General Info
Clark County was named after Clark of the Lewis and Clark expeditions west of the Mississippi. The original inhabitants were the Chippewa Indians. The first known explorer to come to the area is St. Germain in 1836 and the first settlers arrived in the spring of 1845 and were James and Alexander O’Neill who stopped in present day Neillsville. The first building was a rough cabin on the bank of the O’Neill Creek and soon a mill was built, creating a small lumbering company and industry for the area. In 1853 the county was established from its neighbor of Jackson County and during its creation, the county had only one town: Pine Valley. Then Neillsville was incorporated as a town and the county seat soon after the establishment of the county. Today Clark County is home to approximately 33,553 residents.
