Bloomington, WI

Bloomington had 741 residents in 2020, in a Grant County village set among Wisconsin bluffs and river valleys along Highway 35. Settlers first called the place Blake’s Prairie, and D. W. Taft’s flour mill and mill house were completed here in 1853. After several name changes, Bloomington became the official name in 1867, tied to the agricultural growth that followed a local blacksmith’s patented oat-sowing device. Limestone and brick buildings along Main Street still show the village’s nineteenth-century footing.

Agriculture remains woven through the local business mix, from the livestock sale barn and equipment dealer to the hardware store, lumber yard, veterinary clinic, and bakery. The Blakes Prairie Junior Fair brings 4-H and FFA projects into the July calendar, while a Veterans Memorial in the community park honors local service members. Students attend River Ridge School District, and the surrounding hills draw bicyclists, snowmobilers, and people following the river roads. Bloomington keeps its old mill, farm-country businesses, and main-street buildings close together, so a short drive through town gives a good sense of how the village grew.