Darboy, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
Darboy is an unincorporated community
Unincorporated area
In law, an unincorporated area is a region of land that is not a part of any municipality.To "incorporate" in this context means to form a municipal corporation, a city, town, or village with its own government. An unincorporated community is usually not subject to or taxed by a municipal government...
in Calumet
Calumet County, Wisconsin
Calumet County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is included in the Appleton, Wisconsin, Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of 2010, the county's population was 48,971. The county seat is Chilton.-History:...
and Outagamie
Outagamie County, Wisconsin
Outagamie is a county in the northeast region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Its county seat is Appleton. As of the 2009 census estimate, its population was 177,155....
Counties in the Fox Cities
Fox Cities
The Fox Cities of northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. Together they form the core of the third largest metropolitan area of Wisconsin, with a population exceeding 360,000...
area of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...
of Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. Located in the towns of Harrison
Harrison, Calumet County, Wisconsin
Harrison is a town in Calumet County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 10,839 at the 2010 census. Parts of the town of Harrison and town of Buchanan are collectively known locally as Darboy. The unincorporated communities of Harrison and Highland Beach are located in the town...
and Buchanan
Buchanan, Wisconsin
Buchanan is a town in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,827 at the 2000 census. The urbanized portions of the towns of Harrison and Buchanan are collectively known locally as Darboy.-Geography:...
, Darboy extends from Manitowoc Road on the south, CE on the north, State Park Road on the east, and Highway 441 on the west. The area is home to about 10,000 people.
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 5,756 people, 1,998 households, and 1,646 families residing in the Town of Harrison and 5,827 people, 1,846 households, and 1,583 families residing in the Town of Buchanan.
Covering sections of both townships, Darboy consists of the more densely populated areas near the intersections of County Road N and both County Roads CE and KK. The actual population of Darboy is unknown.
History
Darboy is an unincorporated community in the Fox RiverFox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
Valley that is not a legal entity apart from the townships in which it is located.
In the pioneer age of Wisconsin, French fur traders and Native Americans frequently traveled through the area now known as Darboy. The first wave of German settlers arrived in the area around 1842 and settled near Old Plank Road, then the only road in the area, running from Lake Winnebago to Kaukauna. A wave of Dutch settlers arrived in 1848, the same year that Wisconsin became a state.
The community was named after Catholic Archbishop Georges Darboy
Georges Darboy
Georges Darboy was a French Catholic priest, later bishop of Nancy then archbishop of Paris. He was among a group of prominent hostages executed as the Paris Commune of 1871 was about to be overthrown....
, who was martyred during the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. A post office was established in 1877, but was discontinued in 1901. In the early 1900s, many businesses sprouted up in Darboy: Van Vorst's Hall (now the Silver Spur), Darboy Butter and Cheese Company, Les Stumpf Ford, Lamers Dairy, Darboy Refrigeration Sales and Service, a cobbler shop, a blacksmith shop, and George Mader Hall.
The History of Holy Angels and the Darboy Community, a book published for the 150th anniversary of Holy Angels Church, says "Our ancestors worked hard, but they always enjoyed a good time." Several bands and singing groups are part of Darboy's history, as well as baseball teams; taverns; and 4-H, Boy Scout, and Girl Scout troops.
Music is also a rich part of Darboy's history. Several singing groups and bands have formed over the years, including the Darboy Orchestra, the Ken Schmalz Band, the Mader singing group, Building Permit, and various groups that sang at Holy Angels Church throughout the years.
Catholic
The word catholic comes from the Greek phrase , meaning "on the whole," "according to the whole" or "in general", and is a combination of the Greek words meaning "about" and meaning "whole"...
Church, originally called St. Martin's of Manhattan Church. The first Mass held there was in 1839. The Orth family donated a 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) parcel of land to the parish in 1850, on which a church was built in 1855. The parish was renamed to honor the Guardian Angels in 1857. The present church was built in 1874 on County KK. A Catholic school was built in 1883.
Both the church and school are still operational today. Holy Angels Catholic Parish, however, recently merged with Holy Name of Jesus Parish of Kimberly, and is now called Holy Spirit Parish. The Catholic school was renovated in 1996.
