HISTORY OF WOOD COUNTY



had erected, and which the Tribune now occupies. Mr. Huffman, who had in
October, 1919, bought the daily and weekly Leader from J. F. Cooley, discontin-
ued those papers on buying the Tribune, and now issues a daily and weekly
in the
form of the Wisconsin Rapids Daily Tribune and the Wood County Weekly Tribune.
In 1922 he bought out the Nekoosa Tribune and discontinued it
   The Wisconsin Valley Leader was started March 6, 1902, by J. F. Cooley
and
M. E. Emmons under the firm name of Cooley & Emmons, and was issued as
a
weekly. From Feb. 12, 1903, owing to private family reasons, it was published
under the name of Mrs. N. E. Emmons, Mr. Cooley, however, being the real
or
chief proprietor. Mrs. Emmons' name appears on the files for the last time
in the
issue of Dec. 19, 1907. On March 25, 1914, a daily issue of the Leader appeared,
with J. F. Cooley as editor, S. V. McElroy city editor and M. E. Cooley society
editor. On Oct. 6, 1919, Mr. Cooley sold both the Daily and Weekly Leader
to
William F. Huffman, together with the plant, who continued to publish both
edi-
tions until March 1, 1920, when, having bought the Grand Rapids Tribtune
(then
a weekly) and its plant from Drumb & Sutor, he discontinued the Leader,
both
daily and weekly.
   In 1897 there was published in Wisconsin Rapids, by Frank Martina, a German
weekly independent paper called the Wisconsin National Zeitung, but it seems
to
have been short lived, as but one reference to it has been found.
   The first meeting of the Grand Rapids Street Railroad Company was held
in
the city of Grand Rapids, Wis., March 27, 1909, Neal Brown of Wausau, Wis.,
acting as chairman and E. P. Arpin of Grand Rapids as secretary. The articles
of organization were filed with the secretary of the state of Wisconsin Feb.
17, 1909.
The company capitalized at $125,000. The first duly elected officers were:
Neal
Brown, president; L. M. Nash, vice president; G. M. Hill, secretary; F. J.
Wood,
treasurer; B. F. Wilson, M. C. Ewing and G. .D Jones. The company has eight
miles of track running from Wisconsin Rapids (formerly Grand Rapids) through
South Centralia, Port Edwards and Nekoosa. In 1910 the company built a large
pavillion at Moccasin Creek, one and a half miles north of Nekoosa, and it
has
since been one of the most popular dancing resorts in this section of the
state. In
February, 1921, the company changed its name to the Wisconsin Rapids Street
Railroad Company, because the city of Grand Rapids had changed its name to
Wisconsin Rapids. The present officers of the company are: L. M. Nash, presi-
dent; W. F. Kellogg, vice president; G. M. Hill, secretary; F. J. Wood, treasurer;
A. J. Hasbrouch, A. U. Marvin and A. B. Sutor. N. E. Nash is manager. In
the summer of 1922 the company extended their line over the new bridge and
the
cars now start on the east side of the river, whereas before the west end
of the
bridge was the terminal.
   It was in the latter eighties and early nineties that a number of new
and im-
portant enterprises were started, this growth being especially noticeable
in the
nineties. Some of these have undergone subsequent changes of ownership, or
the
plants remodeled for other uses, and some are now defunct. Among those which
flourished for a number of years but which is now non-existent was the Grand
Rapids Brick Company, the plant of which was located two miles north on,
the
Wisconsin Central Railway. It was established about 1898 and manufactured
in
large quantities a red sand brick from clay mined a short distance from the
yard.



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