Cities, Communities, & Villages

CITIES and VILLAGES, often referred to as "incorporated areas", govern territory where population is more concentrated. In general, minimum population for incorporation as a village is 150 residents for an isolated village and 2,500 for a metropolitan village located in a more densely settled area. For cities, the minimums are 1,000 and 5,000 respectively. As cities and villages are incorporated, they are carved out of the town territory and become independent units no longer subject to the town's control. The remainder of the town may take on a 'Swiss cheese" configuration as its area is reduced.

[Information above taken from "State of Wisconsin Blue Book 1997-1998" Compiled by the Wisconsin Legislative Reference Bureau. chpt. "The Changing World of Wisconsin Local Government'" sec. 3. Municipalities: The Most local of Governments. pags115-122. Wisconsin Blue Books are Publ. Biennially In Odd-Numbered Years.]

Most of the early settlers came to Price County because of the virgin timber. When the Wisconsin Central Railroad and the Minneapolis, St. Paul, Sault Ste. Marie (Soo Line) Railroads extended into the county, shipping out forest products while shipping in supplies allowed the logging businesses to boom and provided transportation into the county for the many immigrants looking to create new homes.

Some of the following name-places were merely supply or postal stations along the railroads and are now long-gone; others were mill towns that boomed at the peak of the logging era but have also disappeared with time; some were specific communities where various groups of immigrants settled; and a few grew into villages and cities that still thrive today.