Sheldon, Rusk County, Wisconsin

Sheldon, Wisconsin
Village
On main street, facing east
Location of Sheldon, Rusk County, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 45°18′37″N 90°57′32″W / 45.31028°N 90.95889°W / 45.31028; -90.95889Coordinates: 45°18′37″N 90°57′32″W / 45.31028°N 90.95889°W / 45.31028; -90.95889
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Rusk
Area
• Total	0.66 sq mi (1.71 km2)
• Land	0.66 sq mi (1.71 km2)
• Water	0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation	1,122 ft (342 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	237
• Estimate (2012)	229
• Density	359.1/sq mi (138.6/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	715 & 534
FIPS code	55-73175
GNIS feature ID	1574003

Sheldon is a village in Rusk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 237 at the 2010 census.

Around 1885 a few pioneer families named Marshal, Sergeant and Carman settled in the brush a mile west of Sheldon's current location, in a hamlet they called "Fern." Anton Corbine carried mail in to them from Flambeau by foot or by horse. Other settlers followed. Woodlawn Cemetery was started in 1903 with the burial of Mrs. A. Elmendorf. A little log school stood just south of it, and a Rev. Willam would sometimes follow the trails up from Huron to lead worship in the school. In 1905 Max Dietze from Hawkins built a general store east of the cemetery, supplied by driving a wagon with horses across the Jump and along logging roads to Holcombe or Chippewa. In 1906 D. L. Pickering built a sawmill on the bank of Little Jump River.

Sheldon itself began to take form in 1906 when the Wisconsin Central Railroad built its line a mile east of Fern, over the Jump and through the woods on its way to Superior. (That rail line still exists as the modern Canadian National line.) Just north of the river, the Wisconsin Central built a depot, a section house, and a water tank for its trains, and named the station "Sheldon," after one of its officials. That same year Ed Lacy built a general store across from the depot, later known as Brown's store, then Mau's. In 1907 Bill Huggins moved his saloon from Fern into Sheldon. Max Dietz also moved his general store from near the cemetery in to town. Eventually all businesses and schools moved, until now all that remains out by Fern is farms, homes, and the cemetery.

In 1908 Sheldon was platted, and that year a land office opened. By 1910 a new 8-grade school was built in town. The town had a barber shop and two saloons - one with a dance hall upstairs. It had two hotels: the Hotel Walter and the Sheldon House. They mainly housed lumber workers. Logging was the big business then, with the John S. Owen Company logging north of town. In town, several mills sawed boards, including the Jump River Lumber Company's mill, which employed more than forty men until it burned in 1912. These mills produced boards mostly for local use, but Pickering's lath mill shipped out its product on the railroad. A train stopped once a day, heading north one day and south the next, and carrying passengers of course, since the roads were terrible. Herb Duel, Sr. installed the first telephones in 1910, with a switchboard in the Hotel Walter. Lacy brought the first car, a 1909 Ford, to town in 1910. In 1917 the village of Sheldon was incorporated, with population 123.