Wagner is named after Joseph Wagner, an early settler of the area. Wagner was born in Austria and emigrated to the United States in 1865, initially to Chicago and then relocating to Mankato, Minnesota, where he met and married Susan Dauffenbach. They later moved to what is now Wagner, where Joseph Wagner was the first white settler. Wagner built a cabin there and worked for the sawmills in nearby Wallace, Michigan.
History
Wagner was gradually settled by Swedish, French-Canadian, German, Dutch, Polish, and Czech immigrants. Wagner formerly had a railroad depot, two small hotels, a cheese factory, sawmills and a shingle mill, a dance hall, taverns, and a general store. The Goll schoolhouse stood south of the settlement. In 1908 a fire destroyed all of the structures west of the railroad, including the mills, after which the settlement stagnated. Wagner was a stop between Goll and McAllister on the Wisconsin & Michigan Railway line from Bagley Junction to Iron Mountain. The rail line through Wagner was discontinued in 1938, when the tracks were torn out and the rolling stock sold off. A post office was established in Wagner in 1897, and it operated until 1934.
Church
Before the church was built in Wagner, masses were initially held by Father Joseph Hemmer in the 1890s and then regularly celebrated at the Bernardy residence by Father Joseph John Fox. A congregation dedicated to Saint Cecilia was established in 1905, and masses were held in various residences in Wagner. Land for a church was purchased in 1917, and a $500 donation was received in memory of Edward M. Dougherty, due to which the decision was made to dedicate the new church to Saint Edward the Confessor in 1918. The church was a "mission church" subordinated to the parish church in Walsh, and it was built by moving and combining two taverns. The main and side altars, altar stone, and linens were brought from the old church at Walsh. Land for the church cemetery was purchased in 1922. The church was moved further from the road in 1924, when a basement was also added, and electricity was installed in 1948. A new altar for the church was built by Gene Rolkosky in 1966. The church was closed and the property sold in 2004.
