Plain

History

The village of Plain is located on Wisconsin Highway 23 and County Road B in the Township of Franklin. The area of Plain was originally known as Cramer's Corners after four Cramer brothers (John, Jeremiah, Adam and Solomon, Sr.) moved to the Plain area in the early 1850s. They came from Troy Township in Richland County, Ohio and Morrow County, Ohio. Joseph Cramer was originally from Letterkenny Township, Pennsylvania. The Cramers are listed as land owners in the 1859 Town of Franklin map. This Cramer family should not be confused with the Kraemer [Krämer] family from Irlach, Bavaria, Germany, who settled in Plain, Wisconsin, in 1867. Several rough buildings were erected and the area acquired the nickname of Logtown (also spelled Log Town). A post office was proposed to be established at Plain on March 31, 1858, with B. V. Bunnel as postmaster. The proposed mail route was Prairie du Sac, Sauk City, Harrisburg, Plain, Maqua to Sextonville in Richland County. Plain formally became a village in 1912. The origin of the village's name is widely rumored to have been selected as an homage to the Shrine of the Virgin Mary at Maria Plain on the hill known as Plainberg in the village of Bergheim, Austria outside Salzburg, Austria. There are, however, no known documents, newspaper articles or books of the time to support this claim, and writings of the time indicate a less colorful origin. Plain was "called Plain because the inhabitants were plain people". In September 1915, a subscriber of the local newspaper wrote of his desire to have Plain re-christened as the town had expanded and improved so much over the past three years that it had outgrown the "plain"-ness of its name. The unnamed author wrote: "Within a few weeks very strong efforts will be made at proper…

Geography

Plain is located at (43.277580, -90.044563). According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of , all land.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• River Valley High
  High · Spring Green · 389 students · 13:1 ratio
• River Valley Middle
  Middle · Spring Green · 317 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• River Valley Elementary
  Elementary · Spring Green · 283 students · 12.3:1 ratio
• Tower Rock Elementary
  Elementary · Prairie du Sac · 228 students · 10.9:1 ratio
• River Valley Early Learning Center
  Elementary · Plain · 109 students · 12.1:1 ratio