History
Moscow was named after the Mascouten (sometimes spelled Muscoutin) Indians who summered here. In 1847 Chauncey Smith built a grist mill on the Blue Mounds Branch of the Pecatonica River that runs through the community. The village was platted and recorded in 1850. A post office, blacksmith, hotel, school, cheese factory, broom factory, carding mill, and doctor all prospered here. At one time the population reached about 110. In 1887 the village was by-passed by the Illinois Central Railroad and declined slowly as people and businesses moved to Blanchardville or Hollandale. [2]
The Mascouten were a tribe of Algonquian-speaking Native Americans located in the Midwest. They are believed to have dwelt on both sides of the Mississippi River, adjacent to the present-day Wisconsin-Illinois border, after being driven out of Michigan by the Odawa.
The Pecatonica River is a tributary of the Rock River, 194 miles (312 km) long, in southern Wisconsin and northern Illinois in the United States.
The Illinois Central Railroad, sometimes called the Main Line of Mid-America, was a railroad in the central United States, with its primary routes connecting Chicago, Illinois, with New Orleans, Louisiana, and Mobile, Alabama. A line also connected Chicago with Sioux City, Iowa (1870). There was a significant branch to Omaha, Nebraska (1899), west of Fort Dodge, Iowa, and another branch reaching Sioux Falls, South Dakota (1877), starting from Cherokee, Iowa. The Sioux Falls branch has been abandoned in its entirety.
By the 1870s the village had become an epicenter of activity for the surrounding Norwegian settlement. During this time, the Moscow Fremad Laseselsklab (Moscow Reading Society) brought accessible literature and intellectual events to the community. Annual Syttende Mai celebrations featured such well known guests as Rasmus B. Anderson and Ole Bull, the most famous Norwegian of his day. [3]
Rasmus Bjørn Anderson was an American author, professor, editor, businessman and diplomat. He brought to popular attention the fact that Viking explorers discovered the New World and was the originator of Leif Erikson Day.
Ole Bornemann Bull was a Norwegian virtuoso violinist and composer. According to Robert Schumann, he was on a level with Niccolò Paganini for the speed and clarity of his playing.
Bjorn "Ben" Holland, was a businessman in Moscow before founding Hollandale. [3]
Bjorn Sjursson Holland was an American farmer, merchant, teacher, and politician.
Alvin Blanchard brought grain to the mill in Moscow before he founded Blanchardville. [3]
Moscow, WI marker 01
Moscow, WI marker 02
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. The city was incorporated in 1858.
Hollandale is a city in Washington County, Mississippi, United States. The population was 3,437 at the 2000 census.
Rollinsford is a town in Strafford County, New Hampshire, United States. The population was 2,527 at the 2010 census. Rollinsford includes Salmon Falls Village.
Hollandale is a village in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 288 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Blanchardville is a village in Iowa and Lafayette counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 825 at the 2010 census. Of this, 648 were in Lafayette County, and 177 were in Iowa County.
Birchwood is a village in Washburn County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 442 at the 2010 census. The village is located within the Town of Birchwood.
Genesee Depot is a small unincorporated community in Waukesha County, Wisconsin, United States. It is in the Town of Genesee, in southeastern Wisconsin between Milwaukee and Madison, and named for the train station, or depot, of the Wisconsin and Calumet Railroad that formerly served the town. Wisconsin State Highways 59 and 83 intersect in Genesee Depot.
Brantwood is an unincorporated community in southern Price County, Wisconsin, United States located within the town of Knox. It lies along United States Highway 8 and on the Wisconsin Central Railroad, between Prentice on the west and Tomahawk on the east. The rural community was settled in the late 1890s as a logging community.
Pecatonica Area School District is a school district based in Blanchardville, Wisconsin, U.S.A.
The Madison, WI Metropolitan Statistical Area, as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget, is an area consisting of Columbia, Dane, Green, Rock, and Iowa counties in Wisconsin, anchored by the city of Madison. As of the 2010 census, the MSA had a population of 605,435. The latest Census estimate as of July 1, 2017 puts the population at 654,230. The Madison–Janesville–Beloit Combined Statistical Area (CSA) had a population estimate of 880,520.
Jefferson Prairie Settlement was a pioneer colony of Norwegian-Americans located in the Town of Clinton, in Rock County, Wisconsin. This site and the nearby Rock Prairie settlement outside Orfordville, Wisconsin served as centers for both Norwegian immigration and developments within the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. The unincorporated community of Bergen, Rock County, Wisconsin is in the vicinity of Jefferson Prairie Settlement.
Sabin is an unincorporated community in the Town of Sylvan, Richland County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located at the intersection of County Highway E and Robbson Drive.
Harshaw is an unincorporated community located in Oneida County, Wisconsin, United States. Harshaw is 13 miles (21 km) west-northwest of Rhinelander, in the town of Cassian. Harshaw has a post office with ZIP code 54529. The community was named for Henry B. Harshaw, who was the treasurer of Wisconsin when Charles Norway established the post office in March of 1851.
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Newark is an unincorporated community located in the town of Newark, Rock County, Wisconsin, United States.
Brushville is an unincorporated community located in the Town of Bloomfield, Waushara County, Wisconsin, United States. The community was founded around 1853 and was named for mill operators Herman and Eliphalet Brush.
March Rapids is an unincorporated community located in the town of Eau Pleine, Marathon County, Wisconsin, United States.
Rawsonville, Michigan, also known as Snow's Landing and Michigan City, is a ghost town in Van Buren Charter Township, Wayne County and Ypsilanti Township, Washtenaw County. The site of Rawsonville lies mostly under Belleville Lake across I-94 from Willow Run Airport. The village was flooded out in 1925 when the Eastern Michigan Edison Company built the French Landing Dam and Powerhouse on the Huron River.
