Portage County Historical Society

Handbook of Stevens Point 1857 - Intro

Ellis, Tracy & Swayze Publishers 1857
Handbook Cover

Journalism in PortageCounty came in 1853, when Gen. Albert G. Ellis began the first area newspaper, The Wisconsin Pinery. Ellis was also responsible for Wisconsin's first newspaper, the Green Bay Intelligencer, which began there in 1833.

PCHS currently owns the press that was used to print this handbook. The handbook is written in the style of the 1850's with positive portrayal of this area and its potential. For your reading convenience, this book has been broken down into three parts. The last sixteen pages contain ads for the various businesses in the area. These have not been presented here. They would have to be scanned and presented as graphics, lots of space and time to download. Perhaps in the future we can provide these and have the names etc. be searchable.

  1. Description of the Upper Wisconsin and a brief history Part 1.
  2. Brief descriptions of surrounding villages Part 2.
  3. Detailed descriptions of area around Stevens Point and Plover Part 3.

Readers not familiar with the town and range surveying system used in Wisconsin and all of the United States should refer to the State Historical Society's web page for a detailed explanation.