Pray is an unincorporated community located in the town of City Point, Jackson County, Wisconsin, United States.[1]

Pray, Wisconsin
Pray is located in Wisconsin
Pray
Pray
Pray is located in the United States
Pray
Pray
Coordinates: 44°22′24″N 90°29′50″W / 44.37333°N 90.49722°W / 44.37333; -90.49722
Country United States
State Wisconsin
CountyJackson
TownCity Point
Elevation
299 m (981 ft)
Time zoneUTC-6 (Central (CST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-5 (CDT)
Area code(s)715 & 534
GNIS feature ID1571909[1]

The community is named after Herman H. Pray (b. 1835). In 1877, Pray was appointed the local postmaster, and the office was named after him.[2][3]

1914 map of town of City Point, showing locations of communities of City Point, Pray, and Spaulding.

The community is centered on the intersection of Pray Road and Old Highway 54 along the Green Bay and Western Railroad line, where it used to be a train stop. The community is located east of Waterbury and west of Spaulding along the rail line (also former rail stops),[4] and about 2.5 miles north of the current alignment of Wisconsin Highway 54,[5] which was completed in 1953.[6]

Notes

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  1. ^ a b "Pray, Wisconsin". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Moyer, Armond; Moyer, Winifred (1958). The origins of unusual place-names. Keystone Pub. Associates. p. 105.
  3. ^ Biographical History of Clark and Jackson Counties, Wisconsin, p. 178 (1891)
  4. ^ Specht, Ray and Ellen. The Story of Green Bay and Western (October 1966) (map lists Spaulding, Pray, and Waterbury as among "abandoned" stations on the line. Per this 1966 map, the nearest current stations on the line were Merrillan to the west and Wisconsin Rapids to the east)
  5. ^ Soil Survey of Jackson County Wisconsin, p. 13 (1923)
  6. ^ STH 54, Wisconsinhighways.com, Retrieved 12 November 2018