Middleton History

Middleton’s Roots

• In 1832, a fur trading post was established by Wallace Rowan and Michael St. Cyr along the northern shore of Lake Mendota, near the area that is now Mendota County Park.  Shortly afterward, his trading post was bought by a prominent resident named William B. Slaughter, who dreamed of the area becoming the capital of Wisconsin territory.

 

• On March 11, 1848, the territorial legislature created the Town (Township) of Middleton (Town 7, north, Range 9, east);  the same year that Wisconsin gained statehood a few months later.

 

• The name Middleton was chosen by Harry Barnes, an early settler in the area; named after Barnes’ home in Vermont.

 

• By the early 1840s a few early settlers had located in an area that would become Sections 26 & 27 in the Town of Middleton.  This early community, near the junction of what is now Mineral Point and Junction Roads, soon became known as Middleton Junction (or East Middleton).

 

• Pioneers also settled about 2 miles further west along Mineral Point Road, and called their community West Middleton.  The exact location is a bit of a puzzle.  It appears to be in Section 30 on the 1861 and 1873 Plat Maps, but seems to be in Section 29 on the 1890 and 1899 Plat Maps.

 

• About the same time, another settlement began in Sections 1 and 12 along a small stream flowing into Lake Mendota. The community of Pheasant Branch, as it was soon called, developed along an established route (now Century Avenue) and houses, stores, a hotel and a brewery were built.  Eventually, the early promise of Pheasant Branch was overtaken by the Village of Middleton. One of the most enduring establishments was the Pheasant Branch Hotel and Tavern, a popular dining spot to this day, now known as “1847 at the Stamm House.”

 

• The Village of Middleton owes its start to the railroad that pushed westward from Madison in 1856.  Township communities were disappointed when the railroad bypassed them in favor of a straighter route westward.  A Depot was built along the rail line with residents and businesses soon following.  This new settlement, called Middleton Station by some and Peatville by others (after the large peat marsh nearby), would someday become the City of Middleton we know today.

 

• The first settlers were mainly of English descent, however, this soon changed as a huge German influx began in the 1850s.  One early German family was the Toepfers, who arrived in the Middleton area from Mecklenburg in the late 1840s, but settled in what became the Town of Springfield.  It is possible they could not find or afford suitable land in Middleton; although they did move to Middleton later on.  By 1852, there were enough Mecklinburgers in the area to found the First Lutheran Church.  After 1880, the population was largely German in origin.
   

• The railroad in 1856 created economic opportunities and business ventures soon began.  At first, wheat was the primary commodity and Middleton Station soon had large grain elevators along the railroad.  In the last half of the 19th Century, soil exhaustion and disease took a heavy toll on wheat crops and soon dairying became the dominant form of regional agriculture.
   

• Other business activity quickly followed, spurred by the needs of the railroad, its passengers and area farmers.  These ventures included a lumberyard, stockyard, blacksmith shops, hotels, saloons and general mercantile stores.

 

• In 1889, William Hoffman established a flour and feed mill on Elmwood Ave. across from the present Gunderson Funeral Home.  On a hot June evening in 1900, a spark ignited grain dust inside the mill and soon a great fire erupted in downtown Middleton that quickly destroyed almost all of the business structures east of Parmenter Street, nineteen in all.  Rebuilding began quickly and the village also formed its first Fire Dept. within the next year.

 

• Hoffman’s replacement mill was a major business in downtown Middleton until 1936, when it too was consumed by fire.

 

• In 1927, the Schwab and Schwarz General Store opened at the southeast corner of Parmenter St. and Hubbard Ave.  Located in what may have been Middleton’s oldest building, constructed in 1856 by W.A. Wheeler, the new owners used the slogan, “Middleton’s Friendly Service Store.”
   

 Middleton Schools

• The first school in the Town of Middleton was probably built by J.D. Sanford in 1847.  The log building, costing $144 was likely constructed in or near Section 27, along Mineral Point Road.
   

• The first school house, in what is now the city of Middleton, was believed to be located on or near the site of the St. Bernard Parish Cemetery on Branch Street.

 

• In 1872, Middleton opened a brick and stone elementary school near the Quarry on Terrace Avenue.  Some sources indicate it burned in 1884.  The building was replaced by a two-story frame building on the same location that continued to be used as an elementary school until the new Elm Lawn School (between South and Hubbard Avenues) opened its doors in 1913.  Later, the frame building served as the Masonic Temple before it was moved to Hubbard Avenue where it became the new Village Hall.

 

• In 1879, Middleton opened the doors to its first High School.  The brick structure, built for $1,000, still stands at the corner of Terrace Ave. and N. High Point Road.  Sixteen applicants passed an entrance exam and were admitted to the first session which lasted 3 months.  The first teacher, Mr. C.E. Buell, was paid $200.

 

• The old Pheasant Branch School, now the VFW Post on Century Avenue, was built in 1896 and served as the second graded school in the area until the 1950s when it was acquired by the local Veterans of Foreign Wars.

 

• A second High School, a 2-story brick building, was built in 1903 at the corner of Middleton and Franklin Streets.  This served the community until 1918 when a third school was built on a 3-acre North Avenue tract.  After serving Middleton students for about 15 years, the former high school (on Middleton and Franklin streets) became home to the Masonic Temple.
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Persons of Note

• W.B. Slaughter was an early settler in the Middleton area and he platted the area near the northwest edge of Lake Mendota to be called the “City of Four Lakes.”  He dreamed that one day this spot would be the territorial capital, but other politicians soon thwarted his ideas.  His name was initially given to one of Middleton’s major streets, but after a time the name was changed to Elmwood Avenue.

 

• Thomas T. Whittlesey, another early resident, was a former member of Congress from Connecticut.  Whittlesey soon acquired some of Slaughter’s land and began the settlement of Pheasant Branch, building his home around 1847 and soon thereafter a sawmill.  The village of Pheasant Branch was platted by Whittlesey in 1853.

 

• Whittlesey built a second home in 1855 on Elmwood Ave. and it remains today as one of Middleton’s historic landmarks.  Later, he served as State Senator and was a practicing attorney for many years.

 

• Whittlesey’s name can still be found on one of Middleton’s streets, not far from the site of Pheasant Branch; however, the first such designation honoring Mr. Whittlesey was changed many years ago to University Avenue.