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OVERVIEW 1844-45: The first settlers arrive in the town of Metomen.Among the original settlers immediately to the north of the Grand River are Colonel Mansfield, Daniel Eggleston, Jacob Carter, S. H. French, Robert Jenkinson, and Matthew Wilson.
1846: The first post offices in Metomen are established, one called Mansfield (Daniel Eggleston. postmaster), the other called Grand River (Jacob Carter, postmaster), both located just north of the future site of Fairwater. The Grand River post office is closed two months later.
1847: Dakin & Lathrop build a flour mill on the Grand River below the dam in what would shortly become Fairwater. The dam may have been constructed the previous year to power a sawmill.
1848: Mansfield post office is renamed and moved to the developing village of Fairwater with William Plocker as postmaster. Plocker constructsf his inn just south of the village.
1849: The Fairwater cemetery is dedicated on land donated by David Newland following the accidental shooting of 20-year-old George Peck.
1850: Free Will Baptist and First Regular Baptist congregations are established in Fairwater.
1856: The Free Will Baptists erect a building at the top of the hill south of the Grand River, the first church in Metomen.
1856: The Milwaukee-Horicon Railroad is completed in Metomen, passing through Bungtown, shortly to be named Brandon.
1859: The Reverend Johann Strieter, a traveling Lutheran missionary and circuit rider, begins preaching in Fairwater.
1860: The First Regular Baptist Church building is constructed.
1861: Twenty men from from the immediate area enlist in Fairwater during the first year of the War of the Rebellion.
1862: Six men from the area enlist in Fairwater during the second year of the war.
1863: The Free Will Baptists construct a parsonage. An additional Fairwater area man enlists in the Union army. Henry Martin of Alto is killed in the fighting, George Carter of Fairwater is badly wounded at Port Hudson, and Thomas Leach of Fairwater is killed while fighting Quantrill at Baxter Springs, Kansas.
1864: Five additional men from the Fairwater area enlist in the army.
1865: Henry Pangburn, a solider on disability leave, dies the morning after arriving home in Fairwater.
1872: The First Evangelical Lutheran congregation is organized on June 21, and a church is built the same year next to the Free Baptist church.
1876: The temperance people of Fairwater and vicinity organize Lodge No. 111 of I. O. of the Good Templars on February 9.
1882: The railroad reaches Fairwater as part of the construction of the Markesan spur of the C., M. & St. P. Railroad, laying the groundwork for the development of "Jim Town," a new commercial area that will compete with the established commercial district in "Bill town." Mining is very active at the granite quarry at Utley.
1892-93: The flour mill burns to the ground shortly after John Laper sells the property to Gottlieb Stelter.
1896: Daehn's Opera House is constructed in Bill Town.
1897: New additions to the Lutheran church are made at both ends of the building. A tower and balcony are added on to the south end, a bell is purchased and room to accommodate the pulpit, altar and organ are added on to the north end. A partial basement is also added to the building.
1899-1900: A. W. Bonesteel purchases the first automobile in Fairwater. Clifford Cease builds his Jim Town hotel across Main Street from the new Tinkham business block.
1901: Fire destroys the eastern half of downtown Jim Town, including Cease's hotel. Rebuilding of the damaged businesses begins.
1903: The Fairwater State Bank is organized, and a bank building is constructed in Jim Town. A new Free Will Baptist church building is constructed next to the cemetery. The Fairwater Register newspaper begins publication and advertises that C. C. Cease is operating the new hotel in Jim Town.
1904: The new Free Baptist church is completed.
1910: The Fairwater Creamery, operating on Main Street, is organized. A new public school building is opened with 60 students.
1912: Jesse Laper erects the first electric light plant in Metomen on October 22 on the site of the former flour mill.
1913: A canning factory is constructed by William Sink and C. Yunker and begins operation under the name of the Fair Water Canning Factory.
1916: The first automobile agency in the village is started by Jesse Laper on Main Street next to the river. It is later sold to Alex Laper.
1917: Ella Card is appointed railroad station manager for the village. The Fairwater Hemp Company plant is built by Towne and John Miller and Herman and Walter Beilke. It is shortly followed by a second plant, the Badger Hemp Co. owned by W. R. Abercrombie and Jesse Laper.
1921: The village incorporates as a village. W. R. Abercrombie is elected the first village president. Jesse Laper builds the Laper Dance Pavilion.
1922: The Fairwater Creamery builds a modern creamery building on the site of the old plant on Main Street. After a series of disastrous fires in the village, J. W. Laper, B. H. Card, and P. H. Sommer are appointed to organize a fire department.
1925: Jesse Laper completes construction of a waterwheel to generate electricity. The wheel measures 50 feet in diameter and is the largest in the United States.
1926: Laper's waterwheel suffers a mechanical failure and cannot be repaired. Laper installs a water turbine and will continue generating electricity in the building for another two decades.
1931: Both of the village's hemp plants close due to foreign competition.
1934: The Ripon State Bank purchases the Fairwater bank. Elmer Zellmer becomes the village's postmaster and will serve in that capacity for 27 years until retiring in 1961.
1940: The Fairwater canning company is purchased by the American Stores Company and Howard Blodgett becomes manager. A village park is constructed on the grounds of the old stockyard next to the depot.
1941: The Fairwater Civic Center is constructed as a WPA project. Daehn's Opera House, no longer needed, is demolished.
1944: The Free Will Baptist church adjacent to the Fairwater Cemetery is demolished after the congregation disbands.
1942-45: Thirty-seven men from the Fairwater area enlist in response to the start of World War II. Three will be killed in action: Harold Henslin, Roy Born and Ervin Link.
1945: Reverend O. C. Bliese retires as pastor of the Lutheran Church after 18 years in that position.
1948: The Lutheran Church purchases the old Village Hall for use as Sunday School space.
1949: A village library begins operation in the old Village Hall with Cirena Lenz serving as librarian. The last German-language service in the Lutheran Church is held on Good Friday.
1957-58: The 85-year-old Lutheran Church building and the former Village Hall are demolished and replaced with a modern church building.
1960: A new, two-room classroom wing is added to the public school.
1961: The Fairwater School District merges with the Brandon School district.
1968: The Lutheran Church demolishes its 63-year-old parsonage and replaces it with a new parsonage.
1975: The 53-year-old Fairwater Creamery building is demolished and not replaced.
1983: The Fairwater Public School building, now part of the Markesan School district, is closed.
1999: The Fairwater Historical Society is organized to save the former public school building |
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