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McMillan, Village of

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Author:
Mary Forer

Location:
T. 26 N. - R. 3 E., Township of McMillan

Founded:
1873

Formallized:
1891

Background:

Benjamin Franklin and Charles V. McMillan came to the area in 1873 to look for a location for their sawmill. They found one settler by the name of Thomas Woelfe who arrived in 1870. Little is known about Thomas Woelfe or his family.

Incorporated in 1891, the population of the village was almost entirely limited to the owners of the mill and their employees.  The population reached 200 shortly after the incorporation, but gradually declined.  The sawmill continued operations until 1911, after which time the population generally left and the dwellings were sold and moved to other locations.

First Public Official:
Benjamin F. McMillan, President

Biography:

Benjamin F. McMillan was born at Fort Covington, NY on October 17, 1845. He came west in 1865 working with his father's lumberyards in Keokuk, Iowa. Benjamin, along with his brother Charles, came to the area to build a sawmill in 1873.

G. H. Reynolds

Biography:

G. H. Reynolds was a bookkeeper for B.F. McMillan & Brother.

Post Office Established:
1881

First Postmaster:
Samuel B. Powell

About The Post Office:

Established August 9, 1881. The second postmaster was Benjamin McMillan. The office was closed February 29, 1919 with mail service from Marshfield in Wood County.

Railroad:

In 1878, the McMillan brothers built a railroad spur three and one half miles long from the Village of Mannville. They used this line to move lumber with their own locomotive referred to as "Snorting Bill." A Lakeshore Railroad was built in 1891 from Marshfield to Wausau through the settlement and the McMillan Station was established.

Churches:

See Town of McMillan

Schools:

See Town of McMillan

Industry:

Two brothers, Benjamin Franklin and Charles V. McMillan came to the area in 1873 from Unity to build a sawmill. The mill was running by 1874. It was equipped with a band saw, the first in the Pinery and the first to be manufactured by E.P. Allis Manufacturing Company in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The mill closed in 1911.

Farming:

Farmers began moving to the area shortly after the sawmill began operations

Stories:

The Village of McMillan had the unique distinction of being the only incorporated village in the nation with neither a saloon nor a church.