546 Wisconsin Academy of Sciences^ Arts, and Letters. 



nineteen and twenty east ; thence soutli on said range line to tlie 

 section line between sections twenty-four and twenty-five, in 

 tOAvnship tAvo, range nineteen east; thence west on said section 

 line to the range line between ranges eighteen and nineteen east ; 

 thence south on said range line to the place of beginning, shall 

 be erected into a separate county called Kenosha.^ 



The boundary of tlie county as determined by the above act 

 has never been altered, but since that time there have been sev- 

 eral changes in the town boundaries for no special reason other 

 than local advantage or convenience. The accompanying maps, 

 I and II, shoAv Kenosha countv and the toAvns as erected by the 

 act approved Jan. 30, 1850, and as they are today. By con- 

 sulting these maps one will readily see the nature of the changes 

 that have been made. The legislature, Jan. 2, 1838, created 

 the tOAvns of Salem, Pleasant Prairie, and Southport.^ Salem 

 and Pleasant Praine have remained unchanged to the present 

 time, while Southport by an act of the Board of Supervisors of 

 Kenosha county, Feb. 26, 1853, was vacated and divided. The 

 parts, except so much of the town as was embraced in the city 

 of Kenosha by the act of the legislature of Jan., 1850, incor- 

 porating the city, Avere added to the towns of Somers and Pleas- 

 ant Prairie. That part of Southport lying in town one north, 

 range twenty-three east, was annexed to the tOAvn of Pleasant 

 Prairie, and that part lying in town two north, range twenty- 

 three east, Avas annexed to the toAvn of Somers.^ The towns of 

 Bristol and Paris were created by the action of the County 

 Board of Supervisors of Kacine county, Jan. 11, 1850, and 

 neither have been changed since that time. It was impossible 

 to ascertain the dates Avhen the toAvns of Brighton, Pike, and 

 Wheatland were created, but all three existed Avhen Kenosha 

 Avas formed. Brighton has remained unchanged, while the 

 name of Pike was changed to Somers early in 1851.* The toAvn 

 of Wheatland was divided by the action of the Board of Super- 

 visors of Kenosha county in 1860 by a line commencing at the 



1 Session Laws, Wis., 1850, p. 25. Southport Telegraph, Friday, Feb. 

 15, 1850. 



2 Hist, of Racine and Kenosha Counties, 1879, p. 308. 



3 Alterations of Towns, filed March 9, 1853. File Town Plats, "Old", 

 Office of Sec. of State. 



4 Kenosha Telegraph, April 11, 1851, March 21, 1851. 



