Village of Amherst, Portage County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

No list of major employers located in the Village of Amherst was found in a primary source read this session.

No hospital or clinic located in the village was confirmed from a source read this session.

The year the Village of Amherst incorporated was not found in a source read this session.

The municipality is the Village of Amherst, an incorporated village in Portage County, Wisconsin (Census place GEOID 5501750).

The Village of Amherst is distinct from the Town of Amherst (2020 Census population 1,402) and from the Village of Amherst Junction (383), both separate Portage County municipalities.

Websites for an Amherst fire department (amherstfire.org, a City of Amherst with a 440 area code) and an Amherst Town Library (amherstlibrary.org, which advertises New Hampshire Philharmonic tickets) belong to Amherst communities outside Wisconsin and are not sources for this village.

The Village of Amherst covers 1.344 square miles of land and 0.055 square miles of water.

The village's Census internal point is near 44.448329, -89.281683.

The village sits along the Tomorrow River and describes itself as a progressive village preserving its small-town flavor, with a commitment to the arts and outdoors.

Village Hall uses the ZIP code 54406.

The 2020 Census counted 1,117 residents in the Village of Amherst.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates the village's population at 1,133 as of January 1, 2025.

The Census Bureau's Vintage 2024 estimate for Amherst village is 1,132 residents on July 1, 2024 (2020 estimates base 1,114).

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of the village's population is 1,033 (+/-174).

The ACS 2019-2023 median age in the village is 44.5 years (+/-8.8).

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income in the village is $56,833 (+/-$15,756).

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes in the village is $218,000 (+/-$27,860).

A Village President and six trustees make up the Village Board.

Dave Crubaugh is Village President; he joined the board as a trustee in 2017 and was elected president in May 2023.

Trustees are Pat Strelitzer, Rebecca Roberts, Rich Stuczynski, Stephanie Wojtowicz, Bob Rausch, and Christine Hodges.

Jodi Patoka is Village Clerk/Treasurer; the clerk's office is reached at [email address] and 715-824-5613.

Village Hall is at 160 Mill Street (mailing address PO Box 36), Amherst, WI 54406, open Monday to Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. and Friday 7:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m., closed 12:00 to 12:30.

The Village Board meets on Tuesdays at 6 p.m. at Village Hall, generally the second and fourth Tuesdays; the next listed meeting is September 22, 2026.

Agendas are posted as event pages on the village website under Events & Meetings, and minutes are posted as web pages under meeting-minutes.

Village bodies include the Village Board, Planning Commission, Tree Board, a Greenwood Cemetery Committee, and a Parks Committee listed as coming soon; board agendas also carry Utility, Safety, Finance, Personnel, Administrative, Public Works, Library, and Fire District reports.

Brandon O'Connor of Eliason & O'Connor was introduced as the new village attorney in June 2025.

Items on the September 22, 2026 board agenda include a school operational referendum presentation, well upgrades, solar at the wastewater treatment plant, a drinking water advisory for lead, and the final audit of TIF District 2.

The Public Works Department maintains streets, curbs, sidewalks, signage, street lights, trails, landscapes, and village facilities and vehicles.

The Tomorrow River School District runs a K-12 campus within the village, at 357 N Main Street, and TIGERweb places the whole village inside that district.

Tomorrow River School District (NCES 5500330) enrolled 1,198 students in five schools in 2024-2025, with 91.56 FTE classroom teachers.

Amherst Elementary, Amherst Middle, and Amherst High share the 357 N Main Street address; the district's charter schools are at 10186 County Road MM in Amherst Junction, and Central Sands Community High School has an Amherst address at 3995 County Road K.

The village's commercial areas are its Main Street and Christy Street businesses and a Business Park.

Portage County had 1,715 business establishments and 29,656 paid employees in 2023, including 4,761 in finance and insurance and 5,002 in manufacturing.

The village's own site names Our Community Spirit as Amherst's monthly newspaper, chronicling local activities and events.

The Lettie W. Jensen Library is the village's public library; in 2025 the village and library formed an expansion committee after a private donor pledged to match $1 for every $2 donated, up to $100,000.

The Lettie Jensen Community Center serves the village.

The Amherst Fire District provides fire protection, and the board agenda carries a Fire District report.

Wikipedia reports that police protection is provided by the Portage County Sheriff's Department.

The village operates water and sewer utilities, including municipal wells 1 and 2, a water tower, and a wastewater treatment plant.

The village describes numerous parks and a scenic Mill Pond shoreline; GNIS lists Amherst Millpond 90 as a reservoir at 44.4568, -89.2824.

Named village parks include Guyant Park, where a VFW military memorial dedication ceremony was scheduled for August 2, 2025, and McKinley Park.

The Portage County Fair, also called the Amherst Fair, ran July 16 to 19, 2026 at the Amherst Fairgrounds, 4504 Fairgrounds Road; its parade starts at Amherst High School and ends at the fairgrounds.

The first Portage County Fair Association organized in 1869; the Amherst Lions Club and local businesses revived the fair in 1949, and it remains mainly a 4-H and FFA event.

Other recurring village events recorded on the site include a wine walk (2025) and a swap-o-rama (2024).

Wikipedia reports that the name Amherst was chosen in 1853 by Adam Uline after General Jeffery Amherst, and that the first known settler, John F. Hillstrom, arrived in 1851.

The L. A. Pomeroy House in Amherst was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 5, 1992.