<< Contents | Home | Next Page >>

The Townships and Communities
(continued ... Middle Inlet, Niagara, Pembine, Wagner, Silver Cliff, Beecher)

1910 was a year of activity for the county board with the formation of the Town of Middle Inlet from part of the Town of Wausaukee, and the Town of Niagara from part of the Town of Amberg. Board membership increased to 22. Middle Inlet is named for the stream which flows through the town, and is the middle of three which flow into Lake Noquebay. Niagara is a name of Indian origin, probably derived from "Oh-nia-ga," meaning "bisected bottom land." This is one of the most picturesque parts of the county. The village of Niagara, incorporated in 1913, lies in a valley on the river, below rocky bluffs and near beautiful falls. One of the first men to settle there was John Stoveken, Sr., who was the first to attempt to harness the Lower Quinnesec Falls. In 1889, he put in a small pulp mill; the following year it was purchased by the Badger Paper Company of Kaukauna, and in 1899 Kimberly-Clark obtained the plant, and rebuilt and enlarged the mills. By the early 1900s Niagara had a population of nearly one thousand; today it has more than doubled in size.

1914 saw the incorporation of the village of Pound, and the admission of the Town of Pembine, with G.C. Phelps as Pembine's first representative to the county board. In 1847, government sureyors gave the name Pemene-Bon-Won to the stream and falls flowing through this area to the Menominee River. When the railroads came, the name was shortened to "Pemene," which means "waterberries" (cranberries). This stream provides excellent fishing, and Pembine Township Park is located on it. In 1975, the population of the township was 753.

Menominee River Park and the unincorporated community of McAllister lie within the boundaries of the Town of Wagner. In 1915, residents of the area east of Middle Inlet petitioned for separation from Porterfield to form a new township, named for their first supervisor to the Marinette County board, Joseph Wagner.

It was five years before another township was designated. In 1920, Silver Cliff (also known as Rat River) was established as a town, constituting the western boundary of Marinette County, south of Goodman and north of Stephenson. McClintock and Goodman parks are located here. R.L. King was the first supervisor. The present population is 186.

The last township formed in Marinette County is Beecher, which separated from the Town of Amberg in 1923. Ira Stout was the first supervisor. The following year, the Village of Wausaukee incorporated, and in 1927 both the village of Crivitz and the Town of Girard dissolved. No further structural changes in the county occurred until 1974, when Crivitz re-incorporated as a village.

Reapportionment of the county board took place in 1966. Marinette was granted 11 members; Towns of Beecher, Pembine and Niagara joined to provide sufficient population to be represented by one supervisor.  Similarly, Goodman and Dunbar, Athelstane and Amberg, Lake and Wagner joined. The Village and Town of Wausaukee combined, and a portion of the Town of Stephenson was added to the  Town of Middle Inlet. The villages of Pound and Coleman, and a portion of the Town of Pound joined. The Towns of Beaver, Grover and Porterfield combined to form a district, and the remaining portions of Stephenson and Pound combined to form another. The Town of Peshtigo split into two districts, and the City of Peshtigo reduced from three to two supervisory districts.

<< Contents | Home | Next Page >>