Whittlesey, Wisconsin
Census-designated place
Whittlesey, Wisconsin is located in Wisconsin
Whittlesey, Wisconsin
Whittlesey, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 45°13′23″N 90°19′44″W / 45.22306°N 90.32889°W / 45.22306; -90.32889
CountryUnited States
StateWisconsin
CountyTaylor
Area
 • Total1.127 sq mi (2.92 km2)
 • Land1.127 sq mi (2.92 km2)
 • Water0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation
1,476 ft (450 m)
Population
 (2010)[1]
 • Total105
 • Density93/sq mi (36/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)715 & 534
GNIS feature ID1576708[2]

Whittlesey is a census-designated place in the town of Chelsea, Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 105 as of the 2010 census.[1]

The community of Whittlesey was started in the 1870s when the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company built its line up through the forests, heading for Ashland. The railroad placed a station seven miles north of Medford where the line touched the Little Black River. It named the station Whittlesey, probably for Asaph Whittlesey, an early state legislator from Ashland,[3] or possibly for geologist Charles Whittlesey who surveyed the area.[4]

Several sawmills operated in Whittlesey starting in the 1880s. One built a 240-foot dam across the river, producing a 12-foot head of water.[5] Another sawmill operated a mile and a half west of town, hauling its sawn product on carts over a pole line (a track of hardwood poles) to ship from the station at Whittlesey.[6] A brickyard also operated there.[5]

A Village of Whittlesey was platted in 1892, initiated by G.W. and Emma Norton.[7] A 1913 map shows a "depot", post office, and blacksmith shop facing the railroad, with the school on the southeast side of town.[8] But as the timber was exhausted, the nearby sawmills closed and declined. The highway bypassed most of the town to the east. The rail line closed in 1988.[9]

As of 2023 Whittlesey is a quiet cluster of homes scattered among the trees a short drive north of Medford, with the Pine Line bike trail passing through on the old railroad right-of-way.[10]

References

  1. 1 2 "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 20, 2011.
  2. ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Whittlesey, Wisconsin
  3. ↑ Martin, Roy L. (January 1941). History of the Wisconsin Central (Bulletin No. 54). Baker Library, Harvard Business School: The Railroad and Locomotive Society, Inc. pp. 41–42.
  4. ↑ "Whittlesey". Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  5. 1 2 Rusch, Gordon (January 2012). "Taylor County Logging and Lumbering". In Kalmon, Lars (ed.). Our Home - Taylor County Wisconsin - Vol 1. Taylor County History Project. pp. 18–19.
  6. ↑ Rusch, Robert P. (January 2014). "The Twelve Railroads of Taylor County, Wisconsin". In Kalmon, Lars (ed.). Our Home - Taylor County Wisconsin - Vol 2. Taylor County History Project. pp. 19–20.
  7. ↑ Ruesch, H.O. (January 2012). Kalmon, Lars (ed.). Taylor County Historical Sketch. Taylor County History Project. p. 12.
  8. ↑ Whittlesey. Chicago: Geo. A. Ogle & Co. 1913. Retrieved October 27, 2023.
  9. ↑ "Pine Line Trail". WisconsinBikeTrails.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
  10. ↑ "Pine Line Trail: Westboro to Medford". WisconsinBikeTrails.com. Retrieved October 9, 2023.
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