Stiles Junction is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

located in the town of Stiles,

Oconto County, Wisconsin Oconto County is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 38,965. Its county seat is Oconto, Wisconsin, Oconto. The county was established in 1851. ...

, United States.

Early history - Leighton

Originally known as Leighton this area of Stiles was settled by John Leigh , a native of Ireland along the Little River in the late 1860s. The family operated a small sawmill (and later a grist mill) here into the 1880s. In 1887 this sawmill in Leighton was destroyed in a fire. Native Americans were a common sight in Stiles and Leighton as one of their burial grounds was located in Leighton. The John Leigh settlement in Leighton, Wisconsin was located approximately 1.4 mile east of the Stiles Junction station on County Highway 22 near the Little River. A

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was established in 1882, and it remained in operation for 4 years before being discontinued in 1886. The first white female born in Oconto County, Effie A. Leigh, was born in the community of Leighton on July 25, 1851. The Stiles Junction school, originally called the Leigh Town School, was located in Leighton. In August 1886, a

forest fire A wildfire, forest fire, or a bushfire is an unplanned and uncontrolled fire in an area of combustible vegetation. Depending on the type of vegetation present, a wildfire may be more specifically identified as a bushfire ( in Australia), dese ...

that had been raging in the county burnt down a local farmer's barn. The entire settlement of Leighton was in great danger of being destroyed. Luckily, everyone had escaped. In total, 2 barns, five tons of hay, and 2 hogs were destroyed/killed in the fire. The easternmost portion of the community (along the Little River) most likely became a ghost town in the early 1910s.

Stiles Junction

The Stiles Junction name came to be with a

diamond crossing A double junction is a railway junction where a double-track railway splits into two double track lines. Usually, one line is the main line and carries traffic through the junction at normal speed, while the other track is a branch line that car ...

between an east–west line of the C&NW's predecessor

Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway The Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway or ''Lake Shore Road'' (reporting mark MLS&W) is a former railroad company whose mainline connected Milwaukee, the Upper Peninsula and northwest Wisconsin with connection to Chicago by way of the Chica ...

line (1883) (that was built to Clintonville from Oconto) and the north–south

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

. After the second railroad came into this area of Stiles, the community surrounding the railroad station soon began using "Stiles Junction" as the more commonly used name. Leighton was formally renamed Stiles Junction ca. 1882. By 1887 there were several hotels, saloons and other shops established in proximity to Stiles Junction.

Geography

Stiles Junction is located at a

between an east–west line of the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Railroad classes#Class I, Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of t ...

(C&NW) crossing of the north–south

. Nearby is the crossroads of U.S. Highway 141 and Wisconsin State Highway 22. A piece in the October 19, 1991

Green Bay Press-Gazette The ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' is a newspaper whose primary coverage is northeastern Wisconsin, including Green Bay. History The newspaper was founded as the ''Green Bay Gazette'' in 1866 as a weekly paper, becoming a daily newspaper in 1 ...

list the Stiles Junction population as 40.

Railroad

The pre-existing Milwaukee Road's line (December 30, 1882) connected

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

of Michigan. The shared station that was built in 1881 and has recently collapsed and been removed. The C&NW in 1899 built a 2.4 mile branch line to a sawmill and planing mill in Stiles and later removed it in 1932. The C&NW rail line eastward from the junction to Oconto, Wisconsin is now abandoned.

Historic services

By the late 1960s, with few riders remaining and the US Postal rail contracts ended, the

(and most other big RRs) discontinued many of their long-distance trains. After these passenger services ended, the Stiles Junction station continued to be used as a train order office for both of the railroads. * Chippewa was discontinued on February 2, 1960. *

Copper Country Limited The ''Copper Country Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road") and the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A) between Chicago, Illinois and Calumet, Michiga ...

made its last runs on March 7, 1968.

Oconto Falls branch

The middle portion of the line from Oconto Falls to here was the only intact section of the C&NW line remaining by the 1990s. The

Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad The Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad is a Class III shortline railroad that operates of track in Northeastern Wisconsin and the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Its main line runs from Rockland, Michigan, to Green Bay, Wisconsin, and it also own ...

bought the 4.7 mile branch line from the C&NW on April 20, 1995. This 5-mile line westward to Oconto Falls, serves a distribution warehouse and a co-op grain storage facility there.

References

Explanatory notes Citations Bibliography * * *

External links

Exploring Inactive Rail Lines - Stiles-Stiles Jct-Oconto Jct, WI
{{Authority control Unincorporated communities in Oconto County, Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin Former Chicago and North Western Railway stations Former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad stations Railway stations in Wisconsin Transportation in Oconto County, Wisconsin Rail junctions in the United States