Located in the middle of the Kickapoo Valley, Readstown has a rich history of commerce, dealing with the river and community spirit.

Daniel Read platted the village in 1855 and the town is named Reads Town on old plat maps.

Read came from New York state, first settling in Liberty Pole and then moving to the banks of Reads Creek and the Kickapoo River.

Read built the first cabin on the west bank of the river in 1848, but it was lost in a flood. He built a sawmill on Reads Creek in 1849. The course of the creek has been changed over the years, but the mill was a few hundred yards from where Hwy. 61 intersects Hwy. 14 today. The mill stood for about 10 years and was replaced with a larger, more modern mill on the same site. This mill was torn down in 1881.

Read also started a grist mill on Reads Creek in 1854. He provided the necessities for a settlement, food and a means to build shelter in its early years. Read died in 1862. He had no family and is buried in the local cemetery.

The first store was opened in early 1854 by William H. Austin, but closed within the year.

Albert Bliss opened a store in the community in the fall of 1854 and a hotel in 1855. The Bliss Hotel became a stage stop and a place for traveling salesmen to spend the night. It was also the scene of his daughter Helen’s marriage to James O. Davidson, who became governor of Wisconsin and also served in the State Assembly. Jeremiah Rusk was also married at the Bliss Hotel.

The federal-style Bliss House is still standing on the west side of the Kickapoo, between the river and Hwy. 61.

The main village was on the west side of the Kickapoo during its early development. However, in 1876, W.H. Aikens opened a store on the east side of the river and a second store was opened there by J.J. McCarty in 1882.

Mail delivery was very erratic until Hiram Austin became Readstown’s first postmaster in 1857. In 1883, mail was received three times a week (in good weather).

In 1850, Orin Wisel opened a blacksmith shop, and in 1860, he was asked by Read to build a bridge across the Kickapoo River. There is no documentation that says he did build the bridge, but it is generally believed he did so.

The bridge was a diagonal across the Kickapoo approximately where the present Hwy. 14 bridge is located. The east end of the bride started on Center Street and cut through what is Tourist Park and the west end had to be cut through the base of the rocky bluff.

In the 1920s, the state paved the “Viola Road” (now Hwy. 131) coming into Readstown from Viola in the north. It turned west at Charles St., crossing the Kickapoo River on the Charles St. bridge, which was built in 1917.

The highway was changed in the 1930s, when the present bridge on Hwy. 14 was constructed.

According to an Epitaph-News story from 1990, the first school was located west of the Kickapoo River, near the site of the S.T. Dregne house. It was one room with grades 1-8. By 1934, Readstown had a newer school building that for students through grade 12.

The red brick building became the high school in 1960, when the new elementary school was finished. The high school was closed in 1964 and torn down in 1976. The elementary school closed in May 1998. It is used as a warehouse today. Schoolchildren in the area go to Kickapoo Area Schools, outside of Viola.

After the Civil War, the area was hit by the depression of 1870 and the village went into a decline.

During that time, according to the Vernon County Censor, Dec. 24, 1874, there was talk of iron mines in Readstown.

“On Sat. last, Charles Waters & E. Van Arsdale of Grant Co., visited Readstown to examine the iron mine or rather, the place it is supposed to be. Mr. Arsdale is a practical iron miner & has assisted in opening 2 iron mines in the Lake Superior country. He says there is no doubt about there being iron ore in paying quantities, and is willing to back his opinion by taking stock.” However, there is no record of an iron mine in Readstown.

The second era of growth for the village, was the coming of the railroad in the late 1890s. It allowed the residents of the village to ship their goods quickly and cheaply and allowed people easy access to the village.

At that time, the commercial center of the village was on the west side of the river. The railroad station was deliberately placed on the east side of the river, in hopes of developing the area. The railroad gave the village its present north-south configuration, and the railroad bridge across the Kickapoo River was south of the present day Hwy. 14 bridge.

The railroad was planned to go from Wauzeka through Readstown to Wilton, all the way up and down the valley. The train was called “The Stump Dodger.”

Readstown was the terminus for the Kickapoo Valley & Northern Rail Road in 1896, and the village boomed. There were many new businesses and residents coming to the village, which was incorporated in 1898. This was the most productive era for the village.

The railroad ceased functioning in 1939, and the railroad depot disappeared. By 1940, the population stood at 584, and today it stands at 395.

Through the many declines in population and closing of businesses, the village residents continue to feel a sense of history, pride and community spirit in the small town called Readstown on the Kickapoo River.