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    SEYMOUR: THE BIGGEST SMALL CITY IN WISCONSIN 1927

    SEYMOUR:  THE BIGGEST SMALL CITY IN WISCONSIN 1927Seymour: Business Center of Northern Outagamie County

    In 1927 Charles Lindbergh flew nonstop from New York to Paris, work began on Mount Rushmore, Babe Ruth hit 60 home runs, and the Green Bay Press-Gazette referred to Seymour as “The Biggest Small City in the State of Wisconsin.” In a front-page article, the paper extolled the virtues of the city of Seymour with a comprehensive review of area businesses, organizations, schools and churches. The headline stated that the “Citizens are Proud of its Title and Live Up to it.” Following is the introduction to the feature article published on March 3, 1927.


    “SEYMOUR IS THE BIGGEST SMALL CITY IN THE STATE OF WISCONSIN”
    Citizens Proud of its Title and Live Up to It
    By W. F. Winsey

    Whether a city is judged from a moral, educational, or commercial point of view or from the initiative and aggressiveness of its citizens, the conclusion is invariable and long ago was crystallized in these words: “Seymour is the biggest, small city in the state of Wisconsin.” There is no doubt whatever about Seymour being a small city for its more ardent admirers claim only 1,285 as its entire population. But there may be some question about the word “biggest” in the comparison of the cities of Wisconsin. School children and some of the citizens bound Seymour by the contiguous farms on the north, east, south and west, but several enthusiasts bounded it on the north today by Shawano on the east by Green Bay, on the south by Appleton and on the west by New London. And to a visitor to the city on the night of a band concert and pavement dance, or a session of the Seymour Fair, even the outer boundaries given above appear too limited as the population of a radius of 30 miles collects at those entertainments.

    Educational City

    If figures mean anything, Seymour is an educational city for with only 325 homes, the high school has an enrollment of 143 pupils and the grades an enrollment of 240 pupils.

    Religious City

    That Seymour is a religious city is attested by the fact that its citizens are supporting five churches with 543 families in the congregations and 417 children enrolled in the Sunday schools. That Seymour is a commercial city is proved by the fact that in 1926, 731 carloads of farm products were shipped from the railway station, to say nothing of the vast quantities that went out by auto trucks. There is a no standard of measurement or of comparison for the initiative and aggressiveness of people and so it must suffice to say that the people of Seymour are quick to go after a worthy object and to push till they get it. As a community, they have pushed the Seymour Fair until it is now recognized as one of the best entertainments of its kind in the state.

    Center of Great County

    The thing that makes Seymour an exceptional shipping and trade center is the marvelously, fertile, farming country around it, the prosperity of the farmers and the great distance of Seymour from competing, shipping points. The man who sells is in a mood and in shape to buy what he needs on the spot. It would be difficult to determine what the farmer buys in Seymour, but here are some of the products he sold there in 1926: 75 car loads of canned vegetables, 46 car loads of cabbage, 141 car loads of cheese, 166 car loads of hay, 269 car loads of live stock and 32 car loads of miscellaneous farm products. Other shipments of more than the above totals will be uncovered as this story proceeds, without farther comment on the amount of its significance.

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