As the train rolled into Sturtevant, Wisconsin, I noticed the land was flattening out and the trees were thinning. Everything looked more spread out, more open. It’s the kind of landscape that makes you feel like you could see a storm coming from three counties away.
Sturtevant has gone through quite the identity crisis over the years. It was originally called Parkersville, after the Parker family who first settled the area. Later, it became Western Union Junction, and then Corliss, named for the Brown Corliss Engine Company in Milwaukee. The town finally landed on “Sturtevant” in 1923, when the B.F. Sturtevant Company opened a plant there. Apparently, if you build it, you get naming rights.
It also turns out that Sturtevant was a big deal in railroad history. It was a junction between two main lines of the Milwaukee Road: One running north–south and one heading east–west. Today, Amtrak still passes through, connecting Racine, Kenosha, and the southern Milwaukee suburbs.
Sturtevant is home to the largest indoor water park resort in the state. Great Wolf Lodge isn’t far if you ever want to swap the rails for a waterslide. The train didn’t stop here, but I still felt like I passed through a chapter of transportation history with flat land, big rails, and a whole lot of name changes.
