Wagner 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

Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

, Marinette County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

, United States. Wagner is east-southeast of Wausaukee.

Geography

Wagner is located at the intersection of Old Rail Road (formerly Right of Way Road) and Wagner Road,''Stephenson Quadrangle Wisconsin–Michigan, 15 Minute Series (Topographic)''. 1963. Map, 1:62,500. Washington, DC: U. S. Geological Survey. at an elevation of . It is connected by road to McAllister to the north, Goll to the south, and

Wisconsin Highway 180 State Trunk Highway 180 (often called Highway 180, STH-180 or WIS 180) is a , north–south State highway#United States, state highway in southeastern Marinette County, Wisconsin, United States, that runs from Wisconsin Highway 64, WIS&nbs ...

to the east.

Name

Wagner is named after Joseph Wagner (1850–1925), an early settler of the area. Wagner was born in Austria and emigrated to the United States in 1865, initially to

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

and then relocating to

Mankato, Minnesota Mankato ( ) is a city in Blue Earth County, Minnesota, Blue Earth, Nicollet County, Minnesota, Nicollet, and Le Sueur County, Minnesota, Le Sueur counties in the U.S. state of Minnesota. It is the county seat of Blue Earth County, Minnesota. The ...

, where he met and married Susan Dauffenbach (1860–1941). They later moved to what is now Wagner, where Joseph Wagner was the first white settler. Wagner built a cabin there and worked for the sawmills in nearby Wallace, Michigan. Wagner Road, which passes through the community, is also named after Joseph Wagner.

History

Wagner was gradually settled by Swedish, French-Canadian, German, Dutch, Polish, and Czech immigrants. Wagner formerly had a railroad depot, two small hotels, a cheese factory, sawmills and a shingle mill, a dance hall, taverns, and a general store. The Goll schoolhouse stood south of the settlement. In 1908 a fire destroyed all of the structures west of the railroad, including the mills, after which the settlement stagnated. Wagner was a stop between Goll and McAllister on the Wisconsin & Michigan (W. & M.) Railway line from Bagley Junction to Iron Mountain. The rail line through Wagner was discontinued in 1938, when the tracks were torn out and the rolling stock sold off. A post office was established in Wagner in 1897, and it operated until 1934.

Church

Before the church was built in Wagner, masses were initially held by Father Joseph Hemmer (1870–1958) in the 1890s and then regularly celebrated at the Bernardy residence by Father Joseph John Fox. A congregation dedicated to

Saint Cecilia Saint Cecilia (), also spelled Cecelia, was a Roman Christian virgin martyr, who is venerated in Catholic, Eastern Orthodox Church, Orthodox, Anglican Communion, Anglican, and some Lutheran churches, such as the Church of Sweden. She became the ...

was established in 1905, and masses were held in various residences in Wagner. Land for a church was purchased in 1917, and a $500 donation was received in memory of Edward M. Dougherty, due to which the decision was made to dedicate the new church to Saint

Edward the Confessor Edward the Confessor ( 1003 – 5 January 1066) was King of England from 1042 until his death in 1066. He was the last reigning monarch of the House of Wessex. Edward was the son of Æthelred the Unready and Emma of Normandy. He succeede ...

in 1918. The church was a "mission church" (a

chapel of ease A chapel of ease (or chapel-of-ease) is a church architecture, church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently, generally due to trav ...

) subordinated to the parish church in

Walsh Walsh may refer to: People and fictional characters * Walsh (surname), including a list of people and fictional characters Places Australia * Mount Walsh, Mount Walsh National Park Canada * Fort Walsh, one of the first Royal Canadian Mounted ...

, and it was built by moving and combining two taverns. The main and side altars, altar stone, and linens were brought from the old church at Walsh. Land for the church cemetery was purchased in 1922. The church was moved further from the road in 1924, when a basement was also added, and electricity was installed in 1948. A new altar for the church was built by Gene Rolkosky in 1966. The church was closed and the property sold in 2004.

References

External links

* {{authority control Unincorporated communities in Marinette County, Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin