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40-805: The Wisconsin Central Railway Company was created in 1897 when the Wisconsin Central Railroad (1871–99) was reorganized from bankruptcy. In 1954, it reverted to the name Wisconsin Central Railroad Company. The railroad was merged into the Soo Line Railroad in 1961. After a proposed merger with Northern Pacific Railway fell through in 1908, Wisconsin Central was leased by the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Ste. Marie Railroad ,

80-598: A 57-mile stretch of wilderness blocking the way to Lake Superior and the land grant money. This time, construction didn't resume for three years. This delay was due largely to the Panic of 1873 , an economic crisis which was called the "Great Depression" in the U.S. until the depression of the 1930s took over that name. One of the causes of this economic slump in 1873 was speculation on railroads. The Wisconsin Central had received financial support from towns like Menasha and Stevens Point. By this time, they had spent that money, and with

120-686: A city, Reed was frequently a member of the city council and won two terms as mayor of Menasha, in 1890 and 1891. He also served as postmaster at Menasha during the presidential terms of Grover Cleveland . He served as mayor (1890–1891) on the Menasha Common Council. Curtis Reed died in Menasha, Wisconsin in 1895, and was buried at Oak Hill Cemetery in Neenah . Curtis Reed was the sixth of eight children born to Seth Harrison Reed and his wife Rhoda ( née Finney). The Reed family were descendants of

160-949: A federal land grant. It was the only land grant railroad in Wisconsin. The railroad's tracks reached Ashland in 1877, St. Paul in 1884, Chicago in 1886 and Superior in 1908. The line was leased from 1889 to 1893 by the Northern Pacific Railway. The lease was terminated when the Northern Pacific declared bankruptcy during the Panic of 1893. While under the control of the Northern Pacific, the Wisconsin Central Railroad constructed Solon Spencer Beman 's great Romanesque Grand Central Station in Chicago in 1889 as its southern terminus. When Northern Pacific defaulted on its lease terms in 1893,

200-458: A halt. One December morning, word came to stop all work on the northern section of the railroad. The Wisconsin Central was short on funds. Captain Rich was in charge of this northern division of the railroad and his orders were to pay off the workers and help transport anyone who wanted to leave. Lake Superior was freezing over so boats weren't running, there were no railroads or highways out of Ashland, so

240-576: A lumber man from Stevens Point. They had the right to the land grant, but it paid only after track was built, so they needed money to get the project rolling. Judge Reed went east looking for financing. Gardner Colby of Boston had worked his way up from store clerk to store owner to importer, then bought a textile mill and made his fortune selling clothing to the Union Army during the Civil War. Interested in Wisconsin timber and iron ore, he could arrange

280-421: Is now the town of Summit, Waukesha County, Wisconsin . They bought farm land there and were soon joined by other members of their family. The first post office was established there in 1838, with Curtis Reed as postmaster. At the time, that area was still part of a larger Milwaukee County. The Reeds became involved in local politics, with Curtis and Orson Reed collaborating to secure Curtis Reed's election as

320-529: The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad acquired the several Chicago properties of the Wisconsin Central including Grand Central Station to form the Baltimore and Ohio Chicago Terminal Railroad . Curtis Reed (politician) Curtis Reed (March 24, 1815 – March 18, 1895) was an American businessman, Democratic politician, and Wisconsin pioneer. He is considered the founder of Menasha, Wisconsin , and

360-796: The Chippewa and Wisconsin Rivers . At that time, U.S. relations with Great Britain were complicated. Britain was officially neutral during the Civil War, but many of the British elites sympathized with the Confederacy . This was only 50 years after the War of 1812 , in which Britain had captured Prairie du Chien , among other indignities. It was also less than 100 years after the American Revolution . The British Province of Canada lay just across Lake Superior , and

