At first glance Linden may appear just a quaint small town in the
middle of nowhere in southwestern wisconsin in Iowa county.
It is a tiny little
town of less than 700 people. There are two bars a church a post
office a cheeze store, a small grocery, and a gas station. Its
one of those small towns where everyone grew up there and lived
there all their lives and everyone knows everyone else and has
relatives in the area. If you dig deeper Linden is steeped in the
history that made Wisconsin what it is today. You may ask, how
did I come to take an interest in Linden? But, that is another
story, perhaps I may tell you later. For now, lets just say, I
took a personal interest. Its located in a beautiful hilly wooded
region that was sparred from the glaciers that covered large
parts of the state. Linden was once known as Peddler's
Creek. Lead was discovered in Linden in 1821. Once Linden was
much larger. It had about 2000 people during the lead rush days.
One of the famous earlier mines was the "Dark Horse Mine" that
was mined and owned by the Tredinnick's some of the early cornish
immigrants that originally settled in this region. Lead played a large part
in the early settlement of Wisconsin. The largest number of
cornish immigrants settled near or in Linden during the lead
mining days. If you have never had Pasty give it a try sometime
its a favorite cornish dish, You can still see remnants of earlier mining
activities left by the piles of dirt and the "diggin holes". Linden is very
near mineral point where the state was first surveyed and it is also close
to where the last indian battle east of the mississipi took place in the
blackhawk war. Along with the lead deposits there were deposits of zinc and
nickel in the area. After the lead mines panned out and minning became less
profitable farming became more important there are many large dairy farms just
outside of Linden. There is a cheese factory located inside the small town.
Peddler's Creek Cemetery (more about the history of Linden)
Historic Linden photos from the past
Photos of beautiful downtown Linden
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