Chevalier
Farnsworth ("Queen Marinette"),
John B. Jacobs (Marinette's son), and Dr.
Hall.
- 1885 - First city directory for
Marinette.
- 1887 - City of Marinette chartered.
Map
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Town
of Porterfield
- Includes the unincorporated villages of
Porterfield, Bagley Junction, Walsh, Rugby's Corner, Miles and Twin Creek.
- 1887 - Town of Porterfield created from
part of town of Marinette. First town
meeting held in April in the Rawn School.
- The town was named for John Porterfield,
a farmer and businessman in the area.
- Jacob H. Bernardy was the
first representative
to the county board.
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Town
of Pound (was Coleman)
- Includes the villages of
Pound and Coleman
- The surrounding area was referred to as
the Sugar Bush for the thick stands of
sugar maple trees that grew there.
- 1870 - Joseph Brault, first white man to
make a permanent settlement.
- 1871 - Brault's cabin and land ravaged by
the Peshtigo Fire.
- 1873 - L.D. McMillan settled in the area.
- 1874 - A small group of Norwegians came
from Michigan.
- 1875-76 - A group of New Yorkers settled.
- 1880 - Village of Pound founded by John
A. Wagg.
- 1880s - Milwaukee and Northern Railroad
opens.
- 1893 - Town of Coleman established.
- 1903 - Town name changed to Pound in
honor of Thaddeus C. Pound, the 8th
District congressman and former
lieutenant governor.
- Village of Pound
incorporated.
Map
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Town
of Silver Cliff (Rat River)
- 1920 - Town of Silver Cliff established.
- R.L. King was the first representative to
the county board.
- www.silvercliff.com
(web site devoted primarily to rafting on the Peshtigo
River)
Map
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Town
of Stephenson
- Includes the village of
Crivitz (was Ellis Junction), and Konstad (unincorporated)
- Crivitz was originally a stop on the Milwaukee and
Northern Railroad named for William
Ellis, superintendent of the Peshtigo
Lumber Company which gave the right of
way through the area.
- 1860s - Levi P. Hale and John Seymour set
up a trading post approx. 6 miles
northwest of the present village of
Crivitz.
- 1880s - Village platted by Ellis and Fred
Bartels and named for Bartels' birthplace
of Crivitz, Germany.
- 1897 - Town of Crivitz established.
- 1905 - Town of Stephenson created. At
that time it included the village of
Crivitz. W.H. Falvey was the first
representative to the county board.
- 1913 - Village of Crivitz incorporated.
- 1927 - Village dissolved to become part
of Town of Stephenson.
- 1974 - Village of Crivitz again incorporated.
Map
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Town
of Wagner
- Includes unincorporated settlements of
Bar, Goll, Kinsman, McAllister, Newton, Packard and
Wagner.
- 1915 - Residents of the area east of
Middle Inlet petitioned for separation
from Porterfield to form a new township,
named for their first supervisor to the
county board, Joseph Wagner.
Map
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Town
of Wausaukee
Map
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Sources
Uncapher, Wendy (Zastrow) and Linda (Zastrow)
Herrick. Wisconsin: Its Counties,
Townships & Villages.
Janesville, Wis.: Origins, a Division of Copycrafters, Inc., 1994.
Wisconsin Atlas and Gazetteer.
Freeport, Maine: DeLorme Mapping Co.
Marinette County Centennial 1879-1979.
Marinette, Wis.: Marinette County Historical
Society, 1979.
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