The 1,400 people who live in the Laona area are heirs to the shared heritage of the timber industry.  The turn of the century marked the founding of Laona, just 20 years prior to logging’s heyday.  Around 1876, the pine loggers came into the area and cleared off the pine stands, which were scattered throughout the hardwoods. 

 

Exploratory expeditions into this area by pine loggers and a few other individuals took place between 1870 and 1890.  The area was not very accessible and few men ventured this far from the last outposts. 

 

Eventually, logging expeditions moved into the area, with pine being hauled on sleighs to Roberts Lake and floated down the Wolf River or put in the Peshtigo River, below Taylor Falls.

 

During the last decade of the 19th century, William Duncan Connor hiked though the area and examined the fine stands of hardwood timber.  He purchased 100,000 acres of timberland in Forest County, founding the Connor Lumber and Land Company.  During this period the Chicago Northwestern Railroad was moving northward into the Laona area.  The initial logging of the area occurred between 1900 and 1910.

 

The first settler in Laona was Norman Johnson.  His daughter, Laona, was the first white child born in this town, and the town was named in her honor.  The Connor Lumber and Land Company built its first sawmill in 1901, logging camps were opened and roads were built.  Laona began to thrive as railroads steamed their way into northern Wisconsin, and Laona’s economy became largely dependent upon the timber industry. 

 

A member of the Connor family still operates a sawmill in the community to this day.  An authentic 1916 Vulcan steam engine, actually used by the Connor Lumber and Land Company during early logging operations, is now used to pull the vintage passenger train at the award winning, internationally recognized Camp Five Lumberjack Special & Museum attraction.

 

Originally published by:
http://www.visitforestcounty.com/