Township of Pine Valley, Clark County, Wisconsin

"Clark Co. Illustrated" by Saterlee, Tifft & Marsh, 1890.
Transcribed by Janet Schwarze.

Pine Valley Township is located in the southern part of the county, and consists of but one township, which is described as town twenty-four, range two west. The city of Neillsville the county seat of Clark County, is within the limits of this town, and of course is a separate corporation and described in a separate article. The first settlement of the county was probably made in this town, a short distance from the present location of Neillsville, on Black River. The first settlers who came to what is now Clark county were natives of New York, but were soon followed by others from Maine and other eastern states.

About the only industry that received any attention here at this early date was logging and the manufacture of lumber.

From 1853, the date of the organization of the county, up to 1857, the whole county consisted of this one town. During the last named year the county was divided into two towns. Black River passes through this town from north to south, and other streams of considerable importance enter the river in this town. Millions of feet of pine logs are annually floated down this river to the mills to, be manufactured into lumber, &c.

The surface of this town is somewhat broken, especially along and near, Black River and its branches. There are one or two quite high bluffs or mounds in the town, the one about three or four miles northwest of Neillsville being the highest elevation in the county. Its height is in the neighborhood of two hundred feet above the level of the river. The soil is somewhat sandy in portions of the town, but not enough so as to prevent the production of fair crops. Other portions of the town have as rich and productive a soil as any part of the county, and many very nice farms may be found within the limits of this town. Large crops of corn and potatoes are produced as well as wheat, oats, bay, &c., and there is no part Of the town that does not make good pasture land when cleared. Although it is quite well settled up, there is still much unimproved land and standing timber in the town. This timber finds a ready market at the kilns of the York Iron Company, which are located in the central part of this town, for the burning of charcoal. Hundreds of cords of wood is burned each month in these kilns. It is particularly beneficial to the settlers in this locality, as it utilizes a class of timber which is of too low a grade to be used for any other purpose, leaving the better class of timber to be manufactured into the higher grades of lumber, furniture, &c. The timber now standing in this town is substantially all hardwood. The highways through the town, though somewhat sandy in places, are always kept in good repair, making travel about the town a pleasure rather than a task. A branch of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis & Omaha railroad was built through this town, from Merrillan Junction to the city of Neillsville, a few years ago, and the track is now being laid through the rest of the town on, the route from here through to Marshfield, so that the town has excellent railroad facilities, which will be bettered by the completion of this road, giving it direct communication with the Wisconsin Central line, and the cities located on the same. Although the high schools of Neillsville are accessible to the children of the greater part of the town, there are, nevertheless, several district schools throughout the town, where the smaller children of the town may be educated without traveling the distance necessary to reach the high schools. The districts employ able teachers, and the schools, buildings and apparatus, are in good condition and command the respect of a 11 educators. Many of the children of Catholic and Lutheran families are sent to the parochial schools in the city which are under the direction of their respective churches. There are no churches in the town, the distance from any part of the town to the places of worship in the city being so slight as to make it unnecessary to construct separate church buildings in the town. Neither has the town a public hall, as they are given the use of the hall in the city for the purpose of holding their town meetings, board meetings, & c. Perfect harmony exists between the town and city, a state of affairs which will not always be found in all cases of a like kind.

A stage line passes through the town from Neillsville to the southeastern part of the county.

The people of the town are beginning to raise stock quite extensively, and dairying is receiving considerable a attention. A large creamery has recently been established near the city limits, which many of the farmers are patronizing quite extensively.

The town has grown gradually in wealth, and also in population, as the following figures will show: The population of the town outside of the village in 1875 was 483; in 1880 it was 682, and in 1885 it was 903. The population for 1890 has not yet been reported.

The present town officers are as follows: Chairman of the town board and member of the county board, Ezra Tompkins; town clerk, S. E. Hutchings; town treasurer, Chas. Foote, and assessor, Edward Hubbard.