Recent history
The area was stagnant for most of the twentieth century until the 1970s, when a group of farmers, concerned about the area's future, petitioned for a sanitary district. Construction began in the early 1980s, and was completed in 1984. New houses began to sprout up. "This little crossroads has always been a good place to raise cows and eat chicken, but in recent years hundreds of people have also decided that it is a fine place to build a house," noted an Appleton Post-Crescent article on Sunday, July 1, 1990. Farmers in the Darboy area, which traditionally had been a farming community, turned into developers and sold land to families who could hook up their houses to the new sanitary district.The Kimberly School District, which encompasses most of Darboy, erected Sunrise Elementary School on the south side of Darboy off of County Highway N in 1996. This fueled even more growth, as the sanitary district continued to expand. Another public school, Woodland Elementary School, was built on the south side of Darboy in the Town of Harrison in 2006. More subdivisions were developed near the school, and as a Post-Crescent article says, "Rows of houses began to replace rows of corn" in this traditional farming community.
Business
Commercial business began to move in after the increase in population. The first commercial development took place on the corner of Hwy. N and Hwy. KK in the center of Darboy, when the Darboy Plaza was developed. Larger stores and businesses began to move in on the west side of Darboy as well, on the edge of AppletonAppleton
-People:* Alistair Appleton, British television presenter* Charles W. Appleton, of GE* Colin Appleton, footballer* Daniel Appleton, American publisher, 1800s founder of D...
. This growth was fueled by the completion of Wisconsin Highway 441 in September 1993. Running along the western border of the Towns of Harrison and Buchanan, the highway provided an easy link from west Appleton, Neenah
Neenah, Wisconsin
Neenah is a city on Lake Winnebago in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States. Its population was 24,507 at the 2000 census. The city is bordered by, but is politically independent of, the Town of Neenah. Neenah is the southwestern-most of the Fox Cities of Northeast Wisconsin...
, Menasha
Menasha, Wisconsin
Menasha is a city in Calumet and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 16,331 at the 2000 census. The city is located mostly in the Town of Menasha in Winnebago County; only a small portion is in the Town of Harrison in Calumet County. Doty Island is located...
, Kimberly, and Grand Chute
Grand Chute, Wisconsin
Grand Chute is a town in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The city of Appleton and unincorporated community of Apple Creek are partially located in the town...
, turning the area close to the highway into valuable commercial land. However, soon after the growth of these new businesses Appleton annexed a large portion of the Town of Harrison. Darboy now has a thriving commercial district, which includes seven large stores, eight banks, shops, convenience stores, and other small businesses.
Culture
Two of Darboy's signature events are the Holy Angels Church Picnic and Chickenfest. The Holy Angels Church Picnic is an annual event that has been a Darboy staple since 1885. Every summer on the third Sunday of August, the community gathers to celebrate its town and parish's heritage with a day of fun, food, and raising money for their parish. There is often live music, games, bingo, an auction, and many other activities. Though Holy Angels has now merged with Holy Name Parish of Kimberly (forming Holy Spirit Parish), the picnic continues to be an annual event because of its immense popularity with the community.Chickenfest takes place every summer at the Darboy Community Park in the town of Harrison, behind Sunrise Elementary School. Chicken, games, and fireworks help celebrate the history of Darboy. This festival was introduced in 2003 to celebrate the Town of Harrison's sesquicentennial, and is sponsored and operated primarily by the Darboy Kiwanis.
Communications
Area news sources include The Post-CrescentThe Post-Crescent
The Post-Crescent is a daily newspaper based in Appleton, Wisconsin. Part of the Gannett chain of newspapers, it is primarily distributed in numerous counties surrounding the Appleton area.-History:...
(Appleton), The Times-Villager (Kaukauna), Around Town (Darboy and Sherwood), and The Junk Journal (Darboy).
Sources
- Romenesko, Celine; Killa, Margaret; Van Roy, Kris; and Wittmann, Joyce. The History of Holy Angels and the Darboy Community, Print Source Plus, 2000. Written as part of Holy Angels Church's 150th anniversary celebration.
- Darboy's Past, Present, and Future, The Junk Journal, 2007.