According to the Wisconsin State Historical Marker found in Port Wing, expanding logging operations increased the number of students more than small log schoolhouses could handle. A idea of consolidating the rural districts and establishing a larger school with free transportation was proposed and a new school district was completed in January 1903.

The marker states, “So far as is known, this was the first school district in Wisconsin to provide free, tax-supported transportation. Canvas covered horse drawn wagons or sleighs, known as “school rigs” were used for this purpose.”

This school bus might not be very warm in the sub-zero temperatures but it would have been better than walking in the cold wind.

Wisconsin’s First School Bus