Dale (CDP), Wisconsin

Census-designated place in Wisconsin, United States

Dale

Census-designated place

Downtown Dale

Coordinates: 44°16′23″N 88°40′42″W﻿ / ﻿44.27306°N 88.67833°W﻿ / 44.27306; -88.67833
Country| United States
State| Wisconsin
County| Outagamie
Area

• Total

| 1.492 sq mi (3.86 km2)
• Land| 1.492 sq mi (3.86 km2)
• Water| 0 sq mi (0 km2)
Elevation

[2]

| 814 ft (248 m)
Population

(2020)[1]

• Total

| 570
• Density| 380/sq mi (150/km2)
Time zone| UTC-6 (Central (CST))
• Summer (DST)| UTC-5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes|

54931

Area code| 920
FIPS code| Class Code U6[2]
GNIS feature ID| 1563669[2]

Dale is an unincorporated census-designated place in the town of Dale in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located at the intersection of Wisconsin Highway 96 and County T.[3] As of the 2020 census, its population was 570, up from 528 at the 2010 census.[4]

## History

[edit]

Settlers who would plat the land comprising the community of Dale arrived between 1851 and 1853, and approximately twenty families arrived between the fall of 1853 and June 1854, establishing a solid population.[citation needed] Dale was founded and platted along the proposed Manitowoc and Mississippi Railroad line,[5] which consolidated with the Wisconsin Central Railroad in 1871.[6] Rail construction on the right of way by the Wisconsin Central reached Dale in 1872.[7]

Early in its history, the community was called Poker Flat[8] in addition to Dale, for what a 1923 newspaper article terms "an unknown reason".[9]

### 20th century

[edit]

Dale was on the original path of the transcontinental Yellowstone Trail auto trail, established in 1915. This highway through Dale was first given the numerical designation State Trunk Highway 18 in 1917, which in turn was changed to U.S. Route 10 in 1926.

Dale had a three-room school run by the New London school district, which housed K-3 education through the late 1960s. The school was closed by fall 1969. Students who did go to Dale School were bussed to nearby Readfield School after the closure, and the property was sold to the Zion United Church of Christ in November 1969.[10]

On September 3, 1974, one of three contractors installing curb and gutter pulled a gas line apart under Dale's Appleton State Bank, while digging a storm sewer trench with a backhoe. Natural gas leaked into the basement of the bank, and caused an explosion at 12:50 pm. An assistant bank manager who was preparing to re-open the bank for business hours was flung from the building by the force of the blast, and died of head and chest injuries five hours after the blast. Another person in a nearby building suffered two broken legs and a shoulder injury.[8][11]

The explosion destroyed the bank building and Dale's post office, situated next door to the bank. Postal service was temporarily run out of Dale's town hall, and Appleton State Bank business out of a trailer, until both could have new buildings constructed.[8]

### 21st century

[edit]

On December 5, 2003, the primary route through Dale changed designation from U.S. Route 10 to Wisconsin Highway 96, when new divided highway for US 10 between Greenville and Fremont was completed.[12]

* Post office, constructed 1974

* Entrance sign

* Town hall for the town of Dale

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Census Bureau profile: Dale CDP, Wisconsin". United States Census Bureau. May 2023. Retrieved April 22, 2025.
2. ^ a b c "Dale, Wisconsin". Wisconsin Hometown Locator. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
3. ^ "Location of Dale". Mapquest. Retrieved April 20, 2010.
4. ^ "U.S. Census website". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved March 30, 2011.
5. ^ LLC., Historic Map Works. "Wisconsin 1857 Milwaukee and Superior Railroads 17x12, Atlas: Wisconsin 1857 Milwaukee and Superior Railroads, Wisconsin Historical Map". www.historicmapworks.com. Retrieved February 15, 2016.
6. ^ Matteson, Clark S. (January 1, 1893). The History of Wisconsin: From Prehistoric to Present Periods ; the Story of the State in Interspersed with Realistic and Romantic Events. Wisconsin Historical Publishing Company.
7. ^ "Dale and Medina Grew From Good Farmland". New London Press Gazette. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
8. ^ a b c Zehner, David J. (1989). The History of Dale (Poker Flat) and Medina (Young's Corner) Wisconsin. Neenah, Wisconsin: Jon Habermann. ASIN B00072ETMG.
9. ^ "The Post-Crescent from Appleton, Wisconsin * Page 7". Newspapers.com. July 16, 1923. Retrieved February 14, 2016.
10. ^ "School Board Picks Date for Negotiations". The Post-Crescent. November 12, 1969. p. B-1. Retrieved August 6, 2017 - via Newspapers.com.
11. ^ "4 Sep 1974, Page 28 - The La Crosse Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved May 20, 2016.
12. ^ Bessert, Christopher J. "Wisconsin Highways: Highways 90-99". www.wisconsinhighways.org. Retrieved August 5, 2017.

* v
* t
* e

Municipalities and communities of Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States

County seat: Appleton

Cities|

* Appleton‡
* Kaukauna‡
* New London‡
* Seymour

Villages|

* Bear Creek
* Black Creek
* Combined Locks
* Greenville
* Harrison‡
* Hortonville
* Howard‡
* Kimberly
* Little Chute
* Nichols
* Shiocton
* Wrightstown‡

Towns|

* Black Creek
* Bovina
* Buchanan
* Center
* Cicero
* Dale
* Deer Creek
* Ellington
* Freedom
* Grand Chute
* Hortonia
* Kaukauna
* Liberty
* Maine
* Maple Creek
* Oneida
* Osborn
* Seymour
* Vandenbroek

CDP|

* Dale

Other
communities|

* Apple Creek
* Binghamton
* Center Valley
* Cicero
* Chicago Corners
* Darboy
* Five Corners
* Freedom
* Hamples Corner
* Isaar
* Leeman
* Mackville
* Medina
* Murphy Corner
* Oneida
* Sniderville‡
* Stephensville
* Sugar Bush
* Twelve Corners

Indian reservation|

* Oneida Nation of Wisconsin‡

Former
communities|

* Grand Chute
* Lawesburg
* Lime Rock
* Wakefield

Footnotes|

‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties

* Wisconsin portal
* United States portal

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