Histories:
Trempealeau County Historical Accounts:
"History of Trempealeau County Wisconsin, 1917":
Chapter 14:
Platted Villages
-As transcribed from pages 272 - 273
The names of Caledonia, Dodge, Ettrick and Pigeon Falls have the same
origin as those of the townships in which they are located.
Coral City was at one time a flourishing hamlet located in section 18,
Pigeon Township. The construction of the Green Bay & Western
Railroad in 1873 blasted its hopes of future greatness. At one
time Coral City had its Main street, State street, Public square and
prospects of a prosperous future. It had several general stores,
shops, hotels, saloons, a good mill; in brief, all the equipments for a
lively, busy country village. But later its business was absorbed
by the railroad towns. The Wright brothers, Phineas and Benjamin,
may be credited with beginning the town. They built a flouring
mill in the summer of 1863, and other places of business soon
followed. Egbert Carpenter, C. E. Scott, Andrew Olson, Ryland
Parker, Dr. Shelden and Seneca Johnson are well remembered names of
some of its business men. Granville McFarland, one of the
men employed in building the dam for the mill, is probably more
responsible for the name given to this place than anyone else.
While digging dirt on the north side of the creek for the dam some
queer-looking rock was found. McFarland, it appears, made
Pheaneas (sp?) Wright, who headed the enterprise for building the mill,
believe that the rock was coral. Mr. Wright, who was one of the
best and most straightforward men in the country, not knowing he had
been imposed upon by a practical joker, platted the village and called
it "Coral City." The village was noted in the early days for its
law suits, which served not only to settle disputes, but also afforded
highly seasoned amusement. Some of the trials in the justice
court there lasted for over a week. The noted flood in March,
1876, entirely destroyed the mill built by the Wrights, but the
following summer another mill took its place. This mill and some
sightly houses are now all that remains of a once flourishing
settlement.
Montoville was the name under which Trempealeau Village was originally platted. It means the Mountain ville.
Porterville, the name under which Blair was originally platted, was
named for Richard Porter, who settled on land now occupied in part by
the village, June, 1855, and died July 26, of the same year, as the
result of an encounter with a band of wolves near Galesville. His
son, Duke Porter, platted the village in 1873, and gave it the name of
Porterville. But when the railroad established a station near his
plat, they gave it the name of Blair.
Strum was named by Congressman William T. Price for his friend, Louis
Strum, of Eau Claire, Wis. Under the first Cleveland
administration the hamlet was called Tilden, for Samuel J. Tilden, the
statesman, but on Jan. 1, 1890, was again changed to Strum.