Viroqua

Searching for a place to settle, Moses Decker had made his way by ax in 1846 to what would later become Viroqua. Two of his sons, Solomon and Reasoner, helped put up a cabin and returned later that year to Illinois. In 1847 the two sons, accompanied by the entire family, returned to settle in their new home. By 1850 a second house of hewn logs was raised not far from the original and that may be the house which still stands on East Decker Street. In 1850 the site which Decker envisioned as a village was surveyed and plated by Samuel McMichael. By 1851 the village needed a meeting place and so Decker, with the help of other settlers, held a “Raising Bee” and constructed an 18’x22' house which stood where the Temple Theatre now stands. A gift to the community, it first became the Courthouse, a schoolroom, a church and a place for social and political meetings, with each event lending its “air” of sobriety or gaiety to the room as was required. In August of 1851 the village population consisted of the families of Moses Decker, Rufus Dunlap and Orin Wisel. Late 1851 saw the addition of several more families.

In the book “Steamboats on the Muskingum”, written by J.Mack Gamble with a copyright date of 1853, mention is made of a paddle wheeler, along with many others, by the name of Viroqua which carried both freight and passengers on the Muskingum River between 1850-1852 and again in 1956. Many of the early pioneers came from counties in Ohio which bordered the Muskingum River. The counties were Muskingum, Morgan and Guernsey. People quite possibly came from Muskingum Valley in Southeastern Ohio on paddle wheelers on the Muskingum River which met with the Ohio River at Marietta and then joined the Mississippi River. It is even possible some of the early pioneers may have been on board the Viroqua with their families and possessions on their way to Bad Ax (Vernon) County. Some pioneers came by boat while others came by covered wagon.

The paddle wheeler’s name and our town are spelled the same. It is possible some one from the Muskingum Valley may have suggested the name Viroqua for their new town.

(Excerpt from an article by Clara Overbo with materials from the Vernon County Historical Society. Used by permission.)