About

It all started back in January of 1904, when a petition was presented to the Marinette County Board to create the new Town of Athelstane. This issue was postponed until the board met again in July. They approved the idea, and the petition was sent to legislature to make the necessary provisions. The bill was passed in March of 1905 and signed into law on March 22, 1905.

The Town of Athelstane thrived until late in the year of 1919 and early 1920 when a movement began to have the western half of Athelstane separated from the township and a new town called Rat River created. In March of that year, a hearing was held before a Circuit Judge in Marinette who granted the petition, and on March 13, 1920 the new Town of Rat River was established.

Apparently, many of the local residents did not find the name "Rat River" very appealing, so by the end of May of 1920, a petition was again started, and in no time at all the new Town of Silver Cliff was born!