SCANDINAVIA TOWNSHIP
At a special meeting of the county board of supervisors held at the Village of Waupaca, April 15, 1853, township 23, range 11, was set off
from the old Town of Waupaca and called Scandinavia; the first town meeting to be held at the house of Hans J. Eleason. At the same time
the township just south was separated under the name of Farmington. The first settlement in the new town had been made by Mr. Eleason
two years before, and he was soon after joined by Ole Anderson, Isaac Eleason, J. C. Eleason, J. J. Torgerson and Casper Zwicky.
For a number of years the pioneer Norwegian settlers gathered at and near the present Village of Scandinavia. At an early date J. P. Peterson
built a sawmill and H. B. Pause & Company erected a grist mill. Mr. Pause also opened a store in 1855, having been forestalled a few
months by Thomas Knoph, the first merchant of the town. The first church to be organized was the Evangelical Lutheran, its
house of worship being completed in 1856. It stood a short distance north of the present village, and from that day to this, has. grown continually,
both in membership and influence with the people of the county.
The Scandinavian Academy, controlled by it, adds to the strong standing of the town as a bulwark of the sturdy moral life which is so typical of
the Norwegian-American.
Seven rural schools in different parts of the town, as well as the graded school and the academy at the village, also testify to the intelligence
of the settlers and their determination that their children shall have the best education afforded by their means.
The farmers of the town have long been noted for their industry and thrift. Their lands are well adapted to dairy farming, and they take
great pride in the quality and improvement of their cattle. Although several of the townships exceed Scandinavia in the number of their cattle,
the town heads the entire list in the average value per head, $35.35. The number of cattle is 2,713; aggregate value, $95,905.
Scandinavia is fourth in the average value of its horses, $106.81 per head, with an aggregate valuation of $58,640. The lands of the town have an
aggregate value of $1,266,440, and the total real and personal property is placed at $1,452,870.
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