History of Plain

The village of Plain is located on Wisconsin Highway 23 in the town of Franklin, Sauk County, Wisconsin. The area of Plain was originally called Cramer's Corners because Solomon Cramer, John Cramer, and Adam Cramer owned the land. Several rough buildings were erected and the area acquired the nickname of Logtown. A post office was established at Plain in 1859, and Plain formally became a village in 1912.

The origin of the village's name is widely rumored to have been selected as an homage to the Shrine of the Virgin Mary at Maria Plain, in Salzburg, Austria. There are, however, no known official documents nor any newspaper articles or books of that time to support this claim, and writings of the time indicate a less colorful origin:

In the book "Baraboo and Other Place Names in Sauk County, Wisconsin" (written in 1912, the same year that Plain was incorporated) it says of Plain that it was "called Plain because the inhabitants were plain people."

In a September 23, 1915 letter in the local newspaper, the Weekly Home News, a subscriber wrote of his desire to have Plain re-christened, as the town had expanded and improved so much over the past three years that it had outgrown the "plain"ness of its name.

In the letter, the author writes: "Within a few weeks very strong efforts will be made at proper headquarters to have the name of Plain changed, as that name does not agree with the rushing strides our burg is making. First of all there is no meaning to the word Plain, as it is an adjective; we must have at least a noun and why not put a "ville" or "city" to it."

Source: Wikipedia

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Please see "Plain vs Maria Plain Discussion" for thoughts about the naming of Plain.

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Following is a collection of newspaper articles, excerpts from books, magazines, brochures, and websites regarding the naming of Plain, Wisconsin. It is in 1968 that I found the first printed statement that the name of Plain may have originated from "Maria von Plain" in Austria. To date, I have found no official documents to prove this. From that 1968 story, the rumor continues. . . [Perhaps the tale began with the Maria Plain pamphlet, published possibly in 1950]. . .

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 1877
A column by 'Pedagogue' which shows that Plain was known as Plain in 1877

The Inter-County Times
Spring Green, Wisconsin
December 11, 1877,  page 1, column 3

From Plains.
Plain, Wis., Dec. 8, 1877.

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1879
Logtown news
A column by 'Old Settler' referring to Plain as Logtown

The Dollar Times
Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin.
January 14, 1879, page 3, column 3-4.

Among the first events of the new year was 'Rice & Barton's Novelty Combination' which visited this place January 5th. We are told they had a crowded house even though it was Sunday evening.

The little crowd that gathered for a dance at the 'cheese-house corners' had a pleasant time until about ten o'clock, when a certain young lady saw fit to array herself in her husband's wardrobe and step in, which cause a little excitement for a few moments and the dance was all over. It was either a 'put-up job' or a funny joke.

The streets of our town were crowded with teams yesterday, in consequences of a controversy about a wagon. A trial was had before Mr. Hutter, justice, who will render his decision to-day. Spring Green and Bear Creek were well represented.

'Some of these days' Alois Hutter will have a new store. He has most of the stone hauled for the cellar wall.

Jacob Ott, the wanderer, has returned. He will be with us a few weeks; he talks of settling down to business next spring in southern Kansas, and says he has been sewing wild oats long enough. We wish him good luck.

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1879
Plain was known as Plain in 1879
(The same year it was known as Logtown)

The Dollar Times
Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin
February 4, 1879, page 3, column 4

Advertisement:
Alois Hutter
Offers his services to the public as an
AUCTIONEER.
Having had experience in the business and the advantage of a knowledge of both English and German, he expects to give entire satisfaction to his patrons.
Address, Plain, Wisconsin.

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The Dollar Times
Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin
May 27, 1879, page 3, column 2

Home Matters.
Lizzie Buss, of Plain, was the guest of Miss Elisa Zilg last week.

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Logtown Song 

An informational sign at the open house of the Franklin Historical Society at the Franklin Town Hall in Plain, Sauk County, Wisconsin, on July 25, 2004 showed a version of the Logtown Song as remembered by a former resident of the Plain area.

Log Town Song
Dear Log Town, dear Log Town
For thee do I crave, for the wonderful
Buildings and people so brave.
Often times while I sit in my large
Armchair, thoughts come to my mind
Of a city so fair.
You may talk of Chicago and New York
By the sea, but of all the great cities,
It's Log Town for me.

The Logtown Song was played many times at dances in Plain in the 1920s to 1930s. 

Logtown - a colloquial name for Plain 

Logtown was a colloquial name for the village of Plain used in the early days when most of the buildings were made of log. In early settlement days, it was known as Cramer's Corners, after John, one of the four Cramer brothers, who came from Richland County, Ohio in the early 1850's. He was the first postmaster. Early plat maps show that two of the brothers, John and Solomon, owned much of the land on what is now the north and south side of Main Street. A sawmill, run by steam, was established on Solomon's land in 1902, and may also have contributed to the name of Logtown. This sawmill was eventually bought by Joseph T. Ruhland in 1910 and continued until the late 1930's.

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 1880
History of Plain

History of Sauk County
(Chicago: Western Historical Co., 1880)
Page 673-674

Headquarters for the article is Plain Post Office, commonly called Logtown, where a thirsty individual can get ninety-two per cent of bitter water fuddled with eight per cent of alcohol, known as beer, on demand at almost any time. . . The schoolhouse of District No. 1 was built in 1851. The first teacher was T.J. Morgans. . . . There is also a post office at Plain, called Logtown, that has been established several (about ten) years. P. Stutz is now Postmaster here. . . The first store was opened at Logtown, formerly called Cramer's Corners, by Mr. Perry, in 1869. . . Organization and Town Officers. Franklin was a precinct of Honey Creek until April 3, 1855 . . .

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1882
Plain is referred to as Logtown

Spring Green News
Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin
December 7, 1882, page 3, column 3

Spring Green News.
P. W. Meehan, Editor and Publisher.
Spring Green, Thursday, Dec. 7, '82
Localisms.
We are informed by subscribers from White Mound, Logtown and other places, that our paper would be patronized very liberally by residents of those places if it were so they could get their paper the same week it is printed. . .

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1883
Plain was known as Plain in 1883

Spring Green News
Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin
April 19, 1883, page 2, column 3

Plain.
The late warm weather has transformed the fields of winter grain into fields of green verdure and gladdens the hearts of the farmers. . .

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1884
Plain was called Logtown

Weekly Home News, Spring Green, Sauk County, Wisconsin.
February 21, 1884, page 2

Plain.
Why is it that our town is called Logtown, by so many when we have 10 fine frame buildings and but 1 log house. We move that our town hereafter be called Frame Town.

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1895
History of the Catholic church in Plain

At a meeting of the Catholic settlers held on May 23, 1861, it was decided to erect a small stone church, Mr. Voelker at that time also donating two acres of ground to the parish.... After this the congregation was visited by Father T. Beau of Keyesville, and later by Father Heller of the same place. St. Luke was next visited from Honey Creek, the resident priests from that place attending, until 1875, when Father Spitzlberger built a substantial stone parsonage at Plain. ...

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