Official Name: | Whittlesey, Wisconsin |
Settlement Type: | Census-designated place |
Pushpin Map: | Wisconsin |
Subdivision Type: | Country |
Subdivision Name: | United States |
Subdivision Type1: | State |
Subdivision Name1: | Wisconsin |
Subdivision Type2: | County |
Subdivision Name2: | Taylor |
Area Total Sq Mi: | 1.127 |
Area Land Sq Mi: | 1.127 |
Area Water Sq Mi: | 0 |
Population As Of: | 2010 |
Population Total: | 105 |
Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
Timezone: | Central (CST) |
Utc Offset: | -6 |
Timezone Dst: | CDT |
Utc Offset Dst: | -5 |
Elevation Ft: | 1476 |
Coordinates: | 45.2231°N -90.3289°W |
Area Code: | 715 & 534 |
Blank Name: | GNIS feature ID |
Blank Info: | 1576708 |
Whittlesey is a census-designated place in the town of Chelsea, Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 105 as of the 2010 census.[1]
The community of Whittlesey was started in the 1870s when the Wisconsin Central Railroad Company built its line up through the forests, heading for Ashland. The railroad placed a station seven miles north of Medford where the line touched the Little Black River. It named the station Whittlesey, probably for Asaph Whittlesey, an early state legislator from Ashland,[2] or possibly for geologist Charles Whittlesey who surveyed the area.[3]
Several sawmills operated in Whittlesey starting in the 1880s. One built a 240-foot dam across the river, producing a 12-foot head of water. Another sawmill operated a mile and a half west of town, hauling its sawn product on carts over a pole line (a track of hardwood poles) to ship from the station at Whittlesey.[4] A brickyard also operated there.[5]
A Village of Whittlesey was platted in 1892, initiated by G.W. and Emma Norton.[6] A 1913 map shows a "depot", post office, and blacksmith shop facing the railroad, with the school on the southeast side of town.[7] But as the timber was exhausted, the nearby sawmills closed and declined. The highway bypassed most of the town to the east. The rail line closed in 1988.[8]
As of 2023 Whittlesey is a quiet cluster of homes scattered among the trees a short drive north of Medford, with the Pine Line bike trail passing through on the old railroad right-of-way.[9]