The town of Bear Creek in Wisconsin began as a lumber camp in 1850 when Captain Welcome Hyde, a lumberman located on the bank of the Embarrass River cut the first road into the area. The Milwaukee, Lake Shore, and Western Railroad (later Chicago and North Western Railway) was constructed through the area on its way to Clintonville, and began passenger and freight service through Bear Creek in 1878 Hyde built a store in what became Bear Creek Station. In 1885, land was platted for Hyde alongside the railroad right-of-way, and named Bear Creek after the nearby stream In June 1898, the community and its post office were renamed Welcome after Capt. Hyde See "Bear Creek Corners (aka the Village of Welcome)" and https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bear_Creek,_Outagamie_County,_Wisconsin