|
Richland Center is a city in Richland County, Wisconsin, United States, which also serves as the county seat. The population was 5,184 at the 2010 census. ==History== Richland Center was founded in 1851 by Ira Sherwin Hazeltine, a native of Andover, Vermont. Hazeltine was drawn to the site because of its abundant water power, fertile prairies, and its proximity to the geographical center of Richland County. Haseltine offered to donate land to the county if Richland Center was voted the county seat.〔Butterfield, C. W. (1884). ''History of Crawford and Richland Counties, Wisconsin''. Springfield, Illinois: Union Publishing Company. pp. 1150-1151.〕 In 1852 the Wisconsin Legislature formally declared Richland Center as the seat of justice for Richland County.〔"An Act to Declare the County Seat of Richland County," Wisconsin Statutes 1852, c. 37.〕 The present Richland County courthouse was built at Richland Center in 1889. In 1876, a narrow gauge railroad branch opened to connect Richland Center with the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railroad at Lone Rock, Wisconsin, providing an outlet for the town's commerce. The line was originally constructed with maple rails, but it was rebuilt as a standard gauge iron railway in 1880.〔Butterfield (1884). pp. 948-950.〕 On October 8, 1882, the town's railway depot was destroyed when an early morning fire ignited two kegs of gunpowder stored inside, causing an explosion that tore the roof from the building and scorched several nearby rail cars.〔Butterfield (1884). p. 1164〕 Another passenger depot built in 1909 still stands in Richland Center, and it today serves as a visitor center for the community.〔"(Richland Center Visitor Center )." Richland Chamber & Development Alliance. Retrieved 2011-11-03.〕 Richland Center became an important location for the women's suffrage movement in Wisconsin after Laura Briggs James, Julia Bowen, and other residents founded the Richland Center Woman's Club in early 1882. The club quickly became the largest suffrage group in the state and was influential in organizing the movement throughout Wisconsin.〔McBridge, Genevieve, G. (1993). ''On Wisconsin women: working for their rights from settlement to suffrage''. Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press. pp. 101-102.〕 Susan B. Anthony visited Richland Center in 1886. Later, Laura James' daughter Ada James became influential in the movement, helping to found the Political Equality League in 1909 and advocating for women's rights, pacifism, birth control, and prohibition.〔"(James, Ada Lois )." ''Wisconsin Dictionary of History.'' Wisconsin Historical Society. Retrieved 2011-11-03..〕 Frank Lloyd Wright was born at Richland Center in 1867. The A. D. German Warehouse, completed in 1921, is the only building designed by Wright in the city and is an early example of his Mayan Revival style. The origin of GTE can be traced to the Richland Center Telephone Company. In 1918, three Wisconsin public utility accountants (Sigurd L. Odegard, John A. Pratt, and John F. O'Connell) purchased the Richland Center Telephone Company for $33,500. At that time, the modest little company served only 1,466 telephones in the dairy belt of southern Wisconsin. In 1920, the three accountants formed the Commonwealth Telephone Company, with Odegard as president, Pratt as vice-president, and O'Connell as secretary. Over the next ten years, the company engaged in an aggressive acquisition program, which dramatically expanded its services to more than 500,000 telephones in 25 states. Following bankruptcy during the Great Depression, the company reorganized into the General Telephone Corporation and continued to expand. After merging with Sylvania Electric Products in 1959, it changed its name to General Telephone & Electronics Corporation (GT&E, later GTE) and, by 1969, provided service to 10 million telephones across the nation. From its humble beginnings in Richland Center, GTE had become the largest independent telephone company in the United States. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Richland Center, Wisconsin」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|