Owen, WI

Owen grew where the Wisconsin Central Railroad crossed Brick Creek near its meeting with the Popple River. The line arrived in 1880, and the John S. Owen Company soon turned the timber country around the crossing into a lumber operation. A warehouse, boarding house, sawmill, planing mill, company store, and mill pond followed; the company’s rail lines eventually hauled logs from a huge tract across Clark and Taylor counties. Owen incorporated in 1904, reached a thousand residents by 1914, and kept the sawmill going until the last log was cut in 1932.

Today Owen is a small Clark County city on State Highway 29, with city offices, a library, police and fire services, parks, local events, and a historic-preservation committee. The old timber economy has given way to a broader mix of manufacturing, services, schools, and regional commuting, but Brick Creek and the railroad-era street pattern remain part of the city’s shape. Withee sits directly west, while Marshfield and Eau Claire widen the options for work and shopping. Owen still carries the feel of a place built by timber and rail, now maintained through municipal routines and community events.