March Rapids, Wisconsin

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March Rapids, Wisconsin - Wikipedia

Coordinates: 44°50′40″N 90°09′00″W / 44.84444°N 90.15000°W

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March Rapids, Wisconsin
Unincorporated community
March Rapids, Wisconsin Show map of Wisconsin March Rapids, Wisconsin Show map of the United States
Coordinates: 44°50′40″N 90°09′00″W / 44.84444°N 90.15000°W / 44.84444; -90.15000
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Marathon
Elevation	390 m (1,280 ft)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)	715 & 534
GNIS feature ID	1569022^[1]

March Rapids is an unincorporated community located in the town of Eau Pleine, Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States.^[1]

History

In 1877, J. B. Holmes and B. D. Holmes built a mill to saw lumber and shingles at the site of March Rapids on the Big Eau Pleine River in the pine forest of central Wisconsin. A village named Hope formed around the mill, with possibly 75 inhabitants.^[2]

In 1887 the mill was bought by Thomas March, who had grown up in New York and had run mills in nearby Spencer. In 1891 a logging railroad reached the town and began hauling out as many as five carloads of lumber a day. A post office was established with the name March. But a flood in December damaged the operation and in May the dam washed out, losing many sawlogs.^[2]

In late 1892 Thomas March sold the mill to Doud & Sons, a barrel-making enterprise with factories in Winona, Rudolph and Pittsville. They added machines to make staves and headings for barrels. By 1897 they were shipping most of the headings, staves and lumber to Superior, where Doud operated a barrel factory. The town grew to around 200 residents, with a general store, hotel, butcher, two saloons, shoemaker, blacksmith, dance hall, church and school.^[2]

In 1905 the Wisconsin Central Railroad decided to pull up the tracks that had carried out March Rapids' products, despite Doud's objections. Doud and Sons obtained two early tractors to tow wagons of lumber out to the railroad at Stratford. This worked well until 1911, when the bridge at Noisy Creek collapsed under the steam-pull tractor and two operators were killed.^[2]

In 1913 a disastrous fire destroyed the entire mill. Doud replaced it with a more modern mill with a band saw and electric lights. In 1914 Doud built its own railroad from March Rapids five miles to Staadt to haul out logs.^[2]

But the timber ran out. The mills shut down. In 1921 the population was down to 100.^[2] Today all that remains of Marsh Rapids is a park where County P crosses the Big Eau Pleine River, with a picnic area and a historical marker.

References

^ ^a ^b "March Rapids, Wisconsin". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Rohe, Randall E. (2002). Ghosts of the Forest - Vanished Lumber Towns of Wisconsin - Volume I. Marinette, Wisconsin: Forest History Association of Wisconsin. pp. 212–241. ISBN 1-931803-27-7.

v t e Municipalities and communities of Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States
County seat: Wausau
Cities	Abbotsford‡ Colby‡ Marshfield‡ Mosinee Schofield Wausau
Villages	Athens Birnamwood‡ Brokaw Dorchester‡ Edgar Elderon Fenwood Hatley Kronenwetter Maine Marathon City Rib Mountain Rothschild Spencer Stratford Unity‡ Weston
Towns	Bergen Berlin Bern Bevent Brighton Cassel Cleveland Day Easton Eau Pleine Elderon Emmet Frankfort Franzen Green Valley Guenther Halsey Hamburg Harrison Hewitt Holton Hull Johnson Knowlton Marathon McMillan Mosinee Norrie Plover Reid Rib Falls Rietbrock Ringle Spencer Stettin Texas Wausau Weston Wien
CDPs	Knowlton Rib Mountain
Unincorporated communities	Ashley Bevent Bradley Cherokee Corinth Dancy Emmerich Gad‡ Galloway Glandon Granite Heights Halder Hogarty Holt Ingersoll Johnson Kalinke Little Chicago Little Eau Claire Little Rose Mann McMillan Milan Moon Mount View Naugart Norrie Nutterville Pike Lake Poniatowski Rangeline Rib Falls Ringle Rocky Corners Rozellville Schnappsville Shantytown Snell Sunset Swan Taegesville Weber Wien Wuertsburg
Ghost towns/ neighborhoods	Callon March Rapids Staadts Stettin Ziegler
Indian reservation	Ho-Chunk Indian Reservation‡
Footnotes	‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties
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