Arkansaw is an

unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to: * Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality * Unincorporated entity, a type of organization * Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...

in the eastern portion of the

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

of Waterville, in Pepin County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States. Located approximately west of Durand, it has the ZIP code of 54721. As of the 2010 census, its population was 177. From 1881 to 1886, the community was the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Pepin County.

History

Arkansaw was founded in the early 1850s at a crossing of Arkansaw Creek, a tributary of the

Eau Galle River The Eau Galle River is a tributary of the Chippewa River in western Wisconsin in the United States. It is about 35 mi (56 km) long. Via the Chippewa River, it is part of the Mississippi River watershed. The Eau Galle River was named ...

. Initially built around lumbering, the first

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes (dimensi ...

was opened in the community in 1852. The community was originally built near the center of three dams within a mile of each other on Arkansaw Creek. All three were wiped out in a flood in 1907. Arkansaw Creek was named in honor of the

Arkansas River The Arkansas River is a major tributary of the Mississippi River. It generally flows to the east and southeast as it traverses the U.S. states of Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. The river's source basin lies in the western United Stat ...

. Today, the course of the creek runs through Arkansaw Creek Park.

Geography

The community lies at the junction of U.S. Route 10 and Pepin County Trunk Highways D, N, O, and X. It has an area of ; of this is land, and is water.

Demographics

Religion

The community is home to three churches:

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

Methodist Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's ...

and Community of Christ.

Notable people

* Lucius Roy Holbrook -

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Major General *

Willard Ames Holbrook Major General Willard Ames Holbrook (July 23, 1860 – July 18, 1932) was a United States Army officer who served for almost forty years. Coming from a family with long military tradition, he was the father of future Brigadier General Willard Ame ...

- U.S. Army Major General *

Mary Laschinger Mary Laschinger (born circa 1959) is the former chairman and chief executive officer of Veritiv. While she was the CEO of Veritiv, it was the largest woman-run company in Georgia. Early life and education Laschinger was born around 1959 and ...

- businesswoman * Samuel L. Plummer - Wisconsin State Representative

References

External links

U.S. Gazetteer's Arkansaw pageWisconsin Historical Society, Articles about Arkansaw, Wisconsin
{{authority control Census-designated places in Pepin County, Wisconsin Census-designated places in Wisconsin