400-541: The Civil War , the southern half of Wisconsin was somewhat settled. Much of the north, however, remained wilderness, including swaths of virgin timber and deposits of iron ore. Treaties with Native Americans had placed most of this land in the hands of the federal government. Logging of the white pine had begun along the rivers, where the product could be floated out, but some stretches of timber stood far from large enough streams for river-logging. One such stretch lay between

440-570: The Soo Locks to the new dock in Ashland, then up the track as it was built. By late 1872, over a thousand men were working on this northern segment. Progress was slow, and by winter the line had progressed only six miles, to White River where the contractors and the Chicago Bridge Company built a bridge 1,600 feet long and 110 feet above the water in the ravine below. Things would soon come to

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480-582: The War Department wanted the ability to move troops and supplies to the border. Toward that end, the government cut military wagon roads through the northern forest. These were financed in part by land grants , where the government gave the road-builders timber and land close to the roads. However, these stump-choked wagon roads would have transported war materials very slowly, so in 1864 the U.S. Congress offered similar land grants to encourage several proposed railroad-building projects from Portage up through

520-590: The "Old" Soo Line, in 1909. Controlling interest in the Soo Line, along with Wisconsin Central, was held by the Canadian Pacific Railway . Wisconsin Central entered receivership in 1932, declared bankruptcy in 1944, and finally re-emerged from administration in 1954 as the Wisconsin Central Railroad. It was entirely merged into the new Soo Line Railroad in 1961, which acquired the Milwaukee Road in 1985 and

560-610: The 80 miles to Superior in January. This episode came to be called the "Ashland War". At the southern construction camp, the year didn't end much better. When work was suspended, the workers waited in the camp at Colby two weeks without pay. Finally, 900 frustrated men commandeered a train and rode it down to Stevens Point, where they smeared tar on the Wisconsin Central's new bridge across the Wisconsin River, and threatened to burn it if they weren't paid. The railroad soon complied and paid

600-639: The State Assembly and served in the 1861 session . Reed devoted much of the rest of his life to the growth and development of Menasha and the Fox River valley, encouraging and recruiting new businesses. He established the first water power at Menasha, and lent that facility to many early manufacturers. He was also a director of the Wisconsin Central Railroad , which connected Lake Superior to Milwaukee, by way of Oshkosh and Menasha. He continued to serve in public office into his later years. After Menasha became

640-482: The center of the state to Superior . Generally, if a railroad was built of adequate quality, its company received half the land and timber for ten miles on either side of the segments built - the odd-numbered sections . Two companies were established in 1866 to take advantage of Congress's offered land grants. The first corporation, the Winnebago and Lake Superior Railroad Company, was chartered to build from Menasha ,

680-527: The financing that Judge Reed's group needed. However, Colby didn't know anything about building a railroad, so he brought in Elijah B. Phillips, president of the Lake Shore and Northern Indiana Railway. With financial backing secured, Judge Reed went back to Wisconsin to lay more groundwork. He had a civil engineer plan and estimate the first portion of the proposed railroad. That stretch from Menasha to Stevens Point

720-534: The first structure at the site. He initially owned about 300 acres of land there, but sold or gifted most of it away to encourage the development of the village, earning him the nickname the "father of Menasha". He resumed his political career in Menasha, winning election to the Wisconsin State Assembly in the 1852 election, running on the Democratic Party ticket. Reed's district comprised roughly

760-468: The first town chairman of Oconomowoc (which then comprised all of the northwest quadrant of what is now Waukesha County). In that role, he was ex officio a member of the Milwaukee County board of supervisors. The Reeds also worked against the 1845 plan to divide Milwaukee County and create Waukesha County, but were ultimately unsuccessful. In the last election before division, however, Curtis Reed

800-463: The land on the island now known as Doty Island . During his term in the Territorial Assembly, he had also been granted a charter to build a dam across the Fox River. His interests in Menasha led him to collaborate with former territorial governor James Duane Doty and his son Charles Doty , who had begun surveying the land. Curtis Reed came to reside in what is now Menasha in 1848, building

