Hilbert Junction is a thriving young village whose birth dates from the time of building of the Wisconsin Central Railroad. It is here that the Menasha and Green Bay branches cross. A short time before the line was completed, O. D. Bishop built a saw-mill, which became one of the best in this section. Hilbert contains a church, a district school, three hotels, a marble yard, grain elevators, a stave factory, some good residences and business houses. It is improving rapidly.

Three miles east of Hilbert on the north branch of the Manitowoc River is the village of Rantoul Center. It has a population of about 300 inhabitants, and contains a stave factory, saw and grist-mill, a hotel and several stores.

The little village of Potters Mills was the only one in the town of Rantoul before the Milwaukee & Nothern Road was built in 1872. The site of the village was the farm of David Coy. He sold his land to H. Y. Smith & Co., who laid out the village. Joseph Holt's hotel was the first building erected. In 1869 Bishop Brothers built a Saw-mill just northwest of the village. The place contains a school house, a number of stores, and other conveniences of a small settlement.

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