Readfield, Wisconsin

Readfield is an unincorporated community in Waupaca County, Wisconsin, United States. Readfield is located on Wisconsin Highway 96 east of Fremont, in the town of Caledonia. Waupaca County Trunk Highways H and W pass through Readfield.

Readfield, Wisconsin
Unincorporated community
Readfield, Wisconsin Readfield, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 44°16′21″N 88°46′11″W
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Waupaca
Elevation	267 m (876 ft)
Time zone	UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)	UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP code	54969
Area code(s)	920
GNIS feature ID	1572120[1]

Readfield has a post office with ZIP code 54969.[2]

History

Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church stated intentions to build a church in Readfield in 1902.[3] It still has a church there as of 2017.[4]

Readfield was on the original path of the transcontinental Yellowstone Trail auto trail, established in 1915. This highway through Readfield was first given the numerical designation State Trunk Highway 18 in 1917, which in turn was changed to U.S Route 10 in 1926.

Construction began on the roadway which would become Waupaca County Highway W in the summer of 1928.[5] The highway connects New London and Readfield.

Telephone service for Readfield was provided for decades, at least as early as the 1930s, by the Larsen-Readfield Telephone Company. The company was purchased by Century Telephone of La Crosse in 1989. Century Telephone, now CenturyLink, still had the named subsidiary CenturyTel of Larsen-Readfield, LLC as late as 2013.[6]

In October 1960, the New London board of education approved construction of a school to be built in Readfield.[7] It was slated for occupancy, and its first year, in September 1961, prepared to serve approximately 220 students. Smaller schools south of New London under the district's control (with the exception of the three room Dale school) were to be closed and consolidated into Readfield when it opened.[8] Ultimately, Dale School was closed in the late 1960s and its K-3 students folded into Readfield's as well.

Many of Readfield's businesses closed in 1982, when U.S. Route 10 through the community was straightened as part of a safety upgrade. The highway upgrades included curb and gutter for much of Readfield along U.S. 10; and for a reroute of County Road H to avoid a three-way intersection with County Roads W and U.S. 10.[9] The highway changes meant the closure of Vic & Myrts' Supper Club, and Hanneman's Grocery Store and Rec Center. It left four businesses at that time, three of which were taverns. The fourth was a small variety store.[10]

On December 5, 2003, the primary route through Readfield changed designation from U.S. Route 10 to Wisconsin Highway 96, when the new divided highway for U.S. 10 between Greenville and Fremont was completed.[11]

References

1. "Readfield". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey.
2. ZIP Code Lookup
3. "Notice". The Oshkosh Northwestern. February 3, 1902. p. 5. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church". Retrieved February 10, 2018.
5. "Crews Start Work on Readfield Highway". The Post-Crescent. June 28, 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 2017-08-05 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "CenturyLink Affiliate List as of October 11, 2013" (PDF).
7. "Plans Approved For Readfield School Building". The Oshkosh Northwestern. October 5, 1960. p. 22. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
8. "Readfield School Addition Details Revealed By Board". The Oshkosh Northwestern. March 11, 1961. p. 13. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
9. "US 10 Work in Waupaca Set For 1982". The Post-Crescent. December 14, 1981. p. B-1. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
10. Moriarty, John (February 24, 1982). "A New Road Comes and Half the Town is Trucked Away". The Post-Crescent. p. Total-1. Retrieved August 5, 2017 – via Newspapers.com.
11. Bessert, Christopher J. "Wisconsin Highways: Highways 90-99". www.wisconsinhighways.org. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

Further reading

• "Readfield Came From a Melting Pot", from the New London Press-Star bicentennial issue, 1976.