Lands shown in red are owned and for sale by North Western Lumber Co. Land Department [Wisconsin]

“Heart of the Famous Cow, Cream, and Clover Country, 120 Miles East of the Twin Cities.”

This uncommon promotional map was issued around 1920 by the Northwestern Lumber Company’s Land Department, located in Stanley, Wisconsin. By that time, the region’s rich lumber deposits were becoming increasingly scarce and the timbering firm was attempting to sell thousands of acres of logged ground to prospective farmers.

These lands, highlighted in red, are spread across about a dozen townships in north-central Wisconsin. The agricultural productivity of the region is emphasized and numerous cheese factories and creameries are labeled. Railroad lines – key for getting goods to market – are noted; along with the location of schoolhouses, footprints of individual farms, and town boundaries. According to the University of Wisconsin at Eau-Claire;

“The North Western Lumber Company of Eau Claire, Wisconsin was organized in 1873…The company engaged in lumbering operations from its inception until 1918, when the depletion of timber supplies became critical. From 1918 until the dissolution of the company in 1972, its main business was the management of its land assets and their liquidation.”

Source.