TAFT TOWN

A short history of Taft Town

The Surface of this Township is generally Broken Soil 3rd rate producing but little vegetation the Surface of the land being generally covered with a thick heavy moss(?). There are numerous Swamp in the Township Some of which are of considerable extent. The Timber in the Swamps is principally Tamarac. The dry land is timbered mostly with Hemlock. There are Some Scattering groves of White Pine though of poor quality and not valuable for lumber. The Township is well watered with numerous Small Streams which rise in the Swamps. There are no Settlers in the Township.

By 1900, most of what would become Taft was owned by lumber companies. The Northwestern Lumber Company owned a large block in the southeast corner and had built its Stanley, Merrill and Phillips Railway into that block three or four miles. The other largest landholders were Chippewa Lumber and Boom Co., and Lindsay & Phelps. One settler is marked on the map for the whole section: Hobbs has a homestead near Otter Creek.

By 1911 the SM&P had pushed all the way through the town and far beyond. Some sort of road followed the course of modern County F across the middle of the township, and the north-bound jog continued up what is now Skyline Drive. Another road followed the course of modern highway 73 south to the county line, and that southeast corner has a fairly complete road grid, though these roads must have been crude. In this corner the Northwestern Lumber Co. had succeeded in selling most of its logged land to settlers, most with Polish names. In 1911 there were far more settlers here and around Lublin than anywhere else in western Taylor County. The rest of Taft had a few settlers at this time, with most of the land still in lumber company hands - Chippewa Lumber and Boom holding the majority.

Adapted (trimmed) from the Wikipedia article Taft Town, Wisconsin, revision 1377043550 by its contributors, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.