Map of Plain village

Plain is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 773 at the 2010 census.

Plain village overview:
Name:	Plain village
LSAD Code:	47
LSAD Description:	village (suffix)
State:	Wisconsin
County:	Sauk County
Elevation:	810 ft (247 m)
Total Area:	0.83 sq mi (2.16 km²)
Land Area:	0.83 sq mi (2.16 km²)
Water Area:	0.00 sq mi (0.00 km²)
Total Population:	773
Population Density:	919.57/sq mi (355.14/km²)
Area code:	608
FIPS code:	5563125
GNISfeature ID:	1571574

Online Interactive Map

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Plain online map. Source: Basemap layers from Google Map, Open Street Map (OSM), Arcgisonline, Wmflabs. Boundary Data from Database of Global Administrative Areas.

Plain location map. Where is Plain village?

Plain location on the U.S. Map. Where is Plain village. — Plain location on the U.S. Map.

Plain location on the Wisconsin map. Where is Plain village. — Location of Plain in Wisconsin.

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, Franklin County, 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 headquarters to have the name of Plain changed, as that name does not agree with the rushing strides our burg is making. First of all there is no meaning to the word Plain, as it is an adjective; we must have at least a noun and why not put a ‘ville’ or ‘city’ to it.”

Old Franklin Township Historical Society (OFTHS) in Plain, Wisconsin, was organized in 2004 in the former Town Hall of Franklin, Sauk County, Wisconsin located on Highway 23 at 915 Wachter Avenue. Museum exhibits are open to the public during open house events and by special request.