History of the Community

The Town came into being in 1854 when it was sectioned off from the City of Portage. A large portion of the Town, at that time, was owned by N. H. Wood. Mr. Wood constructed a plank road from the east side of Portage to the high ground on the west and he charged a toll for those who crossed the low marshland in this manner. The Old Plank Road was made of heavy oak planks laid in ‘corduroy fashion’ along the Wisconsin River and connected with the Military Road to the east and west.

The Military Road connected Fort Crawford at Prairie Du Chein, Fort Winnebago in Portage and Fort Howard at Green Bay. The building housing the North Star Tavern at the intersection of US Highway 51 and North Star Road is an historic structure as it was the Old Coach Inn on the Military Road.

Mr. Wood became the first Chairman of the Town in an election in which 50 votes were cast. In 1875 the population of the Town was 249; in 1970 it was 756 and in 1980 it was 1,215. Today the Town of Pacific population is in excess of 2,700 with a population that exceeds most villages in Columbia County though it is the smallest Town in size.