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Rome Municipal Offices   1156 Alpine Drive   Nekoosa, WI   54457   715-325-8013                                                            Contact Us
 

The earliest residents of Central Wisconsin were woodland Indian nations settled on the banks of the Wisconsin River. Artifacts of their culture still surface in some areas.

Lake Petenwell, part of the Wisconsin River, forms the western boundary of the Town of Rome and richly contributes to its history. Early logger floated rafts of logs downstream to Barnum Bay sawyers. Once cut down, the lumber was again floated on the river to the 'Mighty' Mississippi and beyond. Lake Petenwell is Wisconsin's second largest lake at 23,040 acres or approximately 36 square miles. It was created in 1948 by the Wisconsin River Power Company with the construction of a dam across the Wisconsin River near Necedah. It has a maximum depth of 42 feet and is excellent for skiing, sailing or fishing. Private lakefront property is very limited as most of the virgin shoreline is undeveloped forest. Wildlife abounds including one of the larger populations of wintering bald eagles in Wisconsin.

In 1965, successful development of Deer Lodge Lake gave birth to Lake Sherwood. Followed by Lakes Camelot and Arrowhead in the early 1970's, the area is now known as The Lakes.

More History .....
1854-1982
About the year 1854, the Town of Rome was formed in Adams County. The first record of an election stated that W.W. Burhite was elected as supervisor chairman. Josef Smith and Morris Burroughs were elected as supervisors. Loran Finch was elected as clerk and J.R. Hammond as treasurer. Mr. Burroughs also served as Justice of the Peace. Bela Burhite and Frank Higbe served as constables.

The average vote tally in the early days of Rome was 45 to 65. Elections were held in one of the school houses, town meetings were held in someone's home.

In 1858 as more people moved  west into the Town of Rome, school districts were formed in the more settled areas. Parents began to realize the importance of an education for their children.

The first school in the Town of Rome was built about 1859 and called the Chester School. In 1887 a new and larger school was built to accommodate all the children. Some years later a cement block school was built. Teachers wages in the mid 1880's were $8.00 a month for a three month school term. Wages later went as high as $35.00 per month for a longer school term.

In 1866 only four pupils attended the Horten School, with a new larger Horten School constructed between 1876 and 1879. This was also the same time the Barnum School was constructed. Around 1870 lumber from the Barnum mill became available and a new school was built. Vandreesen School was built of logs in 1898 with Larry Myhill serving as the first teacher.

Spring Branch School was constructed in 1891. In April 1926 a fire swept through this part of Rome. The Spring Branch teacher Rhonda Soterman and her students were credited with saving the school from the fire. Many homes were threatened in the area but there was no loss of life.

The Douglas school district was formed in the early 1900's. There was also a Marth school but it burned to the ground a few years after it was constructed.

Mr. Calvin Chester become the first town superintendent of schools in 1858 and by the year 1901 there were 253 school age children in the Town of Rome.

There are no schools today in the Town of Rome. All students attend Humke Elementary School, Alexander Middle School and Nekoosa High School in Nekoosa, WI.

Between 1913 and 1916 a partial survey by the Wisconsin Archeological Society revealed Adams County was rich in effigy burial and ceremonial mounds. Many of these were built by prehistoric Indians dating back to 4500B.C. The mounds were shaped like lizards, birds and animals. Only important members of the tribe were given the honor of such a burial. There was one rare buffalo mound located in the Town of Rome, sad to say it is now located at the bottom of Lake Petenwell. The dimensions of this mound were 70 feet by 22 feet and about 2½ feet high. There were a total of 26 mounds in the Town of Rome.

 












If you have old photographs that you would like to share to have placed on the web site, please submit to the Town of Rome. All photographs to be returned.

 

The Town of Rome has always had two working streams. The 14-Mile, so-called because it was 14 miles from Grand Rapids and Centralia (later called Wisconsin Rapids). The other stream is Spring Branch. Both of these streams have their origin in the Buena Vista marsh and both emptied into the Wisconsin River.

Water played an important part in the growth of the Town of Rome. A lumber mill was located in Barnum and there were two grist mills. One mill owned by A. Harris and one by William Harrison. The Harrison mill was built in 1866 and was flooded out by the Weed Lumber Company when they put in a dam to raise water levels to hold lumber logs. Mr. Harris was given new lumber from the mill to rebuild the original grist mill on Greenough Creek. Greenough Creek is now known as the 14-Mile.

The Barnum mill flourished until fire destroyed it in 1878. The Barnum mill was one of the largest lumber mills in the area. Workers came to the area to work at the mill, this in turn made the Barnum area grow. There were 15 - 20 houses built in the area plus a boarding house. This presented a need for food so a store came, plus a post office. The post office was in Tuttle's General Store and Earl Tuttle was postmaster.

Rafts of logs were floated down the Wisconsin River from the north woods and would eventually make their way to St. Louis and other industrial cities. The lumbermen at Barnum decided it would be much easier to raft lumber down the river rather than have logs. The Weed Lumber company had a dam built across the river forming a slough to hold the logs until they could be made into lumber. A water powered planking mill was constructed in the early 1870's.

After the mill burned, people moved onto other employment. The Post Office closed, until years later when a new Post Office opened. Today, all mail is routed through Nekoosa.

Early transportation through the Town of Rome took place primarily on the Portage Road. This road ran from Portage to Nekoosa to Centralia and Grand Rapids. There was a stage coach station call the Hit or Miss Station, located near the 10-Mile creek. The stage coach line, after crossing the river by ferry at Nekoosa, followed the high ridge line, roughly what is now 13th Avenue.

The 14-Mile Creek and Spring Branch Creek along with the Wisconsin River are the life blood of the Town of Rome. N.E. Issacson has made three man-made lakes in the town. The first   was Lake Sherwood. This lake was an enlargement of the original Beske Gee Lake, later called Deer Lodge. Lake Camelot was made using the two hard working creeks. The last man-made lake was Lake Arrowhead, located down stream from Lake Sherwood, and originally named Lake Manchester. Lake Petenwell, completed in 1950, is an enlargement of the Wisconsin River. It was created by a dam built by a consortium of power companies.

The first Rome Town Hall was built in 1935; a 30' x 40' building constructed on the corner of what is now Highway 13 and Alpine Drive. Town residents raised $300, borrowing the remaining $500 needed to construct the new hall.

In 1969, a 50' x 100' municipal garage was built for $22,000.00 which housed two graders, two mowers, tractors and five trucks which serviced about 800 town residents.

By 1975 Rome had outgrown its town hall and built a large municipal building to house the volunteer fire department as well as government offices. Additional changes have since taken place to accommodate all the town.

02/2008
Visitor 00243