Westboro (CDP), Wisconsin
Westboro, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
Census-designated place | |
 | |
  Westboro, Wisconsin | |
| Coordinates: 45°21′19″N 90°17′46″W / 45.35528°N 90.29611°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Taylor |
| Area | |
• Total | 1.846 sq mi (4.78 km2) |
| • Land | 1.846 sq mi (4.78 km2) |
| • Water | 0 sq mi (0 km2) |
| Elevation | 1,519 ft (463 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 213 |
| • Density | 120/sq mi (45/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| ZIP code | 54490 |
| Area codes | 715 & 534 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1580763[2] |
Westboro is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the town of Westboro, Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States. Westboro is located near Wisconsin Highway 13 5 miles (8.0 km) northwest of Rib Lake. Westboro has a post office with ZIP code 54490.[3]
History
Before logging and white settlement, the future site of Westboro lay on an Indian trail running east and west from Yellow River country to the Wisconsin River.[4]: 6 After the Ojibwe ceded this area in 1837, government surveyors came through, marking the section lines. They were followed shortly by timber cruisers who assessed the value of the pine and hardwoods to guide the purchases of speculators and logging companies. Logging in the area began in the 1850s.[4]: 3
Westboro's first settlers came into the area through Spirit Falls, settling on the east side of Silver Creek on land bought from a man named Emmet Queen - hence the name Queens Town. The Palmers built a sawmill there in 1870. Those earliest settlers lived in tents and log shanties. The first board house was built in 1873.[4]: 4–5
In 1872 and 1873 the Wisconsin Central Railroad built its line up the west side of Silver Creek, bypassing Queens Town. The railroad hired locals to cut ties for ten cents apiece and to provide firewood for its locomotives. With the railroad in town, things began to change. A new village was platted west of the creek in 1874, eventually called Westboro. In 1875 the Duncans, Taylor and Richie built a competing sawmill on Silver Creek. That same year the first school was established. The population of the community was about 200 - mostly men. The Palmer House hotel was built east of the depot the next year, and five other hotels followed in the next ten years. A jail was added in 1878.[4]: 5–8
In 1885 the Duncans built a tannery near Silver Creek, using hemlock from the surrounding forests in the tanning process until 1902, when the tannery burned. Grittner and Grossman built another sawmill in 1885, and Grittner and cobbler Frank Ruprich started a general store in 1890. Ruprich bought out Grittner's share, and when the original wooden store burned in 1911, he rebuilt the large brick store that still stands. A town hall was built around 1890 and the following year a community well was dug in the middle of the intersection of Center and Front Street, which is now Old 13. The state had that well removed in 1913, considering it a hazard.[4]: 5–8
One-room schools were added in the surrounding country as farms were established. With the arrival of school buses in the 1920s, the rural schools were gradually merged back into one centralized elementary school in town. A high school was established in town around 1904 or 1906 and operated until 1963, when the students were merged into the Rib Lake school district.[4]: 6
References
- ^ "Census Bureau profile: Westboro CDP, Wisconsin". United States Census Bureau. May 2023. Retrieved May 13, 2025.
- ^ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Westboro (CDP), Wisconsin
- ^ ZIP Code Lookup
- ^ a b c d e f Hill, Gust (1975). Westboro - Pages of History - 1875-1975.
Municipalities and communities of Taylor County, Wisconsin, United States | ||
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| City |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |