Published: Sept. 23, 2016
CELEBRATE
HUBERTUS
Unincorporated hamlet has deep roots in agriculture
ndettmann@conleynet.com 262-306-5043
HUBERTUS — Ross Christenson moved to this unincorporated community in 2002.
It was the best fit for him, working in the concrete paving business
for more than 20 years with regular trips to Milwaukee, Madison and
other places.
“It’s a great location,” he said.
He’s retired now. So, what kept him here?
“It’s quiet, there’s no crime and the taxes are low,” he said.
However, in the early 20th century, word quickly spread there was good soil for farming. Farmers took advantage of it.
“I think what’s interesting about Hubertus in relation to other
communities is the fact that it was a hamlet or had a small economic
development center that the residential properties in the area relied
upon,” said Jim Healy, village of Richfield administrator. “It’s not
like a traditional municipality where you have a very urbanized downtown
and the residential development sprawls out.
“We had these pockets or nodes or hamlets where people went to and
people relied on to go to the butcher, a blacksmith shop. We had all
these places all over town that kind of served that very regional
population.”
Hubertus is part of the village of Richfield and the town of Erin. The community’s name came from the parish St. Hubert’s, now joined with St. Gabriel.
In 1916, Hubertus had a population of 100, but had the bare
essentials, including a railroad depot, a post office, several shops, a
hotel, a cheese factory and an independent telephone company with
long-distance connections.
Some of the original
buildings that made up the main drag through town — today known as
Hubertus Road — are still there. One is Johnny Manhattan’s and another
is Sloppy Joe’s.
“They’re thriving businesses, which is somewhat unique because they exist in almost a purely residential area,” Healy said.
“Our history is rooted in agriculture,” he added. “We
have a lot of people that came out here because we had great, workable
soils, still very much today our motto is ‘Is to move forward, but to
preserve a country way of life.’” A formerly popular traditions for
three decades in Hubertus was the haunted house at St. Gabriel School —
The Hubertus House of Horror. It ended in 2014 as
southeastern Wisconsin’s longest-running haunted house. It was closed
by the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, which believed haunted houses are not a
representation of the Catholic values.
In the early days of Hubertus, there was a cheese factory on the
southwest corner of town owned by a Swiss family — the Schillers. It
was later run by Peter Fassbender.
One of the factory’s directors, Peter Becker, lost his life in the factory when he was 42.
One day, he volunteered to clean the vat. The gas from the acid was
very strong and heavy, and it didn’t circulate. Just as he was starting
to clean, he was overwhelmed by the fumes and fell into the vat and was
burned up.
St.
Hubert’s Parish, now St. Gabriel’s, was built in 1846. It was built at
the encouragement and with help by Joseph Saltzmann, founder of St.
Francis Seminary.
It
wasn’t until 1849 when it became a separate congregation with 48 German
families as members. Before that, St. Hubert’s was attended as a
mission of the St. Boniface congregation at Goldendale. The first
resident pastor arrived in 1854.
In 1858, parishioners voted to build a stone building. It was completed in 1863.
Then, the school opened in 1888.
Tens of thousands of visitors will visit one of the landmarks that
can be seen on the western edge of town: Holy Hill National Shrine of
Mary, Help of Christians.
Thousands of visitors will seemingly go through Hubertus, most of them accidentally, to get to Holy Hill.
Christenson knows that. He’s often the one pointing them in the right direction.
But, in the early 20th century, it was no accident people stumbled into Hubertus.
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