In 1868, on their way west the Addison Phelps family passed a pleasing area with water, trees, and prairie for farming. Instead of taking a chance further west they decided to take a claim at the mouth of the Pomme de Terre River.  Other settlers followed, including two civil war veterans, A.W. Lanthop and his brother W.V. Lanthop.  The Lanthop brothers were the first to take advantage of the waterpower available in the area.  In 1872 they built a flour mill on the banks of the Pomme de Terre.  The W.J. Jennison Flour Mill, a descendent of the Lanthop Flour Mill ran on the banks of the Pomme de Terre until late 1960’s.

 

As the area began to fill with settlers mostly Eastern Americans, Germans, and Scandinavians, a few of the men met and decided to organize and plot out a township call Phelps, after Addison Phelps.  Phelps later requested the town’s name be changed to Appleton, in honor of the city he grew up in, Appleton, WI.  On September 4, 1872 the township of Appleton was formed.  A petition was sent to the state Senate and the House of State Legislature on December 25, 1880 asking for the formation of the Village of Appleton. The assessor reported the population at the time was 633.

 

As the town began to grow, schools and churches were established.  The first one room schoolhouse was built and established in 1872. In 1880 with 71 pupils Appleton had already outgrown the one room schoolhouse.  A much larger building was built.  Twelve years later that was added onto.  In 1904 a brick building was built to teach the seventh and eighth graders.  In 1916, the 1880 building was torn down to make room for a new high school.  In 1952, an addition was made to the 1916 building.  The new addition included an auditorium.  The school stayed in operation until 1992 when Appleton consolidated with two other schools in the area to create the Lac qui Parle Valley High School.