Brantwood, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
Brantwood is an unincorporated community
in southern Price County
, Wisconsin
, United States
located within the town of Knox
. It lies along United States Highway 8 and on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, between Prentice
on the west and Tomahawk
on the east. The rural community was settled in the late 1890s as a logging community.
area. They established the small community of Knox Mills a few miles south of Brantwood when they built a mill. The need to transport timber and products resulted in a spur being built from Brantwood to Knox Mills.
J B Engstrom owned a sawmill, planing mill
, and a boarding house for the mostly immigrant bachelor workers in Knox Mills. The mill prospered in the 1920s, but the Great Depression shut it down until the late 1930s. Knox Mills, having no post office or main line railroad, began to disappear and the area was absorbed into the Brantwood community and the spur line abandoned.
As the land was stripped of its timber, the Knox brothers began selling it to immigrants for farm land and the community slowly changed from a booming logging industry to a sedate farming and dairy community.
Land advertisements were targeted to Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish immigrants living in other states. K. A. Ostergen and E. H. Hobe, both agents for the railroad, assisted the railroad company and the Knox brothers in marketing the land sales.
According to the 1900 US Census, there were 411 people living in the Town of Knox which included Brantwood and Knox Mills. By 1910, the population was 1,010 and in 1920 the census counted 1,251 people in the Town of Knox.
The Finns of Brantwood established a cooperative store and cheese factory that prospered well into the 1960s. However with no industry to entice new people to the area or keep young adults there after graduation, Brantwood slowly declined as well. In the 2000 US Census there were only 399 people in the Town of Knox.
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in southern Price County
Price County, Wisconsin
Price County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 15,822. Its county seat is Phillips.-Geography:According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of , of which is land and is water...
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
located within the town of Knox
Knox, Wisconsin
Knox is a town in Price County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 399 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of Brantwood is located with the town...
. It lies along United States Highway 8 and on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, between Prentice
Prentice, Wisconsin
Prentice is a village in Price County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a total population of 626. The village is located within the Town of Prentice.-Geography:...
on the west and Tomahawk
Tomahawk, Wisconsin
Tomahawk is a city in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,346 at the 2010 census. The city is located to the northeast of the Town of Tomahawk and is not contiguous with it.-History:...
on the east. The rural community was settled in the late 1890s as a logging community.
History
Francis Palms was the first to purchase acreage in the area and later sold the land to William and Samuel Knox. The Knox brothers were loggers from the Stevens Point, WisconsinStevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...
area. They established the small community of Knox Mills a few miles south of Brantwood when they built a mill. The need to transport timber and products resulted in a spur being built from Brantwood to Knox Mills.
J B Engstrom owned a sawmill, planing mill
Planing mill
A planing mill is a facility that takes cut and seasoned boards from a sawmill and turns them into finished dimensional lumber. Machines used in the mill include the planer and matcher, the molding machines, and varieties of saws...
, and a boarding house for the mostly immigrant bachelor workers in Knox Mills. The mill prospered in the 1920s, but the Great Depression shut it down until the late 1930s. Knox Mills, having no post office or main line railroad, began to disappear and the area was absorbed into the Brantwood community and the spur line abandoned.
As the land was stripped of its timber, the Knox brothers began selling it to immigrants for farm land and the community slowly changed from a booming logging industry to a sedate farming and dairy community.
Land advertisements were targeted to Swedish, Norwegian and Finnish immigrants living in other states. K. A. Ostergen and E. H. Hobe, both agents for the railroad, assisted the railroad company and the Knox brothers in marketing the land sales.
According to the 1900 US Census, there were 411 people living in the Town of Knox which included Brantwood and Knox Mills. By 1910, the population was 1,010 and in 1920 the census counted 1,251 people in the Town of Knox.
The Finns of Brantwood established a cooperative store and cheese factory that prospered well into the 1960s. However with no industry to entice new people to the area or keep young adults there after graduation, Brantwood slowly declined as well. In the 2000 US Census there were only 399 people in the Town of Knox.