History: Clark County, Wis. Progress (1911)

Contact: stan@wiclarkcountyhistory.org 

Surnames: Myirea

----Source: Greenwood Gleaner (Greenwood, Clark Co., Wis.) 14 Sep 1911

Clark County has been known as one of the very best agricultural counties in Wisconsin for many years. The fact that the timber on the Black River, which flows through Clark County, could be easily driven to the Mississippi River made it one of the earliest counties to attract the lumberman and farmer. However, the timber was so heavy that the settlements mad no progress until the last twenty years. The last ten years has shown the greatest increase in values and this increase still continues. The early lumbermen on Black River were largely emigrants from Maine and the provinces lying farther east. Their necessities often compelled them to rely upon the farms in the woods for their supplies.

During the last decade Clark County increased nearly 4,500 in population, and now claims over 30,000 people. The number of farms in 1900 was 3,456, and in 1910, 4,196. This means that there were over sixty farms opened each year and more than one a week during the ten years. With a growth like this, the increase in values and the population must continue for many years.

The total area of Clark county is given as 779,520 acres. In 1900 there were included in farm areas 325,755 acres. Ten years later the farm areas increased to 411, 825 acres, giving an increase of 86, 070 acres. The value of farm lands in Clark County in 1900 was $10,330,664. With the additional lands in 1910 the total value of farm property was $22,918,803, being an increase in value during that decade of $12,588,230. The increase in farm property is therefore 121 percent. It must always be remembered that this increase in value is in farm property, and that the owners of farm buildings, etc., are the gainers by this amount in value. The average proce per acre in Clark County went from $19.51 in 1900 to $34.68 in 1910.

There must be added to these large figures another item which tells of the prosperity of the farmer. The total value of all domestic animals in Clark County in 1910 was $2,709,837. When it is born in mind that in one lifetime Clark county has passed from a wilderness to a partially developed county, giving these remarkable results, what can we expect in the future? Only a little over one-half of Clark County has yet been developed. Wealth increases in proportion as it accumulates. We have every reason to believe that the growth of the next ten eyars will be much larger than during the past ten years. The work of the Wis. Advancement Association is already bearing fruit, and many settlers from other states are seeking homes in the northern part of Clark County. If every farmer in Clark County would commence today and write to his friends in other states, urging them to come to Wisconsin and locate, it would result in a genuine growth of large proportions. -- Hon. W.H. Myirea, Secretary, Wis. Advancement Association