Maple Works, Wisconsin Explained

Maple Works, also called Mapleworks was a hamlet in the town of Grant, Clark County, Wisconsin, United States. At one time it was a busy rural center with two stores, a saloon, a post office and several residences. According to the tables contained in the 1895 The New 11 x 14 Atlas of the World (New York:Rand McNally Corporation, 1895), Maple Works had a population of 62, but it no longer has residents.

There is now a Mennonite Church at one of the corners and the nearby settlement of Granton has a small diner named after the settlement on the north end of the village. The Windfall Cemetery is located a few blocks south of the Church on Romadka Road.

History

Maple Works was located a half mile east of the village of Granton at the corner of Fremont and Romandka Roads.[1] In 1857, Nelson Marsh from Pennsylvania settled in the area, coming with an ox team by way of Sparta and cutting a temporary road through the forest. He established a farm and tavern which served as a stagecoach stopping place on the old stage route from Neillsville to Stevens Point which was established in 1858. Marsh was the first postmaster of Maple Works,[2] serving in that capacity until the post office was abolished in the 1890s. The name was initially intended to be Maplewood, but because of unclear handwriting the application for a post office was interpreted as Mapleworks and so remained.[3] When Granton was established in 1890, many buildings were moved from Mapleworks to the new village.[4]

Notes

44.5964°N -90.4564°W

Notes and References

  1. http://www.usgennet.org/usa/wi/county/clark/clark/communities.htm Communities of Clark County, Wisconsin
  2. http://wvls.lib.wi.us/clarktownships/grant/churches/ZionMo/p6mapleworks.htm German Evangelical Lutheran Zion Church
  3. Winn, Mrs. F.E. "The Story of Granton and How Maple Works Got its Name", in: Clark County Centennial Corporation. The Book of the Years: the Story of the Men Who Made Clark County, as Told in Pictures and Type for the Clark County Centennial, 1853-1953, Celebration and Pageant, Neillsville, Wisconsin, Permanent Memorial of an Historical Occasion, July 1–4, 1953 Neillsville, Wisconsin, 1953.
  4. Book: Curtiss-Wedge, Franklyn. History of Clark County, Wisconsin, Volume 2. 1918. H. C. Cooper, Jr., & Co.. James O'Neill. 639.