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Kentuckians who came to homestead
along the Pine River with the Indians first populated Argonne. The
present town of Argonne was first named VanZile, after Abraham VanZile
who plotted all the land in the area. It was later named North Crandon
but that caused too much confusion of the mail so the community decided
on a name change. It briefly considered Champion, after a local merchant
but that didn't catch on. Argonne was chosen in 1921 following the
patriotic fervor that followed World War 1. The namesake was the Battle
of Argonne in eastern France.
In 1887 the Soo Line came into the community and a depot was built. There was one large hotel which the Hords owned There was no school right in the community… it was up on Highway 32. In 1890 there were eight students. In 1894 the first two-story school was built north of the school, which served the community until 1991. The community was located 1-1/2 miles east of its present location on a steep grade it was moved because it was impossible for the train to start up with a load of lumber. As more people came north to work in the lumber camps, the town grew until it contained two large hotels, two large grocery stores, one clothing store, a meat market, a post office, a printing shop, two newspapers (The Forest Leaves and Northern Citizens), a large livery stable, a bank, seven saloons, and two doctors, besides other small businesses. The Farmers and Merchants State Bank was purport ably the first bank in the state of Wisconsin. A stagecoach ride between Crandon and Argonne took three to four hours on the rough corduroy roads. The Forest County Court House was proposed for downtown Argonne but was defeated because the township of Three Lakes which would have voted for the proposal was shifted to Oneida County. Today, Argonne still prides itself
on its rich history and still boasts its small post office. The railroad
tracks exist to this day. Argonne Days, an event commemoration Argonne's
past is held each summer in August. Argonne
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