“Old princeton” TIME LINE

May 29, 1848 – Wisconsin becomes thirtieth state in the Union.
July 2, 1848 – Royal Treat stakes out claim for the site that would become Princeton and builds a shanty and then log cabin near what is now the intersection of Main and Mechanic streets.
Spring 1849 – John Knapp builds Treat’s Landing’s first regular frame house, which also served as an inn or tavern, northwest corner of Water and Pearl streets.
June 6, 1849 – Federal government issues land patent to Henry Treat for 127.7 acres east of the Fox River. Royal Treat secures pre-emptive rights to about 147 acres west of the river. The Treats select Princeton as the new hamlet’s name.
July 1849 – Princeton post office created. John Knapp named postmaster. Mail distributed at Knapp’s tavern at Water and Pearl streets.
Summer 1849 – Byron Harmon and Charles Stacy build Princeton’s first store, a general store operated by Ferdinand Durand, on lot that is now 527 West Water Street.
1850 – Semiweekly mail route established from Fort Winnebago (Portage) to Oshkosh by way of Kingston, Marquette, Princeton and Strong’s Landing (Berlin).
February 1850 – Wisconsin Assembly passes bill authorizing Royal Treat to build and maintain a bridge, with draw to accommodate steamboats, across the Fox River in Princeton.
1851 – First public school within future city limits built on Lot 6, Block X (116 West Wisconsin Street).
January 1852 – Marquette County Board recognizes Princeton as village.
January 1852 – State Legislature authorizes construction of seven-mile canal, or mill race, to connect the Mecan River to the Fox River and create enough waterpower to run a gristmill and factories in Princeton. “Mill ditch” is dug by pick and shovel and takes years to complete
April 1853 – Name of Pleasant Valley Township officially changed to Princeton Township. October 1854 –The Marquette County Agricultural Society holds its first annual fair at Princeton.
1857 – Alvin and Waldo Flint open a gristmill on the west side of the Fox River, about one-quarter mile north of Main Street. Water routed from the Mecan River to the mill race powers the mill.
1857 – Carl August Weist opens brewery on South Farmer Street.
May 1858 – Green Lake County created from Marquette County. Voters select Berlin as county seat. Princeton finishes second.
1859-1860 – Salem Wright builds first brick buildings on Water Street (513-519 West Water) with east building completed in 1859 and west building in 1860.
January 1865 – State Legislature grants special charter incorporating village of Princeton.
March 1866 – Petition presented to state Legislature for removal of county seat from Dartford to Princeton.
April 1866 – Princeton outpolls Dartford in county seat election, but the board of canvassers rejects hundreds of votes, giving the victory to Dartford. The Wisconsin secretary of state and attorney general say the disputed votes should have been counted. Supporters move some records to Princeton, but some county officials refuse to move their offices as the dispute winds its way to the state Supreme Court, which ultimately sides with Dartford.
February 21, 1867 – Thomas McConnell publishes Volume 1, Issue 1 of the Princeton Republic.
March 1867 – Wisconsin Legislature grants special charter incorporating village of Princeton after 1865 charter is repealed.
December 1867 – Teachers and pupils take formal possession of the new stone school building at 432 West Main Street.
September 1868 – Jacob Yunker opens foundry near corner of West Main and Mill streets (862 West Main Street).
October 1869 – First Cattle Fair held on downtown triangle. 250 head of cattle.
July 1870 – Town of Princeton votes to appropriate money to survey a line for a railroad through Princeton. Vote was almost unanimous.
April 4, 1872 – Track for the Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad reaches the Fox River in Princeton.
May 22, 1872 – First Sheboygan & Fond du Lac Railroad passenger train arrives in Princeton at 9 p.m.
June 1872 – First telegraph line in Princeton goes live.
November 1873 – Princeton forms hook-and-ladder fire company. Fire wagon, hooks and ladders are purchased in Milwaukee.
March 1874 – Cattle Fair moves from downtown triangle to west side, near intersection of Main and Second streets.
July 1874 – Princeton Turn Verein, or Turner Society, forms. Louis Kunz is captain.
July 1874 – Louis Kunz opens tannery on left side of road to Montello on west side of Princeton.
July 1875 – Village builds lockup on south side of Water Street in downtown triangle.
August 1875 – Construction of Princeton lock on Fox River begins. Project takes over a year to complete.
October 1875 – Yahr, Thompson & Co. Bank opens in corner of F.T. Yahr’s building at 525 West Water Street.
January 1876 – Wisconsin Supreme Court overrules circuit court ruling that allowed village – rather than town – to set fees and issue liquor licenses.
March 1876 – Wisconsin Legislature passes resolution (later rejected by Wisconsin Supreme Court) amending village charter to give village exclusive rights to issue liquor and entertainment licenses.
July 1876 – German language newspaper, The Princeton Merkur (Winged Messenger) makes its debut. It publishes until 1879.
