Dell City - another that didn't catch on
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Zero
population growth has been a way of life in Dell City, once platted on the west
side of the Chippewa River.
Everyday life
rivals that in 1857 when Dell City was staked out, except alfalfa is in bloom on
the steamboat landing; Holstein cows are grazing in the railroad depot and
soybeans are planted on the village square.
In
reality, Dell City is Games Gray's broken dream, quietly watching the Chippewa
River passing in review.
The city has existed
only on paper for 119 years, waiting for the right time- the big spender- the
wise promoter. It rests in a courthouse drawer.
The
railroad, industry and time bypassed Dell City, but it could not escape land
sharks, the Civil War or the Panic of 1857.
Named
after the dalles or dells of the Chippewa River, a natural rock barrier to
steamboat traffic on the north city limits, Dell City is almost directly across
the Chippewa River from Lake Hallie.
It was
platted in 1857, lots were sold, streets names, steamboat landings, railroad
depots and sawmill sites staked out and a big promotion to entice settlers
probably was carried out in Eastern newspapers.
But
it never advanced further, and reasons for its demise never may be resurrected.
For example, it remains a secret why Decimus Bell, a surveyor, laid out and
platted the city for James B. Gray in April 1857 and had the survey and plat
recorded by the register of deeds in St. Croix County although Chippewa County
had been a reality for two decades. A thought could be that his brother,
Octavius Bell, was register of deeds there.
However,
by standards common to that era, it was the farthest upstream steamboats could
go on the Chippewa River due to rocky dells.
The
southernmost limit of the city, a farm home now occupied by Ralph Liddell, was
laid out as a steamboat landing three blocks long. The Chippewa River at this
point is perhaps 500 feet wide and 40 feet deep, according to Liddell,
permitting safe passage for steamboats on the river.
The
railroad depot was awarded a level spot on the southern end of the city, not far
from the public square, and all commercial property fronted the river. Sawmills
at both ends of the long, narrow city may have been designed to mill massive
stands of white pine.
Dell City was platted
1.8 miles in length and six blocks wide at its bulge, but only two blocks wide
in other areas.
The plat contained more than
1,000 city lots (82 blocks) which varied from 47 to 53 feet wide.
And
it is quite evident the city's founders, Messers, Gray and Bell, had some degree
of vanity, for the streets on both sides of the public square (in the heart of
downtown Dell City) were named Bell and Gray Streets.
The
city also possessed a thoroughfare with the somewhat dubious name of Lynch
Street. Perhaps it was named after a well-known person of the day, or it may
have served a more utilitarian purpose in the days when hose thieves and others
of ill-repute weren't treated as gently as they are today.
Horatio
Woodman in 1855 received title to the land from the U. S. government, probably
for homesteading. Woodman the following year sold the land to Henry Johnson who
in 1857 disposed of his holdings to James Gray, setting the stage for a
short-lived but energetic campaign to establish a lumber town at the dells.
Wheeling
and dealing in Dell City lots began in May 1857, a month after the plat was
recorded. That summer 20 persons purchased 60 city logs and nine blocks of
property from Gray. Trading was lively and speculation was evident. Many side
streets in Dell City were named after persons who later purchased lots in the
still-dormant river town. This possibly indicated these parties aided Gray in
financing, for it was common those days to reward favors with grants or gifts of
land.
One for the more interested parties was
Sam Fuller. Records show he purchased or received several lots from Gray early
in 1857. In June, Fuller sold all 14 lots in block 71 to Demas Ward and Wilson
Hudson for $200. Then, on Sept. 9, 1857, Ward sold his interest in the same
lots to Hudson for $350.
Meanwhile, Gray was continuing to sell lots
and entire blocks to 20 others in the summer of 1857. However, he reserved for
himself a steamboat landing three blocks long, all 11 business reserves which
covered more than one mile of riverfront and other choice development sites.
These were disposed of to Sam Fuller in early summer 1857.
A
big land swap occurred in November 1857 when Gray negotiated a trade of 19 city
blocks plus 11 lots for all 11 business reserves, 10 city blocks, the steamboat
landing, railroad depot and mill property. Giving up all this land was Fuller.
In a transaction the same day, Gray sold Fuller four other blocks and three
lots, several in the public square area.
By
this time Gray owned nearly all choice business property in Dell City and may
have been heavily in debt. At any rate, financial tragedy struck the nation
with the Panic of 1857. By 1858 its tentacles reached the Midwest. Banks
failed, credit was suspended, merchants and farmers and speculators who had gone
into debt were wiped out.
This possibly was
one reason why there were no transactions involving Dell City property in 1858.
The last recorded deal was on Nov. 25, 1857, when Gray acquired all business
reserves and other city blocks from Fuller.
Whether
it was the Panic of 1857 or some other happening, recorded transactions
involving land in Dell City ceased until July 27, 1863, when the Chippewa County
Board of Supervisors initiated action to vacate the Dell City plat.
With this stroke, Dell City died, and with it James Gray's dreams for a booming
river city.
The county owned the land for the
next 10 years and in 1874 it was sold to Francis Woodford, beginning another
series of land transfers that culminated in ownership of Dell City by three
present owners; Liddell, Pearson and George Blaeser, a farmer.
Extracted from the Eau
Claire Leader Telegram
Special Publication, Our Story 'The Chippewa
Valley and Beyond', published 1976
Used with permission.
