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–Not graded
History · Colby

43% of Colby’s homes were built before 1940

Below: maps from 1963 on and the census since 1880.

0on the National Register
43%homes built before 1940
2famous people
Add an old photoShare a memory
Photo: Bobak Ha'Eri · CC BY 3.0

What stands out about Colby’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenNo old photos of Colby are in the public archives yet. The rest are in attics and albums.Old housesHalf of Colby’s homes were built before 1951.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Colby’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Colby’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
The story

How Colby came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Colby.

Read it all →

When the Wisconsin Central Railroad was building its line through the wilderness heading toward Lake Superior, it finished its 1872 construction season with rails completed to the site of today's Colby. The place was initially called "Section 53," but the railroad renamed the station in honor of Charles L. Colby, partner in the construction company that was building the railroad, and the son of the railroad's financier Gardner L. Colby.

As early as 1962, the area was home to Colby-Abbotsford Airport, a private facility with a 2600 ft runway running northeast–southwest and the remnants of a shorter northwest–southeast runway. The airport remained in operation as late as 1988, but has since been abandoned.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Timeline

Colby, 1874 to 1967

Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.

  1. 19th century
  2. 1874Post officeThe Sand Mills post office opens
  3. 1874Post officeThe Sand Mills post office closes
  4. 1884Born hereGeorge Washington Blanchard is born here
  5. 20th century
  6. 1963On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey
  7. 1967Born hereKirk Baumgartner is born here
By decade

Colby, decade by decade

Today6 recent
Colby Middle School2012Colby Middle SchoolColby Home of Colby Cheese Tower 22012Colby Home of Colby Cheese Tower 2Colby High School2012Colby High School2009-0620-Colby-sign20092009-0620-Colby-sign2009-0620-Colby-downtown20092009-0620-Colby-downtown2009-0620-Colby-CH20092009-0620-Colby-CH
On the map

Colby on the map, 1963 to 1981

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Colby. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Colby on the 1963 USGS mapColby on the 1981 USGS map1963Abbotsford sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Colby.

People over time

Colby, census by census

05001,0001,5002,000188019001920194019601980200020201,952

Grew from 259 people in 1880 to 1,952 in 2020, 7 times over.

14 censuses, 1880–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Colby’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

2 famous people were born in Colby

Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.

See all →
George Washington BlanchardAmerican politician · b. 1884
K
Kirk BaumgartnerAmerican football player · b. 1967
Places that used to be

Lost post offices, places now gone and burying grounds

Another post office, Sand Mills, opened and closed inside today’s town.

Gone or out of use
Clover Nook SchoolschoolCloverdale SchoolschoolColby-Abbotsford AirportairportSand Hill Schoolschool
1cemetery inside Colby
Colby

US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock, CC0). Places and cemeteries from the USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).

Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

AbbotsfordIts storyCUnityIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townGreen GroveIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townMayvilleIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townHullIts storynot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its town

Questions about Colby’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.