Most of the land in Columbia County was settled between 1844 and 1864. This was part of the area known as the Ohio Settlement because most of the settlers came from that state. About 1852 Delos Bundy built a roadhouse, known as the Ohio House, northwest of the present village of Rio. Bundy also secured an appointment as postmaster, and requested the post office be named Ohio. When he received his commission the name appeared as Rio. The change may have come about from illegibility or careless reading of the word.

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Rio, Wisconsin

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[Source: WHS place name card file.]