Boltonville 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 on Stony Creek in the town of
Farmington,
Washington 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.
History
Harlow Bolton established the community in 1854. While much of Farmington was settled by German immigrants, Boltonville was a center of Irish immigration. The early settlers used Stony Creek to power grist and saw mills. There was also a cheese factory, as well as shops, a post office, and a school.
In 1860, a group of Irish Catholics built a church in the community. The building was replaced by the
St. John of God Church in 1891.
In 1868, the
Sisters of St. Agnes, a Catholic order founded in the
Village of Barton, Wisconsin, built a school and a convent on the St. John of God Church property. The nuns served as public school teachers until at least 1892, and also taught parochial classes in the convent until 1879. Both buildings were abandoned around the turn of the century and were stripped for materials in the 1930s.
In 1872, a group of
Free Will Baptist
Free Will Baptists or Free Baptists are a group originating from General Baptists that emphasizes the teaching of free salvation and free will. The movement can be traced back to the General Baptists in 17th century England.
In 1702, Paul Palm ...
s from New England established a church in Boltonville. They had previously lived in the neighboring
Town of Trenton. The building became St. John's Evangelical Congregation in 1905 and is currently home to St. John's United Church of Christ.
Images
File:St John of God Roman Catholic Church Boltonville Wisconsin.jpg, St. John of God Roman Catholic Church, Convent, and School
File:Boltonville Wisconsin Downtown Looking West.jpg, Looking west in downtown Boltonville
File:Boltonville Wisconsin Fire Department.jpg, Fire department
File:Boltonville Wisconsin Looking North.jpg, Looking north at Boltonville
File:Boltonville Wisconsin Sign Looking North WIS28.jpg, Looking north at the sign for Boltonville on WIS 28
References
External links
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Unincorporated communities in Washington County, Wisconsin
Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin