Outagamie County, WI - "Medina Man Remembers Town's Early History"
       
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Subject: newspaper article "Medina Man Remembers Town's Early History"
Submitted by: county coordinator 
EMAIL: jmmarasch@aol.com
Date Submitted: 15 March 2000
       
Source: New London Press newspaper article from Bicentennial issue, undated.

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           Medina Man Remembers Town's Early History
     Harry Stick has lived the history of Medina.
     He's learned it from men who used to talk about the old days before television and radio.
     Harry, who is now 72, also kept a book of the town's history prepared so the memories could be passed
on to other generations.
     The book mentions the first settlers to come to Medina were Zebediah Hyde, Lewis Hyde and Alva
McCrary, Samuel Young and sons.  They came in 1848.
     Zebediah Hyde built the first cabin.
     William Young bought the first land from Zebediah Hyde and built a large hotel and livery stable.
     Before 1851 Medina was called Young's Corner after William Young.
     Medina may have been named through one of the early families, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hills, who came
from or near Medina, Ohio.  The Hills family came in 1855.
     The book mentions that Medina's first store was established before 1855.
     W.H. Roe was the first store keeper.
     There were two cheese factories in Medina.
     The north cheese factory's first operator was Charlie Vename.
     The west cheese factory was first a butter creamery operated by Steven Reed.     The saw mill was operated by Jim McClemen just west of Medina limits on the creek that furnished its
water power pond.
     John Rupple built and operated the cheese box factory.
     The tannery was near the creek, west of Medina.
     One blacksmith shop was operated by Volney Leppla.  The other shop was first run by Joe Klein.  John
Stick took over and finally Harry Stick was the owner.
     The Methodist church was built in Medina around 1860 and the Lutheran church around 1858.
     The first school house to be built was a big log building which was built on the west side of the road about
where the south Medina cemetery is.  It was built in 1850.
     Henry Greenfield was the first teacher and Filo Root was the second teacher.
     In 1956 the district joined the New London school district which ended the old Medina and South Medina
consolidated system.
     The Rhodes house was built by two Rhodes brothers, who came to the town in 1855.  One of them,
Andrew, was a great old-time fiddler.  People would come from Appleton and Neenah and Menasha to attend
holiday dances at the hotel.
     Many made it a three day event by leaving their horses in the Rhodes livery stable.
     The first concrete road was built in the summer of 1916.

Picture caption: This is Medina's William Buck in front of his combination harness shop, shoe shop, shoe store and post
office. The time? 1917.

Picture caption: Working with his hands made William Buck an important man in Medina history.