Walsh 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
Porterfield, in
Marinette County, Wisconsin
Marinette 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 41,872. Its county seat is Marinette, Wisconsin, Marinette. Marinette County is part of t ...
, United States.
Geography
Walsh is located along County Trunk Highway G at the intersection with Bagley Road and Twin Creek Road,
[''Porterfield Quadrangle Wisconsin–Marinette Co., 7.5 Minute Series (Topographic)''. 1982. Map, 1:24,000. Reston, VA: U. S. Geological Survey.] at an elevation of .
It is connected by road to
Rubys Corner to the east,
Loomis to the west, and
Porterfield to the south (via County Trunk Highway E). The
town
A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city.
The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...
of
Porterfield's town hall and fire station are located in Walsh.
Name
The community was originally known as Rawnsville in the nineteenth century.
It was named for the family of Jacob Rawn (1819–1896; surname earlier spelled ''Rein'', ''Raan'', or ''Rhyne''), who settled in the area. The name was changed to Walsh on July 5, 1902.
The new name honored John R. Walsh (1837–1911) of Chicago. Walsh was the founder of the Chicago National Bank, and he purchased a controlling interest in the Wisconsin & Michigan Railway in October 1900.
History
A post office was established in Rawnsville (later Walsh) in 1881 but discontinued in 1882.
The post office was reestablished in 1902 and operated until 1928.
Rawnsville was the first stop north of
Bagley Junction on the Wisconsin & Michigan (W. & M.) Railway line to
Iron Mountain.
The rail line was built in 1894 using surplus rail from the
Chicago World's Fair, which had closed in 1893. The line was used to ship logs south to the mills in
Marinette and
Menominee
The Menominee ( ; meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recognized tribe of Na ...
, and it also offered passenger service. In the 1920s, the railroad owner John Marsch (1869–1954) operated a gravel pit with its own narrow-gauge railroad with a
saddle tank locomotive next to the W. & M. line in Walsh. Gravel from the pit was delivered to Iron Mountain and then used to build the
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational corporation, multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. T ...
factory in nearby
Kingsford. Gravel from Walsh was also used in the construction of
U.S. Route 2
U.S. Route 2 or U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway System, United States Numbered Highway spanning across the northern continental United States. US 2 consists of two segments connected ...
in
Norway, Michigan
Norway is a city in Dickinson County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 2,840 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Iron Mountain, MI– WI micropolitan statistical area.
The city is in the southwest of Norway Township, b ...
. The rail line through Walsh was discontinued in 1938, when Marsch had the tracks torn out and the rolling stock sold off.
[ ]
Churches
Walsh has a Catholic church with a nearby cemetery, and there is a Lutheran church about to the west.
File:Walsh Wisconsin - Catholic church.jpg, Catholic church
File:Walsh Wisconsin - Catholic cemetery.jpg, Catholic cemetery
File:Porterfield Wisconsin - Lutheran church.jpg, Lutheran church
References
External links
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{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin
Unincorporated communities in Marinette County, Wisconsin