Village Information & History

History of Howards Grove

In 1846, several families from Germany settled in what is now Howards Grove and the surrounding areas. F. Beckfeld was one of the first settlers. He built one of the first businesses in the area - a hotel and hall called the Washington House, which was located at the corner of what is now North Wisconsin Drive and Madison Avenue (Highway 32 & 42). From 1846 to 1854 others that settled here included E. Schlichting, Hy. G. Mueller, Chas. Oetling, Geo. Pieper, A. Selsemeyer, Aug. Fromme, and Carl Freyburg. Descendants of some of these settlers still live in the area today. 

Another of the early established businesses was the Herman House, a tavern located across from the Washington House. Later an adjoining store was built. This was know for many years as Kolberg's Tavern and is now the site of Howard's Pantry. Throughout the late 1800's new businesses were established. There were cheese factories, wagon implement and harness makers, shoemakers, carpenters, blacksmiths and cigar makers. In 1890 a saw & grist mill were sold to Herman Sprenger, who added a roller mill and cheese box factory. This is now the site of Lakeshore Pallet. A general store, built on Millersville Avenue in 1868 is now the location of Inside Out Designs. A guest house erected by Wm. Damrow on the corner of Millersville Avenue and Highway 32 is now Bummy's Haus tavern. The State Bank of Howards Grove was organized in 1913. When the bank built a new building in 1950, the original building was moved across the street and became the home and barbershop of W. Kuhlow, which is still in operation today.

Howards Grove was named after H.B. Howard, who built a hotel among a beautiful grove of trees, and added a post office. Later a store and livery were added. Operated into the early 1900's, it is now the site of Klemme's Wagon Wheel restaurant.

The southern part of the Village, known at the time as Millersville, was named after H.G. Mueller, who built a home and saw mill on 3 1/2 acres. By 1854 he had purchased most of the land in that area and laid it out in lots.

Prior to 1967, Millersville and Howards Grove were two small, unincorporated communities in the Town of Herman. After the Howards Grove-Millersville Sanitary District was formed, it became obvious that these two communities should be combined into one. Incorporation into a single village took place on August 1, 1967, with a population of 927. We had the distinction of having the longest name of any village in Wisconsin: Howards Grove-Millersville, but on November 2, 1971, residents voted to shorten the name to Howards Grove.

History of Howards Grove Schools

In 1848, E.W. Schlichting founded the first school district and built the first school. It was a log building and stood neat the northwest corner of Highway 32 and Millersville Avenue. Eva Atwood was the first teacher. In 1868 a frame schoolhouse was built across the street, and in 1870 another school was built at the north end of the village. In 1918 an elementary and high school were built on the corner of Kennedy Avenue and N. Wisconsin Drive. Later this building was used as the school district office, and grades K through 2 were taught in the wing know as Riverview School (this is currently being used as the Boys & Girls Club and the Howards Grove Children's Center, respectively). A new school building was constructed in 1960 on Kennedy Avenue, housing the junior and senior high. Northview School on Tyler Road was opened in 1972, and in subsequent years housed grades a variety of grades, usually 4 to 8. A new high school was built in 1994 on Audubon Road. This resulted in a significant shift in building usage, and Northview became K through 4, the school on Kennedy Avenue became 5 to 8, and grades 9 to 12 were at the new high school, which included space for the district office in the lower level. In 2011 to 2012, several upgrades to the existing building are being made, including to the technology systems available to students.