The History of Lyndon Station, Wisconsin
From an Irish settlement called Kildare to a railroad village on the Dells corridor.
Settlement, 1849
The first settlers recorded in the area arrived in 1849: three brothers and two sisters named Havey, from County Kildare in Ireland. The township was named Kildare in their honour the following year, in 1850.
The railroad, 1857
The Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad came through in 1857, and it is the railroad that fixed the location of the village — then still called Kildare. Accounts of the first train describe the whole community waiting through the day for it; when it finally moved slowly over the track in the late afternoon, people lined the route and waved as it passed.
That enthusiasm is worth holding against the ending. After more than a century of service, the last passenger train stopped at Lyndon Station on 6 August 1969, witnessed by one local businessman and eight passengers returning from Crazy Days in Mauston. Passenger rail on the line became a thing of the past that afternoon.
How the village got its name, 1860
By 1860 the name Kildare had become a problem: the village shared it with the surrounding township, and more settlers had arrived from a different Irish county, Limerick. A movement started to change it, and the village became Lyndon Station.
The origin of "Lyndon" is less settled than the date. It is said that a man named Lyndon had a good deal to do with completing the railroad — but the records do not show a direct connection between him and the name. That gap has never been closed, and honest local history leaves it open.
Print, 1888
The first newspaper published in the village was the Lyndon Independent. Only two issues were printed, in 1888.
Incorporation, 1903
The village was incorporated in 1903 — the date that still appears on the village's own emblem.
Churches
St. Mary's Catholic Church holds a particular place in the area's history, described locally as the mother church of the Dells area. St. Luke Lutheran Church also serves the village.
What the railroad left
The shape of Lyndon Station today is still the shape the railroad gave it: a stop on a through-route. When passenger rail ended, the interstate had already taken over the same job, and the village's bars, campgrounds and services continue to serve people passing through on the way to somewhere else — now Castle Rock, Petenwell and the Wisconsin Dells waterparks rather than the depot.
This history is drawn from the local historical account previously published by the village. If you have corrections, photographs or additions — particularly on the Lyndon name question — this is an independent guide and would welcome them.