Hatchville, Wisconsin (huh?)
No, I haven't lost my way, but it isn't always about me.
If Hatchville in Falmouth, MA is an improbable village of
horse and farm country today within a sea of suburbia (and I believe it is),
then Hatchville in Wisconsin is a ghost village. It no longer exits.
Hatchville, WI was located
in three western counties where Dunn, St. Croix and Pierce Counties abut and within four
different townships. See the orange dot.
Hatch family there ---
Like Hatchville in Massachusetts,
when the federal government established a post office in 1889, this tiny
village’s name derived from the postmaster’s surname. The PO was within the
home of Frank Hatch who was the postmaster until the feds closed it in 1903. Frank’s
father was born in New York, but Frank was born in Wisconsin in 1861.
In 1898 Ed and Frank Hatch built a
general store. The second floor of the store was a community hall for social
events. Fire destroyed their store in 1911. Frank was 17 years senior to his
wife, Ethel. They had two children, Wesley and Grace. In 1912 Frank and Ethel
rebuilt a larger store and hall on the same site. In 1916 they sold the store. Ed,
who worked at a local sawmill, was killed on the job.
Hatchville also had a cooperative creamery
in 1912 and a blacksmith shop, and in 1916, a cheese factory.
Sources:
U.S. Census
Wisconsin Historical Society
Library-Archives,
Dunn County Historical Society
