Editing Denmark, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
===Early settlement===
In 1846, a [[Prussia]]n immigrant, John Bartlme, purchased 40 acres of land in the area of what is now Denmark.<ref name=history>{{cite news |title=Historical Sketch of the Village of Denmark |newspaper=The Denmark News |location=Denmark, Wisconsin |date=June 11, 2015 }}</ref>

In 1848, the second settler, and the first [[Danes|Danish]] immigrant, a man named Niels Gotfredsen, bought 160 acres in the area.<ref name=history/> He and his wife were referred to as the 'King and Queen of Denmark', because they were the first Danish settlers of the town of Denmark.<ref name=history/>

====Big bribe of 1854====
In 1854, the residents of [[Brown County, Wisconsin]] voted on whether [[Green Bay, WI|Green Bay]] or [[De Pere, WI|De Pere]] would be the county seat.<ref name=bribe>{{cite news |last=Healy |first=Don |title=Denmark's First Chronicler Tells of Early Settlers, Big Bribe of '54 |newspaper=The Denmark News |location=Denmark, Wisconsin |date=July 3, 1974 }}</ref> This was also the year that the residents of Denmark wanted to build a church, but they did not have any money. A man from De Pere came to the town, and offered to pay two dollars for every vote the people of Denmark would cast in favor of De Pere.<ref name=bribe/>

On election day, 15 men and boys from Denmark turned out to cast their votes for De Pere, and the town was given $30.<ref name=bribe/> But instead of building a church, as was originally intended, the town built a school.

====First business====
In 1871, Hans Beyer immigrated from old [[Denmark]] to [[New York City]], from which he traveled to Green Bay.<ref name=hans>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Karen |date=June 11, 2015 |title= The Making of Denmark's First Store |newspaper=The Denmark News |location=Denmark, Wisconsin }}</ref> From Green Bay, Beyer traveled seven hours by ox team to get to Denmark.<ref name=hans/> In 1875, Beyer opened a store in Denmark, which was the first business in the new town, using a loan of $200.<ref name=hans/> In 1896, Beyer built a new store and cheese factory next to the old store.<ref name=hans/>

===Turn of the 20th century===
In 1906, the [[Chicago & Northwestern]] railroad was built through the village.<ref name=rr>{{cite news |last=Nelson |first=Karen |date=June 11, 2015 |title=Railway Connects Denmark to the World |newspaper=The Denmark News |location=Denmark, Wisconsin }}</ref> The depot was built in the downtown area. The railroad was originally planned to travel through [[Cooperstown, Wisconsin]], rather than Denmark, but railroad officials decided against this plan.<ref name=denmark/>

On June 15, 1915, the town of Denmark held a special election of the issue of incorporation.<ref name=incorporation>{{cite news |title=Incorporation Plans Chronicled |newspaper=The Denmark News |location=Denmark, Wisconsin |date=June 11, 2015 }}</ref> The official vote tally was 109 in favor, and 26 against.<ref name=incorporation/> Later that year, the Denmark was officially incorporated into a village.

In 1915, the Kriwanek Brothers established a [[Ford Motor Company|Ford]] dealership in the village, which was second oldest Ford dealership in the state of Wisconsin.<ref name=ford>{{cite news|date=July 3, 1974 |title=Our Denmark begins commercial boom after railroad arrives in 1904 |newspaper=The Denmark Press |location=Denmark, Wisconsin }}</ref>

On March 3, 1949, [[Denmark Bancshares|Denmark State Bank]] was robbed of $38,000 at gunpoint.<ref name=robbery>"Bank Robbery", ''The Denmark News'', June 11, 2015, pg. 7</ref> This was the first bank robbery in [[Brown County, Wisconsin]].<ref name=robbery/> The [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]] became involved, and the perpetrators were caught over the next few weeks.<ref name=robbery/>

===Later history===
The last passenger train to come through the village was on April 30, 1971.<ref name=rr/>

In 1981, [[Interstate 43]] opened just west of the village.<ref name=unique>{{cite news |last=Langenkamp |first=Don |date=September 10, 1980 |title=Our Denmark Unique Among Denmarks |newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin }}</ref>

On September 7, 1988, a Chicago & Northwestern train derailed as it was passing the Lake to Lake cheese plant. 20 of the 144 train cars derailed, including several that were carrying [[sulfuric acid]] and [[fuel oil]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Hildebrand |first=Scott |title=Derailment investigated |newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |date=September 8, 1988 }}</ref> The train also had cars that were carrying [[chlorine]], however, the engineer did not know which cars contained the chemical, and the wind was blowing towards a residential district.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walter |first=Tony |title=Officers faced tough decision on evacuation |newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |date=September 9, 1988 }}</ref> This information led the village and county officials to evacuate a large portion of the village.<ref>{{cite news|last=Walter |first=Tony |title=Evacuation order irks railroad official |newspaper=Green Bay Press-Gazette |location=Green Bay, Wisconsin |date=September 9, 1988 }}</ref> It was soon found that none of the chemicals had leaked, and residents were allowed to return to their homes.<ref name=rr/>

In 1996, [[Wisconsin Central Ltd.]], which had bought the train line from Chicago & Northwestern, abandoned the tracks between Denmark and [[Rockwood, Wisconsin]]<ref name=rr/> The abandoned rail line was converted into the [[Devil's River State Trail]], which was completed in 2013.<ref name=rr/>