MANUFACTURING, MERCANTILE, ETC.

miles from the mills on the water power. The old cut and grade
over which the road was built may still be traced along the
fields. The reason of this was the great expense of building
through the villages of Neenah and Menasha, requiring four
long, costly bridges, the one over the lower lake being nearly a
mile long. The business men held a conference and arranged
to furnish the right of way, build the bridges and to join with
Menasha in a joint cost of a bridge over the lake, so the road
was established through the village without cost of roadbed or
bridges; only the cost of rail and laying was paid by the rail-
way company. The road was completed across the village on its
present location in December, 1862. The depot, at first a wooden
structure on the south side of Commercial street on the island,
used for both cities, was in 1900 moved to the north side of the
street and an elegant brick station erected as an ornament to
the town and road. The road does an annual business at this
station of $300,000.
The Wisconsin Central Railroad started on the center of the
island for Stevens Point and north to Ashland and Minneapolis
in 1871. The Milwaukee & Northern Railway was building to
Menasha from Milwaukee and joined the Central. After the
Central arranged to build from Neenah to Milwaukee and Chi-
cago via Oshkosh and Fond du Lac, the depot was erected on
the west side of town, as at present located, and the old depot
in Neenah at the foot of Wisconsin street abandoned. The road
does a business of $150,000 at this station for both cities. The
Northwestern road constructed a side track back of the mills
along the whole length of the water power in 1875, and the Mil-
waukee and Northern in 1879 ran a side track parallel, giving
the mills car service at their doors.
The Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway took over the
Milwaukee & Northern road in 1890 and built a depot on the
lower end of the island. This made three great trunk lines en-
tering Neenah.
The horse street car line between Neenah and Menasha was
constructed in 1886 by Mr. Lucius Clark, of South Bend,
Indiana, promoter. This road subsequently came under the con-
trol of Mr. Schumacker, of Quaker oats fame, and sold to the
present Fox river valley electric interurban line in 1896, and
made a part of their system built to Kaukauna in 1905. The
interurban street car line arrived in Neenah from Oshkosh in
1903.

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