Root Creek was a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

Sections Section, Sectioning or Sectioned may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * Section (music), a complete, but not independent, musical idea * Section (typography), a subdivision, especially of a chapter, in books and documents ** Section sig ...

21-22 and 27-28 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 ...

Greenfield Greenfield or Greenfields may refer to: Engineering and Business * Greenfield agreement, an employment agreement for a new organisation * Greenfield investment, the investment in a structure in an area where no previous facilities exist * Greenf ...

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Milwaukee County is located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely populated county in Wisconsin, and the 45th most populous coun ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, on the

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

- Janesville

plank road A plank road is a road composed of wooden planks or puncheon logs. Plank roads were commonly found in the Canadian province of Ontario as well as the Northeast and Midwest of the United States in the first half of the 19th century. They were oft ...

, at what is now roughly the intersection of that thoroughfare (now Forest Home Avenue) and 68th Street. The body of water after which it was named is nowadays referred to as the Root River.

History

The

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letters and parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post offices may offer additional serv ...

there was established August 19, 1847, near the eastern bank of Root Creek. When Peter Lavies became postmaster in 1854, soon after the establishment of the

Hales Corners Hales Corners is a village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 7,692 at the 2010 census. History The land in the area that would eventually encompass the Village was first claimed as French, then British, and even ...

post office just on the other side of the river, he moved it northeastward to a site adjacent to his tavern, at what is now the junction of South 76th Street, Forest Home Avenue, and Cold Spring Road. In 1846, a

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

church was built named Evangelisch-Lutherische St. Johannes-Gemeinde zu Root Creek, Wis. (St. John Evangelical Lutheran Church of Root Creek, Wisconsin). By 1848 there were four churches, and the area became a nucleus for a few businesses catering to the nearby farming community, almost all

German Americans German Americans (german: Deutschamerikaner, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. With an estimated size of approximately 43 million in 2019, German Americans are the largest of the self-reported ancestry groups by the Unite ...

and

Irish Americans , image = Irish ancestry in the USA 2018; Where Irish eyes are Smiling.png , image_caption = Irish Americans, % of population by state , caption = Notable Irish Americans , population = 36,115,472 (10.9%) alone ...

. The office of

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

was held from 1864-1867 by Hubert Lavies (later a state legislator), son of Peter Lavies. The post office itself moved with changes in postmaster, with the final location being at the intersection of what are now Howard and Forest Home Avenues, across the road from Honey Creek. In 1887 the population of the service area of the post office was estimated at 129. The post office was finally discontinued May 31, 1908. The Root Creek Farmers and Gardeners Exhibit, later to become simply known as the Root Creek Fair, started in fall of 1914, and continued on through 1939. The nearby District #10 public school would be known as "Root Creek School" from 1915 until 1943, when it was renamed MacArthur School after

Douglas MacArthur Douglas MacArthur (26 January 18805 April 1964) was an American military leader who served as General of the Army for the United States, as well as a field marshal to the Philippine Army. He had served with distinction in World War I, was C ...

. St. John Evangelical continued to use the name "Root Creek" for the nearby community through its centennial celebration and history book. By 1957, the area formerly known as Root Creek had been divided among five municipalities, and portions of the region once served by a single post office would be assigned to seven different zip codes. Only a handful of abandoned cemeteries such as Lavies Cemetery remain.Roesler, Robert. "Memories of Root Creek" ''Milwaukee History'' Vol 25, Nos. 3 & 4 (Fall-Winter 2002); pp. 66-67

References

{{authority control Ghost towns in Wisconsin Populated places in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin