See Cleveland (disambiguation) Cleveland is a town in Taylor 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. The population was 262 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated community of

Hannibal Hannibal (; ; 247 – between 183 and 181 BC) was a Punic people, Carthaginian general and statesman who commanded the forces of Ancient Carthage, Carthage in their battle against the Roman Republic during the Second Punic War. Hannibal's fat ...

is located in the town.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the town has a total area of 35.7 square miles (92.4 km²), of which 33.9 square miles (87.7 km²) is land and 1.8 square miles (4.7 km²) (5.07%) is water. Most of the water area is Chequamegon Waters, also known as Miller Dam, a man-made lake in the southeast corner of the town.

History

The six mile square that would become Cleveland was first surveyed in 1847 by a crew working for the U.S. government. Then in 1854 another crew marked all the section corners in the

township A township is a form of human settlement or administrative subdivision. Its exact definition varies among countries. Although the term is occasionally associated with an urban area, this tends to be an exception to the rule. In Australia, Canad ...

, walking through the woods and slogging through the swamps on foot, measuring with

chain A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

and compass. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:

''The Township contains several swamps. All(?) are unfit for cultivation. The Meadow and
Alder Alders are trees of the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus includes about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few species ex ...
bottoms are all subject to be overflowed to a depth of 1 too 2 feet and are good for
hay Hay is grass, legumes, or other herbaceous plants that have been cut and dried to be stored for use as animal fodder, either for large grazing animals raised as livestock, such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep, or for smaller domesticate ...
. The surface is Generally low and level apart is upland where the soil is 2d rate. This Township is heavily Timbered and is chiefly composed of Hemlock Y. Birch W. Pine and
Balsam Balsam is the resinous exudate (or sap) which forms on certain kinds of trees and shrubs. Balsam (from Latin ''balsamum'' "gum of the balsam tree," ultimately from a Semitic source such as ) owes its name to the biblical Balm of Gilead. Ch ...
. The undergrowth is generally thick and is composed of Hemlock
Hazel Hazels are plants of the genus ''Corylus'' of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate Northern Hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family, Betulaceae,Germplasmgobills Information Network''Corylus''Rushforth, K ...
and Balsam. Balsam and
elm Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus ''Ulmus'' in the family Ulmaceae. They are distributed over most of the Northern Hemisphere, inhabiting the temperate and tropical- montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ...
(?) line the margins of the meadow and Alder bottoms. The River enters the Township near the center of its East Boundary and flows in a Southerly and South-Westerly course with a switft current and is from 1 too 3 feet deep in a low Stage of water and is adapted to the forming of a good motive power for
mills Mills is the plural form of mill, but may also refer to: As a name * Mills (surname), a common family name of English or Gaelic origin * Mills (given name) *Mills, a fictional British secret agent in a trilogy by writer Manning O'Brine Places U ...
. There is no improvements in this Township.''

The east end of Cleveland was logged at least by the early 1860s, when George Judson built a dam on the

Yellow River The Yellow River, also known as Huanghe, is the second-longest river in China and the List of rivers by length, sixth-longest river system on Earth, with an estimated length of and a Drainage basin, watershed of . Beginning in the Bayan H ...

near Hughey and started a pine logging camp nearby, on the east side of the township. In 1903 the Stanley, Merrill and Phillips Railway built its line up the west side of the town, generally running a little west of the present Highway 73. That same year the Eau Claire, Chippewa Falls, and Northeastern Railway (a.k.a. Omaha) built its line across the township, from Hannibal east to Hughey on the Yellow River. Logs were floated down the Yellow and loaded on railcars at Hughey to be shipped out. Hannibal grew at the junction of the two rail lines.Nagel, Paul. ''S.M.&P. RY. - The Stanley, Merrill and Phillips Railway'', 1979. The 1911 plat map of the six mile square that would become Cleveland shows the two railroads in place, with Hannibal just north of their junction. Some sort of road follows the course of modern County M into Hannibal from the west. Another road follows the course of modern highway 73 toward

Jump River The Jump River is a small rocky river in north-central Wisconsin. In the late 19th century it was used to drive logs down to the Chippewa River (Wisconsin), Chippewa River. Today it is recreational, rambling through woods and farmlands, used mos ...

to the north, but continues only a mile south - then turns to follow modern County M east toward Perkinstown. The map shows five settlers in the country within a mile of Hannibal. The rest of the township is mostly owned by lumber companies, with the Northwestern Lumber Company owning the most land. Chequamegon Waters does not yet exist, with just the Yellow River flowing through that area. In 1933 much of the cut-over east half of Cleveland was designated part of the

Chequamegon National Forest Chequamegon Bay ( ) is an inlet of Lake Superior in Ashland and Bayfield counties in the extreme northern part of Wisconsin. History A Native American village, known as ''Chequamegon'', developed here in the mid-17th century. It was developed b ...

Bear Creek Hemlocks is a State Natural Area in the north east corner of Cleveland on the border with the town of Jump River, which includes two stands of old-growth hemlock. Part of the Pershing Wildlife Area occupies a thousand acres in the northwest part of the town. The remainder of the town is privately owned—mostly farms, homes and wild land.

Demographics

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 262 people, 98 households, and 72 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was 7.7 people per square mile (3.0/km²). There were 120 housing units at an average density of 3.5 per square mile (1.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 100.00%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

. There were 98 households, out of which 32.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.3% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 2.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.5% were non-families. 23.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 11.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.67 and the average family size was 3.17. In the town, the population was spread out, with 30.2% under the age of 18, 3.4% from 18 to 24, 26.3% from 25 to 44, 23.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 120.5 males. The median income for a household in the town was $35,625, and the median income for a family was $39,375. Males had a median income of $29,167 versus $25,179 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $16,452. About 8.2% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line, or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 13.6% of those under the age of eighteen and 8.0% of those 65 or over.

References

{{authority control Towns in Taylor County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin