page_title: Farmington, Washington County, Wisconsin
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Farmington, Washington County, Wisconsin / History
caption_attribution_description: English: St. Peter This is an image of a place or building that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places in the United States of America. Its reference number is 83003430
context_page_description: Farmington is a town in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,239 at the 2000 census. The unincorporated communities of Boltonville, Cheeseville, Fillmore, and Orchard Grove are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Saint Michaels is also located partially in the town.
context_section_description: The Farmington area's earliest known inhabitants were pre-Columbian Mound Builders, who constructed effigy mounds sometime between 650 CE and 1300 CE. They survived by hunting, fishing, and gathering wild plants. They constructed tools from bone, wood, stone, and occasionally copper. They also made pottery. They were semi-nomadic. They built effigy mounds shaped like mammals, reptiles, birds and other creatures, both real and mythical, as well as conical, oval, and linear mounds, some of which contain human burials. At least forty-seven mounds, known as the Hagner Group, existed in Farmington. Some mounds were destroyed by white settlers to create farm fields, but twenty-eight survive as of 2020 in Lizard Mound County Park.
  In the early 19th century, Farmington was home to Potawatomi and Menominee Native Americans. The Menominee surrendered their claims to the land to the United States Federal Government in 1831 through the Treaty of Washington. The Potawatomi surrendered the land the United States Federal Government in 1833 through the Treaty of Chicago, which required them to leave Wisconsin by 1838. While many Native people moved west of the Mississippi River to Kansas, some chose to remain, and were known as "strolling Potawatomi" because they were migrant squatters. Eventually the Potawatomi who evaded forced removal gathered in northern Wisconsin, where they formed the Forest County Potawatomi Community.
  Farmington was part of the Town of West Bend until February 11, 1847, when the Wisconsin Territorial legislature created the Town of Clarence, which was renamed the Town of Farmington on March 11, 1848. The early settlers were predominantly German and Irish immigrants.
  In the early 1850s, a group of immigrants from Saxony established Fillmore in the eastern part of the town. They named the settlement for Millard Fillmore, who was president at the time. Fillmore is the location of the 1855 Saxonia House brewery, which was a gathering place for locals.  In 1862, some of the Saxon immigrants organized the Farmington Turnverein, a German cultural association, and in 1868, they built the Fillmore Turner Hall, which still stands as of 2020.
  In 1854, Harlow Bolton established the Boltonville settlement on Stony Creek in the northeastern part of the town. The early settlers used the creek to power grist and saw mills. There was also a cheese factory, as well as shops, a post office, and a school.
  In the 19th and 20th centuries, dairy farming was widespread in Farmington, leading to the construction of numerous cheese factories, including an 1871 factory in Orchard Grove and an 1881 factory in Cheeseville.
  Farmington saw significant population growth in the final decades of the 20th century and the first decades of the 21st century. The economy is still primarily agricultural, with roughly 60% of the land devoted to farming.
caption: St. Peter's Church was constructed in southern Farmington in 1861 by a congregation of German Catholic farmers. The building is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[4]
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