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Brokaw, Village of

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Author:
Mary Moltzan

Location:
T. 29 N., R. 7 E., Sec. 2 & 3, north of the Wisconsin River; and T. 30 N. - R. 7 E., Sec. 34 & 35, south of the Wisconsin River, Township of Texas

Formallized:
1903

Background:

Population:1905-433, 2000-107

Brokaw was the site of the first paper mill in Marathon County. The Wausau Paper Mills Company was formed in 1899 with Norman H. Brokaw of Kaukauna being one of the stockholders and the first president.  In 1900, the first paper was produced at the new mill.

In the beginning, Brokaw  was a miniature melting pot with immigrants from Norway, Italy, Germany, Poland, Austria, Canada, and other countries.  A boarding house was built for single factory-working men.  Then the company began the construction of homes for the workers and their families.  .

  The "Brokaw House Building Company" was incorporated in 1905.  One-family dwellings and duplexes were built and rented to the mill workers by the company.  At this time, Brokaw was a company village, but in 1948 the company sold the houses to the villagers.

Originally called Five Mile Dam, the community was named for Norman Brokaw, one of the co-founders and the first president of the mill.

Post Office Established:
March 15, 1901

First Postmaster:
William L. Edmonds

About The Post Office:

Located in T.29.N. - R.7.E., Sect. 2, the P.O. is still in service.

Railroad:

Train travel was the most important form of transportation for the people who lived in Brokaw.  Some of the paper mill workmen lived in Wausau and were taken to and from the mill by a special train on the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway known as the "Scud" or "the scoot".  It consisted of one engine and two passenger cars.  The railroad tried to time their runs to coordinate with the mill's shift times. 

The depot structure was moved to Camp Phillips Road in Weston where it functioned as an antique shop and then became part of a residential property.

Churches:

The Methodist church was built by the company in 1903. W. L. Edmonds, the mill manager, had the structure built as a Methodist church because his father was a Methodist minister.   

Early Lutherans worshipped in the Village Hall.

Catholics worshipped with a priest who came from Wausau once a month.

Schools:

The Brokaw school, built by the company shortly after 1900, had 3 rooms, the primary, middle and upper, having 2 or more grade levels in each room.  It was closed in 1962 and was torn down in 1982.

Business:

Company Store - A variety of merchandise could be purchased, but mill employees were not obligated to buy from the company store.  It was the only store in town, but, on payday, peddlers from Wausau would arrive with competitive prices for merchandise. During the 1930's depression, workers were paid with a twenty dollar coupon book good only at the company store.  This wood frame company store was destroyed by fire in 1948, and a new one-story brick general store was opened in Brokaw in 1949.

Boarding House - It was a 2 story structure which had two large wings and 12 sleeping rooms. The two dining rooms and the kitchen were downstairs while the millworkers' bedrooms were upstairs.

Club House - Shortly after 1900, the paper mill built a recreational clubhouse for their millworkers.   It contained twenty sleeping rooms, three bowling lanes, a barber shop, pool tables, soda fountain, and a reading room.

Abe Liques Saloon - This business was not only a saloon but a dance hall and a hotel. See Stories.

Brokaw Hill - Ski jumping, beginning in the 1930s on Brokaw Hill, became quite a popular sport for locals and competitors. These people jumped from a 45 foot angle, iron slide.  The old angle, iron slide was destroyed in a wind storm in the mid-Fourties.  In the later-Fourties, it was replaced with a wooden slide.  the Wausau Ski Club held annual tournaments here.

 

Industry:

Wausau Paper Mills Company - See Background.

Stories:

Abe Lique owned and operated a combination saloon, hotel and dance hall located across the Wisconsin River from the paper mill in Brokaw. Abe's place was often a main center of recreation and refreshment for the Brokaw village people during the years prior to and after prohibition.

The only way that the Brokaw people could reach "Abes" was to walk across the paper mill dam.  After a flood in 1941 destroyed the mill dam, it was no longer easy for the village people to get to Abe Liques.  As a result, Abe's establishment eventually ceased operation.

Oldtimers recalled Abe Lique as being quite a character.  He had a glass eye, and it was said he would take it out and show it to the curious.  He was also remembered for having a large number of dogs and cats that freely roamed his saloon.