COLBY, Cheese Champion
The Town and City which Wrested the Honors From Herkizner Co., New York
Colby is one of the thriving towns on the line between Clark a Marathon counties, dividing allegiance between them. It has a population of about 1000. Formerly the Marathon county half was called Hull and there was a lack of harmony which
prevented the best development but a village organization overcame this defect and now Colby presents a united front in the line of progress. It is near the Big Eau Pleine river one of the tributaries of the Wisconsin river and was a station on the old Wisconsin Central, now the Soo line, in the early logging days of 1873 and so was a prominent place before some of the rest of the county was known.
The Home of Colby Cheese.
Colby is the Cheese Champion of the world. It was Battling Nelson who gave that title to one of his rivals in the field of fisticuffs but that was in derision, while the championship which is defended by the city of Colby is an honor and a profit worthy of the best localities in the world. From Herkimer county, New York, was wrested not only the quality of output of fine cheese but the quantity too, and now Colby Cheese is demanded by the epicures everywhere.
Colby was named after Gardner Colby of Boston of the Colby-Philips Construction Company who built the railroad for the Wisconsin Central company, of which his son, Charles L. Colby, was president. It now has an electric light and water plant representing an investment of $35,000 and which has been in operation since 1903. There is a good library. The present officers James E. Lyons, mayor; John Pribnow, treasurer; R. G. Salter, clerk; Joseph Frame, assessor; H. Reeves, H. A. Krepsky, E. D. Loos, and Ben Riplinger, aldermen; H. L. Blanchard, postmaster.
St. Kilian's Catholic Church, Colby, Wisconsin.
One of the main features of the town is Uncle Joel Shafer, who came from Beaver Dam to the then Colby in 1878, or 1788 no one can rightly tell which, and with his brother started a paper and tried to organize a new county embracing part of Clark, Marathon and Taylor counties. The movement after a sharp clash of interests subsided and left the Shafers stranded in Colby where they have run their paper, The Phonograph, ever since, until the death of Sam Shafer a number of years ago, and now run by Joel Shafer, well known and highly respected throughout the state, the patriarch of newspaper men in Central Wisconsin and the preceptor of many bright young journalists who have made their name famous throughout the world.
Dr. H. H. Christopherson, Colby, WI
Business Directory
Adams, Peter, Blacksmith.
Bast,, M., Soft Drinks.
Berg, Jacob, Saloon.
Bleichroth, Traugut, Jewelry.
Briggs, O. R., Drugs.
Bruss, A. W., Mnfr. Cheese.
Burkhardt, Charles, Gen. Store.
Carlton, C. B., Blacksmith.
Clark County Telephone Co.
Colby Cheese Box and Silo Co.
Colby Hardware Co.
Colby Lumber Co.
Colby State Bank. [Advertisement]
Daisy, S. B., Elec., Supplies.
Dix Brothers, Meats.
Enmam, Ray P., Jewelry.
Firnstahl, Frank, Boots and shoes.
Fleischauer, B. A., Tailor.
Fleischman, W., Gen. Store.
Frome, Charles, Saloon.
Gramhart, Miss Malina, Millinery.
Georgos, Bertha, Millinery.
Heppner, R., Meats.
Johnke, Otto, Saloon.
Johnson & Pribnow, Gen. Store.
Kautsky, E. V., Saw Mill & Lumber.
Keats Bros., Hotel.
Kobs, Albert, Saloon.
Kraus & Kersten, Gen. Store.
Loos, B. D., Machine and Boiler shop.
Lukowicz, Photographer.
Lukowicz, J. & Co., Flour and Feed.
Lulloff Bros., Furniture and Undertaking.
Lulloff, G. & Sons, Marble.
Lyons, J. B. & Co., Grain.
Michaelis, Paul, Mnfr. Cigars.
Neumeister, H., Harness and Hides.
Niggeman, C., Blacksmith.
Orth, Conrad, Saloon.
Roohr, George, Blacksmith.
Schaller, Frank, Hotel.
Schleinn & Burmeister, Saloon.
Shafer, Joel, Publisher.
Sommers, Arwin, Mnfr. Cheese.
Werner, John, Hotel.
Zillman Bros., Hardware.
Colby Cheese Box and Silo Company Factory, Colby, Wisconsin.
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