McKinley, Taylor County, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
McKinley is a town in Taylor County
Taylor County, Wisconsin
Taylor County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2010, the population was 20,689. Its county seat is Medford.-History:The earliest recorded event in Taylor county probably occurred in 1661, when Wisconsin was part of New France...

, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...

, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. The population was 418 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Jump River is located partially in the town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...

, the town has a total area of 35.8 square miles (92.8 km²), of which, 35.8 square miles (92.6 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.20%) is water.

The Jump River
Jump River
The Jump River is a small rocky river in north-central Wisconsin. In the late 19th century it was used to drive logs down to the Chippewa. Today it is recreational, rambling through woods and farmlands, used mostly by fishermen and paddlers.-Geography:...

, Alder Creek, and Shoulder Creek flow through the township, all generally heading to the west-southwest. Monson Flowage and Holzer Flowage are in a part of the Pershing Wildlife Area on the southern edge.

History

Some of the earliest European Americans to walk the six mile square that would become McKinley were the U.S. government's surveyors
Surveying
See Also: Public Land Survey SystemSurveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, and science of accurately determining the terrestrial or three-dimensional position of points and the distances and angles between them...

. In 1847 they surveyed the outline of the township
Survey township
Survey township, sometimes called Congressional township, as used by the United States Public Land Survey System, refers to a square unit of land, that is nominally six miles on a side...

 on foot with chain
Gunter's chain
Gunter's chain is a measuring device used for land survey. It was designed and introduced in 1620 by English clergyman and mathematician Edmund Gunter long before the development of the theodolite and other more sophisticated equipment, enabling plots of land to be accurately surveyed and plotted,...

 and compass. Then others came back in 1855 to survey all the section lines
Section (United States land surveying)
In U.S. land surveying under the Public Land Survey System , a section is an area nominally one square mile, containing , with 36 sections making up one survey township on a rectangular grid....

. When done, the deputy surveyor filed this general description:
This Township contains several Swamps and some of considerable extent. They are all unfit for cultivation. The Meadow and Alder Bottoms are all subject to be overflowed to a depth of 1 too 2 feet And are good for Hay
Hay
Hay is grass, legumes or other herbaceous plants that have been cut, dried, and stored for use as animal fodder, particularly for grazing livestock such as cattle, horses, goats, and sheep. Hay is also fed to pets such as rabbits and guinea pigs...

. The Surface is level apart is upland where the Soil is 2d rate. This Township is heavily timbered and is Cheifly composed of Hemlock, Yellow Birch, Balsam and White Pine
Eastern White Pine
Pinus strobus, commonly known as the eastern white pine, is a large pine native to eastern North America, occurring from Newfoundland west to Minnesota and southeastern Manitoba, and south along the Appalachian Mountains to the northern edge of Georgia.It is occasionally known as simply white pine,...

. The undergrowth is generally thick and is composed of Hemlock Balsam and Hazel
Hazel
The hazels are a genus of deciduous trees and large shrubs native to the temperate northern hemisphere. The genus is usually placed in the birch family Betulaceae, though some botanists split the hazels into a separate family Corylaceae.They have simple, rounded leaves with double-serrate margins...

. Balsam and Elm
Elm
Elms are deciduous and semi-deciduous trees comprising the genus Ulmus in the plant family Ulmaceae. The dozens of species are found in temperate and tropical-montane regions of North America and Eurasia, ranging southward into Indonesia. Elms are components of many kinds of natural forests...

 line the Margins of Meadow and Alder
Alder
Alder is the common name of a genus of flowering plants belonging to the birch family . The genus comprises about 30 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, few reaching large size, distributed throughout the North Temperate Zone and in the Americas along the Andes southwards to...

 Bottoms. The River Enters the Township near the SE corner of Section 12 and flows a West SouthWesterly course, with a Rapid current and is from 2 too 4 feet deep, and is adapted to the forming of a good motive power for mills. There is no improvements in this Township.


In 1902 a town of McKinley was carved out of the larger town of Westboro
Westboro, Wisconsin
Westboro is a town in Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 660 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Westboro is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Queenstown is also located in the town.-Geography:...

, which had previously spanned the north of Taylor County. This McKinley included the present-day towns of McKinley and Jump River
Jump River (town), Wisconsin
Jump River is a town in Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 311 at the 2000 census. The town takes its name from the Jump River which flows through its northwest corner...

 until 1923. Then the town of Jump River was split off, leaving McKinley with its present boundaries.

Demographics

As of the census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...

of 2000, there were 418 people, 139 households, and 104 families residing in the town. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 11.7 people per square mile (4.5/km²). There were 186 housing units at an average density of 5.2 per square mile (2.0/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.76% white, and 0.24% from two or more races.

There were 139 households out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.9% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 7.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.5% were non-families. 19.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.01 and the average family size was 3.50.

In the town the population was spread out with 34.4% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 18.9% from 45 to 64, and 12.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 102.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $36,528, and the median income for a family was $43,906. Males had a median income of $22,303 versus $23,333 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...

 for the town was $16,276. About 6.7% of families and 13.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 17.6% of those under age 18 and 10.3% of those age 65 or over.
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