The first freight was received at the Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad depot (in a village), consisting of articles shipped from Janesville.

The evidence

• “The Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad, as the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road was then called, did not pass through till the year following, the first freight being received at their depot on September 4, 1857. It was from Janesville, and consisted of the following articles :”

  1879-history-of-rock-county/16-rock-county-ch10-villages.md, PDF p. 668 / book p. 672

  Butterfield, C. W., et al. The History of Rock County, Wisconsin: its early settlement, growth, development, resources, etc. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1879. Cornell University Library via the Internet Archive, archive.org/details/cu31924028871585.

  Grade A: Found on a page of one of our sources