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CStPM&O & CNW Holcombe Wisconsin |
              
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Holcombe,
originally known as Little Falls until December
31,1902 is a
small community of less than 1000 people.
The new Post Office and town were named after a railway official.
Two men vied for prominence in Holcombe. The northern plat of the town was called Barneytown named after
Adolph Bernier, a business man who happened to own most of the business
in that section of town. During
it's development, it had many activities to boast about. Logging was it's
primary attribute, although the railroad delivered many dry
(1930's
plat shown on the left courtesy of Cornell Historical Society)
"Little Falls" a name given to compliment "Big
Falls" (Chippewa Falls) stayed with this logging community until it
gained a post office in 1898. It's first Postmaster, Amasa J. Edminster
named it "Martin". This name would be short lived as the Omaha
Railroad was soon to change the name of both to Holcombe". The name
of "Little Falls" was as hard to kill as Adolph Bernier, a
local businessman laid out the first plat of "Little Falls" in
1902. The Omaha
Railroad was coming up from the south that year and the company wanted
to locate a depot nearby, but Bernier and the railroad could not agree
on terms for the land purchase. As a result, the railroad bought land to
the south of the dam and called it "Holcombe" and "Little
Falls" got it's new name and post office on December 6, 1902. The
community which was called "Little Falls" north and east of
the dam was called Barney Town" after Bernier. Holcombe, named
after an employee of the Omaha Railroad possibly the surveyor or the
person who platted the town and right of way was located south and east
of the dam where it stands. After the dam was abandoned most of the
houses in "Barney Town" were either moved, torn down, or
burned down and the village of Holcombe developed to the south of the
dam.
Holcombe
was eventually laid out and platted by the Eau Claire Realty Company. The Dam had
been in line with Third Street on the east
side. Puffer -Hubbard Mill
was located east along the track opposite Quarrels and Spooner Ave. The
Depot was next to the tracks on the north side of Irvine Ave. As soon as
the new railroad was assured, A. J. Edminster moved his small store and
post office from his farmhouse at Martin Settlement three miles south of
Holcombe into a new building on the corner of Main and Spooner Ave. He
build a warehouse and planing mill along the tracks and began maneuvering
to get the depot in his part of Holcombe.
In
the early days Holcombe was the trading center of the area.
Ed Porter who had a store and post office
in Estella came by wagon for supplies from his store to Edminster's
warehouse. Edmister bought flour, kerosene, fruit jars, and other 
necessities by the carload lots. Max Dietzler's team from the Fern
forded the Jump River to get supplies for his store. The Flambeau Post
found it convenient to get supplies especially after the bridge was
built across the Chippewa River in 1906. 
H.L. Tinker came to Chippewa county in April 1906. He was an agent for the Chicago, St Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway at Holcombe. Born in Westfield Massachusetts in 1985 he prospered in Holcombe. Fraternally he was a Mason, an Odd Fellows, and a member of the Order of Railway Telegraphers.
Mail
deliveries began with the arrival of the Omaha Railroad. In 1903
Edminster was appointed postmaster and the post office was located in a
corner of his new store. It was moved in 1919 to an addition to the bank
building. Robert Zimmerman succeeded Edminster in 1924 and served
as postmaster until Louis G Bernier was appointed in 1933.
In 1945 Percey Tonnacour bought the
old train depot and made it into a bar with
a dance hall in the back. There was also a restaurant
in the back. It was a thriving while the new dam was being built. Living
quarters were upstairs. The bar was sold in 1954.
The area around Holcombe held the
greatest stand of white pine in the world and was gone forever in a
matter of a few decades. The mighty Chippewa River made the cutting and
transporting of this great white pinery possible. All that
remains of the great logging days of
"little Falls" and the area are the stories that have stood
the test of time and the names of the descendants of the hearty people
who lived through it all.
B&W Pictures and narrative on this page unless noted are from the "Holcombe Centennial 1905 - 2005" unless otherwise noted.
As we venture into
Holcombe WI today, we are reminded of the CSTPM&O rails that once ran through town allowing
the local people to check their watches and remark on the arrival of a freight
as to whether it is on time or not.
Leading into Holcombe from the South is
what is left of the right of way shown by the poles that used to follow
beside the tracks. To the West of the tracks is where the spur
went to one of 
the businesses in Holcombe. This would be the local the
Feed Mill that supported the farmers. Another
view of the Feed Mill. The track
rights would have been beside the building to allow box car's cargo to
exchange, and possibly allow hoppers to load or unload corn, oats,
or whey.
The Chippewa Log and Boom had part of their operation at
"little Falls" which utilized the river to transport the logs to
Chippewa before the dams were built in Cornell and Jim Falls. A "Straw
Boss" by the name of Luke Lyons, decided that he needed to create a symbol of
security in the form of a wooden Indian for the men that risked their lives on
the river. The men known as "log rollers" held their respected
position in the logging crew by breaking up the logs when the logs would get interlocked
creating a
"Log Jam". The Indian sat above the dam in the mid 1800's until a
flood swept it into the river in 1881. It was found down stream and brought back
to Little Falls and repositioned on the bridge to carry out it's duties. The Indian, carved
from one log, shows the size of the virgin trees that were harvested in the
area. It would have came from a log about 5-6 feet in diameter.
The wooden dam would close it's gates while it
accepted logs from the local short line for the Chippewa Log and Boom Company. When there were enough logs in the
river, the dam would open and the rush of water would carry the logs down the
liquid trek to a waiting lumber mill. 
A logger named Luke Lyons "borrowed" a log and carved a nine foot Indian out of it. When the owner of the logs found out he kept one dollar out of his wages to cover his loss.
After the loss of the Indian from
natural disasters the first time, the
wooden Indian was placed atop the old wooden bridge in Holcombe to continue watching over the lumberjacks as they would walk over the floating entangled logs
and break them up.
Even though the Wooden Indian was watching out for the loggers, a
boat capsized in the rapids and 11 men drowned in the river on July 7, 1905. The
men were on their way to the log jam when the Batteau boat that they were riding
in, capsized. 5 men survived from this catastrophe caused by the forces of Mother Nature.
One of the more dangerous jobs of logging was breaking up log jams. Skillful workers would go out with their Batteau boats, and use special tools to walk from log to log and twist them to break them up
The work of the "log
rollers" was far from safe and cost lives from time to time. At
one point during a major jam, there was a large loss of life
when one of the boats capsized and most of the lumberjacks on
the drive were drowned
The Wooden Indian today is in a display about 150 yards west of the old road bed next to the Holcombe community center to remind the residents of their heritage. Today Holcombe is host for a great recreational area for fishing, camping, and canoeing.
If you have any information, stories, corrections, or pictures regarding this or any of the other towns along the Hannibal branch line, Please let me know, < E-mail > along with your permission to publish your personal memories in an attempt to keep the history available for future generations. Non-digital pictures and documentation will be returned upon request.
Thanks for looking
Doug Stoll
