Hillsboro History
Named for early settlers Valentia Hill and his brothers, who arrived beginning in 1850, Hillsboro has an impressive history of making new opportunities in changing times. Albert Field, who made the first land claim in Hillsboro, Edward Klopfleisch, a German immigrant from New York, and Otto Hammer, all original owners of the village plat, were influential in bringing newcomers and investors to the village in the late 1800s to build homes and start businesses in the area.
One of Hillsboro’s most celebrated residents was Admiral Marc A. Mitscher, born in Hillsboro in 1887, who served 41 years in the U.S. Navy. He served as Commander of Task Force 58 in the Pacific during World War II and ultimately became Commander in Chief of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet. Admiral Mitscher took part in the first trans-Atlantic flight of Navy planes in 1919 and commanded the first nonstop Navy flight from San Francisco to Pearl Harbor in 1934.
The Growth of Business
One of the first businesses to develop was the saw mill, which made lumber for building new homes and was followed shortly by a grist mill along the Baraboo River. This paved the way for a new store, blacksmith, hotel, and school.
Dairying came to the area in the 1880s, when wheat prices rose. The first creamery was established in those years, followed by the Farmers Creamery Company in 1889, and soon Hillsboro was a producer of many dairy products, shipping butter as far away as Chicago. Cheese was produced beginning in 1924, and by World War I, Hillsboro’s milk was being transported to the front lines to U.S. soldiers fighting in Europe.
Over the years, Hillsboro’s changing business landscape has also supported a brewery that produces such fine beers as “Hillsboro Pale” and “Bohemian Club,” a cannery for local vegetables, a garment factory that assembled materials for the U.S. Army, and a sewing factory, as well as producers of everything from pickles to fertilizer, cement products to lumber, and even bowling pins!
A History of Care
In 1911, Hillsboro established its first hospital, which occupied only a few second-story rooms in downtown’s Novy Building. By 1915, in what is now the St. Joseph’s Nursing Home, the hospital found a more accessible location and became the Hansberry Hospital. Beginning in 1925, when a new wing was added, many years of improvements, equipment purchases, and additions eventually grew the small hospital into what is now St. Joseph’s Community Health Services, the largest employer in Hillsboro and provider of medical services to many surrounding communities.
The Many Peoples of Hillsboro
Immigrating Czechs began arriving in Hillsboro from the Bohemian region of what is now the Czech Republic in the mid-1800’s, drawn in part to this area’s similarity to the land they left behind. With them, they brought their traditions, foods, and culture. Each summer, Hillsboro celebrates its Czech heritage with its Cesky Den festival, where we celebrate being the Czech capital of Wisconsin.
Czechs were not the only people to find a new home in the Hillsboro area. The land between Hillsboro and nearby Ontario was once known as Cheyenne Valley, which became a haven for African-American settlers after the Civil War. A drive through the countryside surrounding Hillsboro still shows the influence of Alga Shivers, son of African-American settlers and builder of some of the finest round barns in the region. This area contains one of the largest concentrations of these unique barns in the United States.
Another culture that has made a home, and is still thriving, in the farmlands surrounding Hillsboro is the Amish community. Their simple lifestyle and unique craftsmanship makes the Amish a valued part of our local culture.
Information was provided courtesy of the Hillsboro Historical Society, whose museum and preserved log cabin are located at Albert Field Memorial Park and are open to the public on Sunday afternoons during the summer months.