Farmings great days in Lisbon, Sussex and Colgate have passed. Only a whisper remains of what they were from the 1840s to the 1960s. The cows are down to just a few herds, and what farmland is left is cash cropped (rented out), awaiting a developer to snatch it up. From just the 1950s to today, Sussexs 46 barns dwindled… Read more »
Stories from the stone creamery on Champeny By Fred Keller Living Sussex Sun, Posted: Dec. 22, 2009 On the northwest corner of Champeny Drive and Maple Avenue stands a stone building that has been called the “Cheese Factory,” the “Sussex Alamo,” the “Old Champeny Creamery,” and “The Lisbon Co-operative Creamery.” The name Cheese Factory is completely wrong because it was… Read more »
Hop Growing History in Lisbon, Waukesha County, and Wisconsin Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly Last Revised 05/03/2009 Note: Additional non-Wisconsin material supplemented to provide insight into hop growing industry. Why would James Weaver have brought hop plant roots to Lisbon in 1837? The first brewery in the area wasn’t started until 1840 in Milwaukee (see below)…. Read more »
Champeny Creamery Explosion Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly Last Revised 11/29/2005 Also read Creamery Business History Killed In Creamery Separator in Menomonee Bursts With Fatal Results Three Men Meet Death. Edward Wirth and James Pyburn Torn to Pieces. William Butler, Jr. Dies From Injuries A terrible accident occurred at the Lisbon Creamery in the town of Menomonee… Read more »
Dentist goes from colonel to cavities By Jenna Kleist , Staff Writer Living Sussex Sun, Posted: Aug. 18, 2009 Sussex Dental’s Mark Waller has once again returned from the army after serving as an officer in charge of the Dental Readiness Center at Fort McCoy in Wisconsin for soldiers who are coming home and going to service overseas. Since returning… Read more »
Elevator and Feed Mill History Transcribed and Edited by Michael R. Reilly Last Revised 05/03/2009 A Look Back at the Sussex Mills of Old: Sussex Mills a Fixture of Area’s History by Fred H. Keller, published, Sussex Sun,November 30, 1999 With the coming of theMilwaukee, Menomonee Falls and Western Railroad in 1890, sussex Elevator was theend of the… Read more »
Sussex Business Notes Compiled and Edited by Michael R.Reilly Last Revised 05/17/2005 A short time later his (George Podolske)business had outgrown the cramped rented space in the old furniture store. Hemoved into the building immediately west which remained the base of hisoperations for the next half century. this building, though gone now, willforever be known as the… Read more »
Ephraim Boots, Sussex Brewery by Fred H. Keller Posted: Living Sussex Sun, May 15, 2012 There is a very small, one-inch entry in “The 1880 History of Waukesha County” about Ephraim Boots. It reads, “E. Boots, proprietor of the Sussex Brewery, PO Sussex, is a native of Sussex Co. England. He was born Jan. 7, 1831. In 1850 he came… Read more »
Blacksmiths Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly Updated 01/10/2006 The first plow is said to havebeen brought in by D. Bonham. At that time, the settlers went to Milwaukee toget their plows sharpened and repaired, which had to be done very frequently,for on much of the land grew what was called red root brush, and the ground,being… Read more »
Banking Service History Compiled and Edited by Michael R. Reilly Last Revised 05/16/2005 The first bank was started in Sussex in 1911. CalledSussex State Bank, it was operated by J. W. Cannon. It was closed in 1933 duringthe Bank Holiday due to the weakened condition caused by the GreatDepression. In May, 1939, upon recommendation of the Federal DepositInsurance… Read more »
