Cashton, WI

Cashton is a Monroe County village that began in 1854 when Thompson Hazen opened an inn along the stagecoach road between Prairie du Chien and Black River Falls. The place was first called Hazen’s Corners; a railroad branch from Sparta to Viroqua arrived in 1879, and the village grew around that new route. The Cashton History Room, on the second floor of the Bank of Cashton, keeps the old business district and local families in view.

Agriculture still sets the pace around town. Organic Valley has offices and a distribution center in Cashton, and Amish shops and food producers are part of the surrounding countryside’s commercial map. The village has also kept a practical civic center with its hall, parks, library, and local services. The railroad’s arrival shifted the settlement from stagecoach stop to rail-served village. The local scoop is a farm-country village that began with an inn, gained a railroad, and still carries both layers in its downtown and rural trade.