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Stiles Junction, Wisconsin
Unincorporated area & rail junction in Wisconsin, USA From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Stiles Junction is an unincorporated community located in the town of Stiles, Oconto County, Wisconsin, United States.[1]
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Early history - Leighton
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Originally known as Leighton this area of Stiles was settled by John Leigh , a native of Ireland[2][3] along the Little River in the late 1860s.[4] The family operated a small sawmill (and later a grist mill)[5] here into the 1880s. In 1887 this sawmill in Leighton was destroyed in a fire.[6] Native Americans were a common sight in Stiles and Leighton as one of their burial grounds was located in Leighton.[7]
The John Leigh settlement in Leighton, Wisconsin was located approximately 1.4 mile east of the Stiles Junction station on County Highway 22 near the Little River.[8] A post office was established in 1882, and it remained in operation for 4 years before being discontinued in 1886.[9][10]
The first white female born in Oconto County, Effie A. Leigh, was born in the community of Leighton on July 25, 1851.[5] The Stiles Junction school, originally called the Leigh Town School, was located in Leighton.[11]
In August 1886, a forest fire that had been raging in the county burnt down a local farmer's barn. The entire settlement of Leighton was in great danger of being destroyed. Luckily, everyone had escaped. In total, 2 barns, five tons of hay, and 2 hogs were destroyed/killed in the fire.[12] The easternmost portion of the community (along the Little River) most likely became a ghost town in the early 1910s.[citation needed]
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Stiles Junction
The Stiles Junction name came to be[13] with a diamond crossing[14] between an east–west line of the C&NW's predecessor Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway line (1883)[15] (that was built to Clintonville from Oconto) and the north–south Milwaukee Road.
After the second railroad came into this area of Stiles, the community surrounding the railroad station[note 1] soon began using "Stiles Junction" as the more commonly used name. Leighton was formally renamed Stiles Junction ca. 1882.[17][4][18]
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Geography
Stiles Junction is located at a diamond crossing between an east–west line of the Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) crossing of the north–south Milwaukee Road. Nearby is the crossroads of U.S. Highway 141 and Wisconsin State Highway 22.[19]
By 1887 there were several hotels, saloons[20] and other shops established in proximity to Stiles Junction.[21]
A piece in the October 19, 1991 Green Bay Press-Gazette list the Stiles Junction population as 40.[22]
Railroad
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The pre-existing Milwaukee Road's line (December 30, 1882)[23][24] connected Milwaukee and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.[25] The shared station that was built in 1881[26] and has recently collapsed and been removed.[27]
The C&NW in 1899 built a 2.4 mile branch line[28] to a sawmill and planing mill in Stiles[29][30] and later removed it in 1932.[31] The C&NW rail line eastward from the junction to Oconto, Wisconsin is now abandoned.[32][33]
Historic services
By the late 1960s, with few riders remaining and the US Postal rail contracts ended, the Milwaukee Road (and most other big RRs) discontinued many of their long-distance trains. After these passenger services ended, the Stiles Junction station continued to be used as a train order office for both of the railroads.
Oconto Falls branch
The middle portion of the line from Gillett, Wi to Oconto, Wi was the only intact section of the C&NW line remaining by the 1990s. The Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad bought the 4.7 mile[38] branch line from the C&NW on April 20, 1995. This 5-mile line westward from Stiles Junction to Oconto Falls, serves a Lumber yard, a distribution warehouse, a paper company, and a co-op grain storage facility.[39] A passenger station was located east of Cherry Avenue, on the north side of the tracks.[40] The 'connection' to the branch is via an inverted Y track.[41]
The C&NW line from Gillett to just outside Oconto Falls was allowed to be abandoned by the ICC in 1979[42] with the last train run on June 29, 1979. The C&NW line eastward from Stiles Junction to Oconto, was abandoned on December 3, 1996.[43][44][45]
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See also
References
External links
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