November 1877 – Village and town residents vote to build an iron bridge to replace the Main Street bridge over the Fox River. Work is completed in April 1878.
May 1878 – Princeton Turn Verein christens Turn-Halle (Turner Hall, 429 West Water Street).
December 1878 – Princeton Turn Verein officially incorporates.
April 11, 1880 – Fire destroys 11 buildings, from Hubbard Hall at the southeast corner of Water and Washington streets to nearly the intersection of Harvard and Farmer streets. The Congregational Church is saved.
September 1880 – Turn Verein dedicates new Turner Hall on same site as one destroyed by fire in April.
March 1883 – Princeton forms fire engine company. Hand-operated engine and other equipment purchased from New York firm.
January 1885 – Fire destroys the American House hotel at 444 West Water Street. Hotel is rebuilt with brick and reopens in October.
February 1885 – Fire engine company and hook and ladder company consolidate into single fire department.
May 1885 – Wisconsin Telephone Company extends lines from Dartford to Princeton.
March 1886 – Livery operator Frank Merrill, grocer Edward Frank and dentist Horace Straight are the first in Princeton to have private telephone lines erected from their businesses to their homes.
September 1890 – Village jail, or lockup, is moved from triangle to south side of the 500 block of Main Street.
December 1891 – Princeton hosts its first Farmers Institute, a state program developed in conjunction with the University of Wisconsin to improve quality of agriculture and rural life.
April 1893 – Residents vote 103-4 to reincorporate Princeton under the general state statute regarding villages, replacing the special charter granted in 1867. The village does not officially separate from the township, however, until the Legislature passes Chapter 287 of the Laws of 1897.
May 1893 – Private bank of F.T. Yahr is sold and reorganized as Princeton State Bank with capital stock of $30,000. New brick building erected at 527 West Water Street opens in 1894.
March 1894 – Residents of Princeton Joint School District No. 2 vote 185-84 to spend up to $10,000 to build a brick schoolhouse. The village triangle is selected as the site.
January 1895 – School district hosts open house at the new school.
February 1896 – Princeton Tub Company erects building on site of former cooperage near the river north of West Main Street less than a block from the bridge (north of, or behind, 854 West Main Street).
June 1897 – Fire destroys two buildings (521 and 523 West Water Street) housing three businesses. Arson is suspected but never proved.
August 1898 – The Princeton Creamery Association forms and builds factory on the southeast corner of the intersection of the Dartford (state Highway 23) and Markesan
(County Trunk D) roads.
April 1901 – Oscar Tassler erects building for his pop bottling factory on Short Street, south of Turner Hall.
August 1901 – Princeton mill operators Edward Teske Sr. and his son-in-law Ed Zierke hire electrical engineer W.B. Voth, of Milwaukee, and erect an electric light plant on the west side, south of the mill, and install 16-candlepower incandescent lights at the mill, their residences and two other homes. They also install two arc streetlights.
September 1901 – Extension of the Chicago & North Western Railroad from Princeton to Grand Rapids (Wisconsin Rapids), including swing bridge across the Fox River and new depot in Princeton, is completed.
September 1901 – U.S. comptroller of the treasury authorizes The First National Bank of Princeton to commence business.
November 1901 – Wisconsin Telephone Company establishes Princeton’s first tele-phone exchange with offices in the American House.
November 1901 – Village board votes 4-3 to grant electric service franchise to Citizens’ Electric Light & Power Company of Princeton. Electric service is initially available for only a few hours each night.
January 1902 – First National Bank of Princeton opens for business in new building at 501 West Water Street.
March 1902 – The Rev. J.S. Wozny, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, is first Princeton resident to own an automobile.
July 1902 – School district residents approve four-year high school at annual meeting.
October 1902 – Princeton hosts its first German Day celebration.
January 1903 – Princeton Overall & Shirt Company opens factory at 854 West Main Street, just east of the former foundry and south of the tub factory.
October 1903 – Rural mail service begins with delivery to 104 houses and 468 people on RFD No. 1.
June 1904 – Princeton High School holds its first graduation ceremony at Turner Hall for five students who completed the three-year high school program.
Summer 1904 – City officials vote to begin replacing wooden sidewalks on Water Street with cement.
April 1905 – City of Princeton purchases electric plant from Citizens’ Electric Light & Power Company of Princeton, which dissolves.
October 1905 – Turn Verein christens renovated Turner Hall. Work includes galvanized iron siding and new façade with Turn-Halle capstone.
June 1906 – Princeton High School holds its first graduation exercises at Turner Hall for five students who completed the four-year high school program.
July 1908 – School district residents approve spending up to $5,000 on a four-room brick addition to the high school, nearly doubling the schoolhouse’s square footage.
July 1909 – Cement walks laid on Water Street from the Nickodems’ corner (Pearl and Water streets) to Luedtke’s wagon shop, completing the conversion of Water Street from wood to cement sidewalks.
