Wisconsin Central Railroad (1871–1899)

The original Wisconsin Central Railroad Company was a major early railroad that operated throughout northern Wisconsin. It built lines up through the forested wilderness, and opened large tracts to logging and settlement. It established stations which would grow into a string of cities and towns between Stevens Point and Ashland, including Marshfield and Medford, and it connected these places to Chicago and St. Paul. It also played a major role in building Chicago's Grand Central Station.

Despite these successes, it struggled financially from the start and was bankrupt by 1879. It was leased to the Northern Pacific Railway from 1889 to 1893, and was finally reorganized from bankruptcy in 1897 as the Wisconsin Central Railway.