Goodrich 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 510 at the 2010 census.

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 36.3 square miles (94. km²), all of it land. The

Big Rib River The Big Rib River is a river in central Wisconsin. It originates in northeastern Taylor County at Rib Lake, and flows into Marathon County where it joins the Wisconsin River. "Rib River" is a translation of the Native American name. The Big ...

crosses the northeast corner of the town. Other than streambanks, most of the surface of the town is fairly level, laid down by some unknown glacier and eroded long before the last glacier which bulldozed the sharp Perkinstown terminal moraine to the north. The soil of most of Goodrich is called Merrill

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

, except for meltwater stream sediment along the Big Rib River.

History

The dells of the Big Rib River in Goodrich are probably the rapids where Father René Menard disappeared in 1661, while attempting to reach a band of

Huron Indians The Wyandot people (also Wyandotte, Wendat, Waⁿdát, or Huron) are an Indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands of the present-day United States and Canada. Their Wyandot language belongs to the Iroquoian languages, Iroquoian language f ...

near the headwaters of the Black River. He left his partner at the rapids to carry some supplies and was never seen again. The south and east edges of the six by six mile square that would become Goodrich were first surveyed in 1851 by crews working for the U.S. government. In December 1861 a different crew of surveyors 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 swamps, 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 A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with No ...

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

''The surface of this Township is mostly gently rolling and the Soil is principally 2nd Rate being well adapted to agricultural purposes. The Timber is a mixture of Hemlock
Birch A birch is a thin-leaved deciduous hardwood tree of the genus ''Betula'' (), in the family Betulaceae, which also includes alders, hazels, and hornbeams. It is closely related to the beech- oak family Fagaceae. The genus ''Betula'' contains 3 ...

Sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...
(?)
Fir Firs are evergreen coniferous trees belonging to the genus ''Abies'' () in the family Pinaceae. There are approximately 48–65 extant species, found on mountains throughout much of North and Central America, Eurasia, and North Africa. The genu ...
and
Maple ''Acer'' is a genus of trees and shrubs commonly known as maples. The genus is placed in the soapberry family Sapindaceae.Stevens, P. F. (2001 onwards). Angiosperm Phylogeny Website. Version 9, June 2008 nd more or less continuously updated si ...
. There is but little Swamp land in the Township but it is well watered by numerous small streams of pure water which are tributaries of the Rib River which (?) through the Township in a South Easterly direction. It is a Stream that does not overflow having but few tributaries(?) to affect its rise and fall. There are no settlers in this Township.''

Around 1873 the Wisconsin Central Railroad built its line up through the forest that would become Medford, heading for Ashland. To finance this undertaking, the railroad was granted half the land for eighteen miles on either side of the track laid - generally the odd-numbered sections. An 1880 map of the area shows some sort of road entering what would become Goodrich from the Medford side, following the course of modern Highway 64 for two miles, then angling south into Marathon County. A map from around 1900 showed one road following the course of 64 for a few miles, and two other roads along the southwest corner of the town. The map showed five settlers' homesteads along these roads. Otherwise, Goodrich had no roads or settlers. In contrast, lands nearer the railroad at Medford, Stetsonville and Chelsea were fully settled by this time. Much of the unsettled part of this town was held in large blocks, with the largest owners P.A. Merino in the north, H.B. Claflin in the east, and G. Stout in the south. By this time, the Wisconsin Central railroad had sold off most of its odd-numbered sections, but still held some smaller blocks. When Taylor County was formed in 1875, the six-mile square that would become Goodrich was part of a larger Town of Medford, which spanned the county east to west. In 1895 Browning and Goodrich were split off into a 12-mile-wide town called Browning. In 1903 the town of Goodrich was split out on its own. Goodrich center Taylor County Wisconsin

The 1911 plat map shows the roads extended, with more settlers along them. The predecessor of highway 64 had been extended another mile to a community of Goodrich, with a sawmill and a school on the map, and a railroad entering from the south. That railroad was Upham Manufacturing's logging line coming up from

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

, by 1911 owned by the Copper River Land Co. Another wagon road followed the course of Martin Road north from 64 to the town line, with shorter roads branching off to the west. Settlers were filling in along all these. Another rural school had appeared along the south boundary of the town. Large chunks still remained unsettled, mostly owned by the Rib River Land Co.

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 2010, there were 510 people, 188 households, and 144 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 14 people per square mile (5.4/km²). There were 243 housing units at an average density of 6.7 per square mile (2.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.8%

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 ...

, and 0.2% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino people of any race were 0.2% of the population There were 188 households, out of which 31.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 66.5% 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, 4.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 23.4% were non-families. 20.2% of all households were made up of individuals, and 22.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.5% under the age of 18, 7.25% from 18 to 24, 23.5% from 25 to 44, 33.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.6 years. For every 1 female there were 1.29 males. For every 1 female age 18 and over, there were 1.06 males. As of the

of 2000, The median income for a household in the town was $42,500, and the median income for a family was $45,000. Males had a median income of $27,788 versus $20,278 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 $16,724. About 8.8% of families and 10.3% 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 11.6% of those under age 18 and 18.7% of those age 65 or over.

Religion

The Town of Goodrich has two churches, Goodrich Community Church and St. Andrew's Lutheran Church.

References

External links