840-510: The manufacturing center on Lake Winnebago , north to Stevens Point, and then onward to Superior. This railroad eventually was headed by Judge George Reed of Manitowoc . The second corporation, the Portage and Superior Railroad Company, intended to build from the city of Portage north to Stevens Point, also to Superior. The two railroads were consolidated in 1869 to become the Portage, Winnebago, and Superior Railroad Company, and this railroad's name

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880-485: The men back. Then, he and his men jumped into their wagon and fled for Ashland, with angry workers in pursuit. Ashland shut down its saloons as the workers arrived to try to keep things under control. The city ended up calling in the Bayfield militia , which marched across the bay on the ice and put Ashland under martial law for ten days. The workers were soon paid and the militia escorted over 1,000 men out of Ashland to walk

920-408: The nationwide economic slump, financier Gardner Colby was having trouble raising more money from his investors. They were already behind on payments to subcontractors and for that reason, in 1874, the construction contractor on the south end quit. The Wisconsin Central's existence as an independent carrier was short-lived. Much of the Wisconsin Central right of way was built over land obtained through

960-454: The new railroad late in the year and were impressed with its smoothness. The second construction season in 1872 also went well, though it was a different operation. Beyond Stevens Point, the route passed through a wilderness of forests and swamps, with occasional camps of Native Americans, timber cruisers, and pioneer settlers. This time, the Hooper, Boyle and Seymour Construction Company organized

1000-488: The northern half of Winnebago County. During the 1853 legislative session , he served alongside his brother, Orson Reed, who represented Waukesha County. During the 1853 session, the Legislature approved a charter for the village of Menasha, and Curtis Reed was elected the first village president. He ultimately served five more terms as village president, in 1854, 1858, 1865, 1866, and 1867. In 1860, Reed won another term in

1040-410: The only way out for these men was to walk 80 miles of trails to Superior. The 1,000 men who were there were not happy about the situation. After some days, when Rich, the pay-master, and guards arrived at a place called Kelly's camp to settle up, the workers demanded pay up to that day, instead of the day work was stopped. When Rich refused, the men tried to take the money. Rich pulled his revolver to hold

1080-560: The prior year. When they first arrived, the Reed family boarded with Milwaukee founder Solomon Juneau ; George Reed was one of the few lawyers present in the territory at the time and served as an advisor to Juneau. In Milwaukee, Curtis Reed again went to work as a store clerk. After the Wisconsin Territory was established in 1836, Curtis Reed was appointed undersheriff of Milwaukee County by first territorial governor Henry Dodge . At

1120-465: The project, Stevens Point $ 30,000, Ashland $ 20,000, and other towns smaller amounts. Construction began June 15, 1871 in West Menasha. Reuben Scott of Menasha oversaw this first 63-mile leg to Stevens Point. Two subcontractors cleared and graded the roadbed, employing as many as 2,000 men, 600 horses, and 100 yoke of oxen. Other contractors built bridges, culverts, and trestles. The largest such project

1160-554: The road-building work, beginning March 18. At the Wisconsin River just west of Stevens Point, a bridge-building contractor constructed a three-span Howe truss railroad bridge. The railroad also established its operating headquarters in Stevens Point, building a six-stall roundhouse and shops there. By September, the rails had reached 51 miles northwest of Stevens Point, to a place initially called "Section 53". Shortly, they named

1200-493: The station Colby , in honor of Gardner Colby's son Charles, a director of the Wisconsin Central and a partner in the Phillips and Colby Construction Company. Beyond Colby, they had cleared the roadbed to "Mile Post 101", which would later be renamed Worcester , just south of modern Phillips . In April of the same year, construction began south from Ashland. The railroad had originally planned for Bayfield , an existing town, to be

1240-529: The terminal on Lake Superior, but then decided Ashland was more suitable. In 1870, when the railroad's civil engineer surveyed Ashland, its population was five. With news of the railroad's plans, businesses poured in. The Bayfield Press described it as "the Future Iron City of Lake Superior". In 1872, the Wisconsin Central built its dock at Ashland. The general contractor on this stretch was Stoughton Brothers of Winona and supplies had to be shipped in through

Wisconsin Central Railway (1897–1954) - Misplaced Pages Continue

1280-426: The time "Milwaukee County" comprised virtually all of the southeast quadrant of Wisconsin. Reed was part of the committee sent to escort the governor to Milwaukee from Iowa, where he had been residing prior to his appointment. As undersheriff, he was also responsible for carrying out the first census of Milwaukee County. In the summer of 1837, Curtis went further west, with another older brother Orson Reed , to what

1320-458: The workers. By next spring, in early 1873, the railroad had scraped together enough money to resume construction. That year, another 24 miles of track was completed south of Ashland, to a place called Penokee Gap, including another huge bridge near the place still called Highbridge . From the south, rails were laid from Colby north to Worcester, just south of modern Phillips. Then, with 194 miles of track built, construction stopped again, leaving

1360-574: Was Martha Reed Mitchell . Curtis Reed was born on March 24, 1815, in Westford, Massachusetts . As a child, he moved with his family to a farm in Vermont, where he received much of his education. At age 16, he went to work clerking at a store in Vermont, and then at a similar job in Troy, New York . In December 1835, he came west to Milwaukee , following his eldest brother George B. Reed , who had traveled there

1400-598: Was absorbed into the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1990. Waupaca Railroad Depot Wisconsin Central Railroad (1871%E2%80%931899) Despite these successes, it struggled financially from the start and was bankrupt by 1879. It was leased to the Northern Pacific Railway from 1889 to 1893, and was finally reorganized from bankruptcy in 1897 as the Wisconsin Central Railway . By the time of

1440-481: Was already somewhat settled, and Reed traveled up and down it raising support from the young towns that stood to profit from a rail connection. The arrangement with Colby was that locally raised money would buy the right of way , clear and grade it, put in culverts and bridges, and provide ties . Then, Colby and his associates would provide the rails, stations, and all the equipment to run a railroad. Reed persuaded Menasha, Neenah , and Waupaca to each give $ 50,000 to

1480-654: Was changed to the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company in 1871. The Manitowoc and Minnesota Railroad, which Reed also headed, was consolidated into the Wisconsin Central in July 1871. None of these early railroad companies laid track, but their mergers provided corporate structure to move forward. As corporate consolidation proceeded, Reed planned to build the first leg of the Wisconsin Central from Menasha to Stevens Point. Reed's colleagues included Menasha civic leader (and his brother) Curtis Reed and Matt Wadleigh,

1520-461: Was elected to serve as a representative of Milwaukee and Washington counties in the last session of the 4th Wisconsin Territorial Assembly . After the division of Milwaukee County, Reed served on the first board of supervisors of Waukesha County. He first came to the area that is now Menasha, Wisconsin , on the Fox River , in 1845, and invested with his brother, Harrison Reed , to purchase much of

1560-560: Was the 200-foot bridge across the Wolf River at Gills Landing , with a half mile of trestle approaches. The road bed was formed 16 feet wide at the top, with nine-foot hand-hewn cross ties. Then the iron rails were laid. Given equipment at that time, they made remarkable progress, averaging a mile per day. By October, two trains were running daily to Waupaca, and the first train steamed into Stevens Point on November 15, an occasion for celebration there. Governor Taylor and other dignitaries rode

1600-406: Was the first village president after its incorporation in 1853, he subsequently served as the 8th mayor of Menasha after it became a city. He also served two terms in the Wisconsin State Assembly , in 1853 and 1861 . Most of Reed's siblings were also notable politicians or married to notable politicians. His brothers were George B. Reed , Orson Reed , and Harrison Reed . His youngest sister

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