April 1910 – Princeton Telephone Company forms to extend lines to farmers in the town of Princeton.
July 1911 – H.J. Heinz Company announces it is ready to accept cucumbers at its pickling plant near the stockyard in east Princeton, east of the intersection of Main and Fulton streets.
May 1912 – Princeton High School holds its first junior prom.
June 1916 – Village residents vote 199-64 in support of a plan to spend up to $14,000 to pave Water Street from Short to Mechanic. Village removes hitching posts and telephone poles from street to prepare for the work.
January 1917 – Princeton Cheese Association begins taking milk and making cheese at the former creamery building.
February 1917 – Princeton Woman’s Club forms.
April 1917 – Edward Teske Sr. (Teske Milling Company) sells mill channel to a stock company organized later as the Princeton Power & Light Company.
June 1917 – Water Street is paved with brick and Corinthian electric light posts erected to complete Princeton’s new “White Way.”
August 1918 – Private Bernard Kasierski, 27, is first Princeton serviceman killed in action in France in World War I.
August 1918 – Princeton Home Guard organizes.
October 1919 – Movie theater opens at 508 West Water Street. Owner Alfred Warnke selects Loyal Theatre as the winner in a contest to name the new venue.
April 1920 – Princeton incorporates as a city. Erich Mueller defeats William Jurgens to become first mayor.
July 1920 – Princeton Power & Light Company flips the switch for first time for 24-hour electrical current throughout city.
September 1921 – United Consumers Company erects city’s first filling station on southeast corner of Water and Washington streets.
February 1922 – City OKs purchase of fire department’s first truck from American LaFrance Fire Engine Company.
June 1922 – Local veterans form the Benny Kasierski Post of The American Legion.
December 1923 – American Legion Auxiliary forms.
January 1924 – First National Bank of Princeton suspends operations.
February 1924 – Princeton Rod and Gun Club organizes.
May 1924 – Local American Legion post and auxiliary hold their first poppy drive. About 1,000 flowers are sold.
September 1924 – U.S. Treasury Department authorizes Farmers-Merchants National Bank of Princeton to commence business as successor to the First National Bank.
April 1925 – City residents vote against purchasing the Princeton Power & Light Company. The Wisconsin Power & Light Company buys stock of the Princeton company.
April 1925 – Women’s Progressive Club forms.
June 1927 – Dedication ceremonies held for new flagstaff, flag and bandstand at Princeton City Park.
August 1928 – Princeton city council approves purchasing 40 acres from Peter Adamske east of Fulton Street for an airport.
September 1928 – Dedication ceremonies held for the American Legion memorial in the park and for the Princeton airport.
1929 – Boy Scout Troop 25 receives its charter. (Boy Scouts had organized in Princeton in 1925.)
May 1929 – Zoo opens across Fulton Street from Princeton City Park and eventually includes deer, swan and black bear.
September 1929 – New Community Hall in City Park is dedicated. Ceremony is also held to rededicate the city airport.
June 1929 – Princeton Opera House, also known as Princeton Theater and previously as Turner Hall, discontinues silent movies and will run only features with sound.
August 1930 – The Rev. Tom Jankowski, pastor of St. John the Baptist Catholic Church, becomes the first to drive across the new $125,000 bascule bridge over the Fox River.
October 1930 – New bridge is dedicated.
April 1931 – New draw bridge is opened for the first time for boat traffic.
June 1932 – Rock garden completed on east side of City Park.
March 1933 – Free public library opens in the American Legion rooms at 545 West Water Street.
July 1933 – Philip Lehner Sr. wins libel lawsuit against the Republic Printing Company, publisher of the Princeton Republic.
August 1933 – Princeton Brewing Company reopens brewery following end of prohibition.
September 1933 – Princeton Tiger Brew makes its debut.
November 1933 – City residents vote 504-61 to build a sewer and waterworks system with the assistance of a New Deal grant and loan program, but city misses deadline and project is delayed.
February 1934 – Republic Printing Company, publisher of the Princeton Republic, files for bankruptcy.
March 1934 – Princeton Public Library moves from 545 West Water Street to the upstairs room of the “flat iron” building at 425 West Water Street.
September 1934 – Princeton Woman’s Club sponsors the city’s first Girl Scout troop.
October 1934 – The Princeton Home Maker’s Club holds its first meeting.
March 1935 – City residents vote 274-250 to build a sewer and water system with the help of a New Deal grant and loan program.
July 1936 – City completes installation of sewer and water system.
July 1936 – American Legion post purchases the former “Yahr castle” at 867 West Main Street.
January 1937 – Princeton State Bank stockholders agree to merge with Farmers-Merchants National Bank, which buys state bank assets for $462,000.
May 27, 1937 – Princeton Republic publishes final issue before merging with the Princeton Times the following week to become the Princeton Times-Republic.