Downsville, Wisconsin

Downsville, Wisconsin
Wis-25 runs by town
Wis-25 runs by town
Downsville is located in Wisconsin
Downsville
Downsville
Location within the state of Wisconsin
Coordinates: 44°46′29″N 91°55′55″W / 44.77472°N 91.93194°W / 44.77472; -91.93194
CountryUnited States
StateWisconsin
CountyDunn
TownDunn
Area
 • Total0.805 sq mi (2.08 km2)
 • Land0.758 sq mi (1.96 km2)
 • Water0.047 sq mi (0.12 km2)
Population
 (2010)
 • Total146
 • Density180/sq mi (70/km2)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)715 & 534
Historical population
CensusPop.Note
2010146

Downsville is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Dunn, in Dunn County, Wisconsin, United States,[1][2] where Highway 25 crosses the Red Cedar River. As of the 2010 census, its population was 146.[3]

The community was founded in 1855. Around that time, Ebenezer Thompson tried to dam the Red Cedar, but his half-built dam was destroyed by a flood. In 1857 Captain Downs tried again and succeeded in building a dam which powered a sawmill. The village was platted in 1859, and named for Downs. He sold the mill to Knapp, Stout & Co., who expanded it and added planing and shingle mills which employed about 100 men by 1891. By that year the town also had a steam feed mill and a stop on the Menomonie branch of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul Railway.[4]

Downsville's Lodge 1961 of the Independent Order of Odd Fellows built this hall in 1908. It is now a local museum and the building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
  1. ^ "Downsville, Wisconsin". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Downsville, Wisconsin
  3. ^ "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved April 3, 2011.
  4. ^ Forrester, George (1891). Historical and Biographical Album of the Chippewa Valley, Wisconsin. Chicago, Illinois: A. Warner. pp. 123–124. Retrieved June 24, 2023.