Founded with the name of Cramer’s Corners after the first families who arrived in 1848, and later known as Log Town, the village of Plain took its current name from the Shrine of the Virgin of Maria Plain in southern Germany.
Many of the early settlers originated from that region of Germany and brought their Catholic faith with them. St. Luke’s Catholic Church was founded by Fr. Maximillian Gartner in 1861 and a frame church was built in 1865.
A small frame building was built on the church grounds and used as a parochial school in 1876. Students sat on roughly hewn benches and everyone shared a few common books. Religion and the German language were the first subjects taught.
Due to an increasing membership a new stone sanctuary was built in 1888. The third church, a large brick structure, was built in 1903 but was leveled by a tornado in 1918. A new combination church and school was built on a hill overlooking the village in 1920 replacing the destroyed sanctuary. Again having outgrown the old structure, a beautiful stone edifice was constructed beside the old church in 1940.
A sawmill was built on the stream and soon began turning out lumber for the influx of new settlers.
G.M. Whiteis opened a blacksmith shop in 1850, with "mother earth for the floor and the skies for a roof."
The nearest post office was 20 miles distant, in Sauk City, and travel was difficult, there being only a rough stone and brush trail. In 1864 a road was built over the hill to Spring Green, where the mail was delivered by train. John Cramer traveled the route every Saturday to pick up mail. Plain received its own post office in 1860. The mail was dropped off by a stagecoach on it’s once-weekly trip through the area.
The first general store was opened in 1869 by P.W. Perry, selling a meager supply of stick candy and several bolts of calico. Subsequent owners added dry goods, groceries and notions.
By the 1880's there were several homes, a store, blacksmith, and saloon. C.W. Butterfield, in his1880 History of Sauk County, notes that in Log Town, "...a thirsty individual can get ninety-two percent of bitter water fuddled with eight percent of alcohol, known as beer, on demand at almost any time."
Adolph Schoenman built a cheese and butter factory in the village in 1891.
As with many early communities in the Sauk County area, railroad fever was rampant in Plain in the early 1900's. In 1903 a number of venture capitalists met to see if a line could be extended from Lone Rock. But Plain’s dream to connect with the world at large, was never realized.
Plain was incorporated in 1912.
Electric lines were run to the village in 1918 from the newly constructed electric dam at Prairie du Sac, by way of Spring Green.
Disaster befell this small community during the early part of the 20th century. Hildegarde Thering, in her 1982 book, A History of Plain, recounts that fateful day.
"In the early evening of May 21, 1918, the sky was overcast, the air was sultry, with an eerie stillness over all. Looking up the valley, to the south of the village, a twisting mass of cloud churned up Highway 23 towards St. Luke’s. Suddenly a roaring wind, then a few seconds of calm. The roll of thunder followed by forks of lightning and darkness fell with a heavy sluicing of rain."
After the storm had passed, residents were horrified to learn that their beloved church was no more. The rectory was gone, the Sister’s house was severely damaged, a sawmill and garage were destroyed, and numerous homes and farm buildings were also blown away by the twister.
One of the largest construction companies in the county was founded by Alfred, Linus and Norman Kraemer in 1848, known as Kraemer Brothers Construction. Their experience enabled them to build anything from timber-frame barns to stone churches. The business continues to thrive today, as does the village of Plain.
