Editing Neillsville, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
[[File:Neillsville Downtown.jpg|thumb|left|[[Neillsville Downtown Historic District]]]]
The [[Ojibwa]] were the earliest known residents of the Neillsville area.<ref>Author unknown. "[http://www.clark-cty-wi.org/clarkhistory.htm The Heart of Wisconsin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727074030/http://www.clark-cty-wi.org/clarkhistory.htm |date=2007-07-27 }}", 1900 (estimated).</ref>

The first settlers of European descent in the area were [[James O'Neill (Wisconsin settler)|James O'Neill]] and his party, who arrived around 1845, looking for a location to build a [[sawmill]] along the [[Black River (Wisconsin)|Black River]]. The city was named in honor of O'Neill, as was O'Neill Creek, which runs through the center of the city and drains into the Black River.

In 1854, O’Neill's Mill, as Neillsville was originally called, was selected as the county seat of [[Clark County, Wisconsin|Clark County]].<ref>MacBridge, R. J. "[http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/county/clark/////clark/history/1909History/3.htm The History of Clark County]". ''Thorp Courier'', June 17, 1909.</ref>

Neillsville was [[plat]]ted on April 14, 1855, and [[Municipal corporation|incorporated]] in April 1882.<ref>Clark County, WI Internet Library Project. "[http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/pinevalley/index.htm Pine Valley Township, Clark County, Wisconsin] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080105014446/http://wvls.lib.wi.us/ClarkCounty/pinevalley/index.htm |date=2008-01-05 }}". Retrieved on 2007-10-25.</ref>

A [[Ho-Chunk|Winnebago]] [[American Indian boarding schools|Indian boarding school]] was operated by the [[Evangelical and Reformed Church]] on the west side of Neillsville from 1921 to 1957.<ref>{{cite web|title=Winnebago Indian Mission School|url=https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM42064|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Interactive Digital Map of Indian Boarding Schools|url=https://boardingschoolhealing.org/interactive-digital-map-of-indian-boarding-schools/|publisher=The National Native American Boarding School Healing Coalition|access-date=2023-09-01}}</ref>

Neillsville is where noted architect [[William L. Steele]] died. Poor health had forced Steele to retire from architecture in late 1946, leaving his eldest son William L. Steele Jr. and partner Josiah D. Sandham in charge of the practice. Steele had come to Neillsville to live with one of his daughters, Sallie (Mrs. Thomas S. Noble Jr.), and died at her house on March 4, 1949.<ref name="Steele Obituary">{{cite news |url=http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/county/clark/2data/50/50275.htm |title=Obit: Steele, William LaBarthe (1875 - 1949) |date=March 10, 1949 |work=Clark County Press |location=Neillsville, Wisconsin }}</ref><ref name="Withey 1956 p569">{{cite book |last1=Withey |first1=Henry F |last2=Withey |first2=Elsie Rathburn |title=Biographical Dictionary of American Architects (Deceased) |url=https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict012872mbp |url-access=limited |year=1956 |publisher=New Age Publishing Co |location=Los Angeles |page=[https://archive.org/details/biographicaldict012872mbp/page/n572 569] }}</ref>