Editing Warner, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
The six mile square that would become Warner was first [[Surveying|surveyed]] in June of 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government. Then in November of 1847 another crew marked all the [[Section (United States land surveying)|section corners]] in the [[survey township|township]], walking through the woods and swamps, measuring with [[Gunter's chain|chain]] and [[Solar compass|compass]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Land Survey Information|url=http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/SurveyNotes/SurveyInfo.html|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=2024-10-26}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Field Notes for T27N R2W|url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=PLSS&twp=T027NR002W|work=Original Field Notes and Plat Maps, 1833-1866|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=2024-10-26}}</ref> When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:
<blockquote>This township is low gently rolling Soil about Second rate and heavy timbered with [[Pinus strobus|W. Pine]] [[Sugar Maple|Sugar]] [[Tilia americana|Lyn]] [[Elm]] [[Birch]] (?) under growth Prickly Ash(?) then [[Gooseberry]] (?) along the Streams (?) (?) part of the township there is Considerable good Pine. [[Black River (Wisconsin)|Black River]] runs through this township from North to South Swift water and like a torrent rough(?) rocky channel and numerous Mill sites on it. Considering every thing this township will Soon be Settled with a heavy population. Plenty of good routes(?) through(?) the(?) township(?).<ref>{{cite web|last=Freeman|first=James E.|title=Interior Field Notes (Nov. 1847)|url=https://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/SurveyNotes/SurveyNotes-idx?type=article&byte=12537821&isize=L&twp=T027NR002W|publisher=Board of Commissioners of Public Lands|access-date=2024-10-26}}</ref> </blockquote>

An 1873 map of Clark County showed one road, reaching up from Neillsville through Greenwood and Warner, across the Popple River and into what would become Longwood. Though the road followed the course of modern [[Wisconsin Highway 73|Highway 73]], this was a dirt wagon road.<ref>{{cite book|last=Glass|first=Louis J.|title=Map of Clark County, Wisconsin|date=1873|publisher=MacBride & Allen|location=Neillsville, Clark County|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/1634/rec/1|access-date=2024-10-26}}</ref>

In 1879 the Black River Improvement Company built a "flooding dam" below the confluence of the Black and Popple rivers, which could be opened to flush logs down the river when the natural floods were insufficient.<ref name=wedge>{{cite book|last=Curtiss-Wedge|first=Franklin|title=History of Clark County, Wisconsin|date=1918|publisher=H.C. Cooper Jr. & Co.|location=Chicago and Winona|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/wch/id/20461/rec/1|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref>{{rp|page=123}} Frederick Limprecht and [[Niran Withee|N.H. Withee]] powered a [[gristmill]] from this dam, and Withee built a [[sawmill]] with an "upright and rotary saw." The following year C.G. Reul added a shingle mill. Limprecht built the first home in what would become the hamlet of Hemlock.<ref>{{cite book|title=Biographical History of Clark and Jackson Counties, Wisconsin|date=1891|publisher=Lewis Publishing Company |location=Chicago|page=183|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/wch/id/66889/rec/3|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref><ref name=wedge/>{{rp|page=123}}

By 1880 the Town of Warner was six miles from north to south and eighteen miles across, reaching from the west edge of Clark County through the modern town of Warner. The 1880 plat map shows seven structures in Hemlock, a school a half mile to the east, and a "hotel" a mile up the Popple River. Much of Warner's land was owned in large blocks by logging operations and land speculators, with [[Cadwallader C. Washburn|C.C. Washburn]], N.H. Withee, and W.H. Mead holding the largest share. Only a few roads had been added east of the Black River, mostly in the southeast corner north of Greenwood. West of the river, early wagon road segments of Century Road, Sidney Avenue, Capital Road, Riplinger Road and County O were in place. Farmers had begun to settle along these roads, especially in the south, and other schools had appeared: a mile and a half northeast of Greenwood, near the future crossing of Century Road and School Avenue, where Capitol Avenue crosses County O, and north of where Popple River Road crosses O. A "German church" had also appeared where Century Avenue now crosses O.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Bussell|first1=Charles E.|last2=Lee|first2=Allie|title=Map of the County of Clark, Wisconsin|date=1880|publisher=Charles E. Bussell|location=Neillsville, Wis.|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/1636/rec/3|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref>

An 1890 promotional pamphlet described Hemlock: "The little village of Hemlock, on Black River... has two large mills, one flour mill and one lumber, shingle and lath mill.... Hemlock is the northern terminus of the telephone line which extends south to La Crosse, and east to the towns of the Wisconsin Central Line."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Satterlee, Tifft and Marsh|title=Clark County, the Garden of Wisconsin...|date=1890|publisher=Satterlee, Tifft and Marsh|location=Neillsville|page=54|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/wch/id/19935/rec/2|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref> At that time, Hemlock was on a daily stage line which ran from Neillsville up through Hemlock and Warner to Longwood and then Withee.<ref name=wedge/>{{rp|page=651}}

By 1893 not much had changed. Warner was still eighteen miles wide. Much of the town was still owned in large chunks by loggers and speculators, with J.J. Hogan a new major owner. Some of the wagon roads had been extended and more settlers had appeared along those roads. A sawmill had appeared on the map at Hemlock.<ref>{{cite book|last=Stockwell|first=C.S.|title=East Third of Warner Township|date=1893|publisher=E.P. Noll & Co|location=Philadelphia, PA|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/23795/rec/14|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref> 

By 1906, the eastern 12 miles of Warner were split off into the [[Mead, Wisconsin|Town of Mead]], leaving Warner with its current six by six-mile footprint. More roads had been added, and many more settlers, with 80-acre farms common. T.O. Withee now held most of the large tracts of land, but J.S. Owen Lumber Co. had appeared on the map. Another sawmill had appeared on the Black River just north of Greenwood, and the [[Fairchild and Northeastern Railroad]] cut across the southeast corner of Warner, heading from [[Willard, Clark County, Wisconsin|Willard]] toward [[Owen, Wisconsin|Owen]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Ogle|first=George A.|title=Standard Atlas of Clark County, Wisconsin, Including a Plat Book of the Villages, Cities, and Townships of the County|date=1906|publisher=George A. Ogle & Co.|location=Chicago, Ill.|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/21969/rec/6|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref>

A 1914 flood of the Black River washed out Hemlock's dam and mill.<ref name=wedge/>{{rp|page=633}} A 1919 history described Hemlock as an "abandoned village in Warner Township, deriving its name from an island of hemlock trees now washed away....  Nothing now remains but the ruined dam, and the abandoned buildings."<ref name=wedge/>{{rp|page=664}}

The plat map of Warner from around 1920 shows the modern road grid nearly complete and most of Warner settled. Three cheese factories had appeared: one east of Hemlock where Kingston Road now crosses highway 73, another where Sidney Avenue now meets Century Road, and another where County O meets MM. The transition from logging to agriculture was well underway.<ref>{{cite book|last=Paetzold|first=C.H.|title=Map of Clark County, State of Wisconsin - Warner|date=1920|publisher=C.H. Paetzold|location=Wausau, WI|page=36|url=https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/17557/rec/9|access-date=2024-10-27}}</ref>