News Items Relating to the
Crandon - Laona Road
Wagon Road Is In Bad Shape - The Eastern side of Forest County Rapidly Forging to the Front
Forest Republican - August 18, 1904
Crandon, Wisconsin - There Should be a First Class Road From Crandon to Laona at Once.
The road from Crandon to Laona being in such a wretched condition, most of the travel from Crandon to Laona and Wabeno now goes as follows: Leave Crandon for North Crandon by livery about 8 o’clock a.m. Take the Soo Line train and arrive at Laona Junction at 9:30 a.m. Leave this point about 10 a.m. and arrive at Laona, over the Laona and Northern railway, about 11 a.m. If Wabeno is the objective point, take dinner at Laona, and drop down to Wabeno about the middle of the afternoon, over the Chicago and Northwestern railway. Of course, this is quite a round-about-way, and the time spent is no little consideration; but these things do not deter the traveler from taking this route in preference to a tussle with the so-called wagon road from Crandon to Laona. It is unfortunate for Forest county that this highway between these two rapidly growing towns cannot be improved at once, for the eastern side of the county is striding forward at a rapid pace, as will appear in this article further on, and over this highway, if it were put into proper condition, would pour a large amount of county business, and other business. It seems to the writer that Crandon cannot realize what this highway means to her future, else there would be a united effort to put this highway into first-class shape without delay.
There is no doubt that the county board would assist in improving the road, as it is practically the most important highway in the county from the standpoint of county business. Laona is making rapid growth. Here is the big mill with its 2 band-saws and all other modern appliances to turn out finished lumber. Here is the standard gauge logging railway owned by this mill company, connecting with the Soo Line at one end and with the Chicago and Northwestern Railway at the other. This logging railway is kept busy bringing in logs to the saw mill, and a good part of the produce shipped into Laona. It is being rapidly extended to the south-west and will probably be opened up as far as Roberts Lake by the time that snow flies.
Down the Northwestern track at Rat River a branch track of that railway is practically completed for a distance of something over 3 miles, where Flanner is hard at work with a big crew putting up a plant to be filled with wood-working machinery of the latest pattern. He has bought a large amount of timber from the Chicago and Northwestern Railway people, which will be heavily drawn upon for the market at once.
The railway will be extended down the Rat River to Connor’s other mill, and eventually, it may follow the Peshtigo River for miles, possibly until a junction with the main line is effected near the shores of Green Bay. This however is a mere surmise at present. Some two mile south of Rat River on the Klondike branch in Padus where the Indiana people have put in and are operating a nice little plant, and they are said to be making money. Still further down this track is Wabeno, where the Jones Lumber Company is operating the old Rusch mill. Here is also the Wabeno Lumber Company and one or two other small enterprises. But Wabeno has experienced a genuine boom. The Menominee Bay Shore Lumber Company has just bought some 27,000 acres of Chicago and Northwestern lands lying east of Wabeno in ranges 15, 16 and 17. The company is hard at work with 100 men clearing off its mill site about a mile south of the Wabeno depot. The plant will be put up as soon as possible and a logging railway started. This new enterprise makes Wabeno a permanent town of no mean dimensions.
Some 5 miles down the track is Carter which has steadily spread out for the last 5 years and is still growing. This will give the readers of the Republican some idea of the forces that are at work on the eastern side of Forest County to brush aside the dense forests and let sunlight kiss the dear old wrinkled face of Mother Earth.
It may be truthfully said that all of the timber land east of the Klondike branch and south of the Soo Line has now been appropriated by the manufacturer for his own use, and in a few years he will be followed by the farmer who will cause that whole country to blossom out into beautiful homes, the saw mill and the logger having passed in quest of other worlds to conquer.
~ End of Story ~
Crandon – Laona Road Forest Republican, May 23, 1901
The new county board met Tuesday, all members present. Among other things done, it was decided to put some county road moneys upon some of the main roads especially the road from Crandon to Laona. A committee will meet on May 31st to decide upon changing the present road out of Laona. It now comes out through Connor’s mill yard and the dam floods the whole country near the Rat River. It is proposed to run west from the depot across the east and west quarter line of section 36 and then turn north and west. The road to Laona looks like a very crooked stick county map. Whilst the road is being changed at the east end, why would it not be wise to change it so as to run due east on the quarter line at the north end of Rat Lake, instead of taking that big swing to the south-east and then back to the north-east. The road could thus be shortened some two or three miles, which means much less in the long run to make a good highway between Crandon and Laona.
There is now some $3,000 in the country treasury in good hard cash. It is expected that a good part or all of this will go upon the highway in question in 1901.
~ End of Story ~
County Road Work Forest Republican, July 4, 1901
The Chairman of the Several Towns are Rushing the Work.
The work upon the Crandon – Laona road is nicely started. Chairman Webb who is in charge of the work informs us that he has eight men and two teams working and they have reached the big hill between Metonga and Stone Lake. Mr. Webb is having the road turnpiked and fixing it up in good shape. He has to cover the ground between Crandon and somewhere in the vicinity if Rat Lake. We understand that Chairman McGuire of Laona is pushing the work at his end of the road also. The road will also be of great benefit to Forest County as it opens up some splendid hardwood timber and fine farming land.
~ End of Story ~
Building Memory Roads - Eau Claire Leader - July 27, 1921
Between Laona and Crandon, $120,000 is being spent to improve the highway, and the people in that section are much in favor of making this road into a memorial for their soldiers. W.R. Jaeger of the Rhinelander Daily News believes the people of his no time in making memory road preparations. He believes, like the other memory road makers, that the trees should begin at the city's edge and be planted out into the country.
Verne Richards of Eagle River, and Harold Brady of the Forest Republican will carry the memory road plans to the citizens of their community and report results.
~ End of Story ~
