BLACK EARTH HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Black Earth History Museum Season Opening Sunday, May 28

• A wonderful new display about the Black Earth Postal Service is unveiled for 2023.
• Please see our Museum page for more information.

Black Earth (Farmersville) Township turns 175 years in 2023

  What is now the town of Black Earth incorporated as part of the town of Farmersville (along with present day Berry & the southern half of Mazomanie townships) on 2 August 1848, just months after Wisconsin became a state. The present-day northern half of Mazomanie township was added to Farmersville days later. Two years later in 1850, Berry was removed to become its own town. Population for Farmersville was 206 people, according to the 1850 census. 

  The following year in 1851, the town's name was changed from Farmersville to Black Earth. It was only known as Farmersville for about three years. To further complicate the town's origins, the present-day town of Black Earth section split off from the then-larger town of Black Earth in 1858 and called itself Ray township. This was due to a perceived competition between the two railroad villages of Black Earth and Mazomanie existing within the same Black Earth township. It seemed the town wasn't big enough for both. However, this short-sighted split resulted in the village of Mazomanie being surrounded by the town of Black Earth and the village of Black Earth being surrounded by the town of Ray. The next state legislature ended the confusion by re-naming the towns Black Earth and Mazomanie as they exist today, with both villages within their namesake townships. The short-lived town name of Ray only lasted a matter of months. 

  Today, this explains why the two present townships of Black Earth and Mazomanie are much geographically smaller than most townships in Wisconsin. Will the two towns ever combine again? If so, what should they call themselves? What about Farmersville (again)? In the year 2023, the town of Black Earth is 175 years old if referring back to the original Farmersville name from 1848.

Black Earth Historical Society has both a Facebook page and group

Please follow + join

• If you are on Facebook, the Black Earth Historical Society has an official Facebook page administered by Historical Society board member Gary Ballweg. Like and follow our page for the absolute latest news and event updates. Here's a link to the official Black Earth Historical Society page (or linked below in our contact information). 
  
• The BEHS page is separate from the Facebook group Gary also administers called Black Earth History. With nearly 1,000 members, the Black Earth History group allows for more interaction and reminiscing about Black Earth than the official Black Earth Historical Society page. 
• It's a good idea to both follow the page and join the group.