Colby, WI

Colby is a small Wisconsin city split between Clark and Marathon counties, with its streets and railroad history tied to the dairy country around it. The Wisconsin Central Railroad reached the site in 1872, and the station took the name of Gardner Colby, who had secured rights for the line between Menasha and Ashland. The 2020 Census counted 1,952 residents. Colby is also home to Colby-Abbotsford Airport and the Colby School District, giving the city a practical regional role beyond its size.

The name carries a very specific local flavor. In 1885, Joseph Steinwand developed the cheese that became known as Colby, and the original factory site still has a Colby Cheese Factory building, erected in 1965. The factory no longer operates, but the story stays alive through Colby Cheese Days, an annual July event that began in 1961, and through the Rural Arts Museum, where the original railroad depot sits among displays about dairy farming, transportation, and education. Colby is one of those places where a product name, a railroad stop, and a city all point back to the same patch of central Wisconsin.