Town of Frankfort, Marathon County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

No list of major employers located in the Town of Frankfort was found in a primary source.

No newspaper or broadcast outlet specific to the Town of Frankfort was named in any source read this session; the town posts notices on three boards and its website.

The Town of Frankfort is a civil town in Marathon County, Wisconsin, Census county subdivision GEOID 5507327150 (USGS GNIS 01583229).

The Town of Frankfort covers 35.153 square miles of land and 0.006 square miles of water.

The town's Census internal point is near 44.905556, -90.133711.

The 2020 Census counted 635 residents in the Town of Frankfort.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates the Town of Frankfort's population at 646 as of January 1, 2025, a change of +11 from 2020.

DOA estimates 481 voting-age residents in the Town of Frankfort for 2025 (469 at the 2020 Census).

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of the Town of Frankfort's population is 558 (+/-109).

The ACS 2019-2023 median age in the Town of Frankfort is 42.6 years (+/-10.3).

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income in the Town of Frankfort is $91,250 (+/-$20,454).

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes in the Town of Frankfort is $236,900 (+/-$49,021).

The state Municipal Data System lists the Town of Frankfort (DOA code 37026) clerk as Kari Emmerich, phone 715-297-0645, with a mailing address of 222650 County Rd E, Stratford, WI 54484-4458 (record last updated 6/22/2025).

Marathon County had 3,436 business establishments and 65,770 paid employees in 2023, including 18,923 in manufacturing and 10,570 in health care and social assistance.

The nearest public library outlet in the IMLS file to the town's internal point is the Stratford Branch (Marathon County Public Library) at 213201 Scholar St., Stratford (about 7.6 miles straight-line).

The municipality's official website identifies it as the Town of Frankfort, Marathon County, a town of around 600 people a few miles east of Colby.

Wisconsin has two towns named Frankfort: this one in Marathon County (DOA code 37026, 2020 Census 635) and another in Pepin County (DOA code 47006, 2020 Census 325).

The plan places Frankfort in west-central Marathon County, about 15 minutes east of Colby and Abbotsford, 25 minutes north of Marshfield, and 30 minutes west of Wausau, south of STH 29.

USGS GNIS records a populated place named Swan at 44.9310774, -90.1190219, a point inside the Town of Frankfort's Census boundary.

The town describes itself as over 600 residents with 4 school districts, 4 fire districts, 3 churches, and 2 bars.

The town maintains 46 miles of gravel roads; Marathon County oversees 12 miles of county roads in the town, and state highways run 6 miles along the northern boundary and 6 miles along the eastern boundary.

Agriculture covers 14,862 of the town's 22,479 acres (66 percent) and woodlands 5,813 acres (26 percent); residential use is 602 acres and commercial use 40 acres.

Craig Schemenauer is Town Chairman.

Jeremy Vesely and Brian Asplund are Town Supervisors.

Kari Emmerich-Roeper is Town Clerk, reachable at 715-297-0645 or [email address]; the clerk's address is 222650 County Rd E, Stratford, WI 54484.

Jill Koerner is Town Treasurer and handles tax questions.

Town Board meetings are normally held on the second Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. at the town hall, 110815 County Rd N, Colby, unless otherwise posted.

Meeting notices, agendas, and election notices post on boards near the Town Hall flagpole, at the town garage, and at The Fresh Country Aire, and on the town website.

The website's Agendas & Minutes page lists meetings from May 2024 through a September 14, 2026 agenda, including the April 21, 2026 annual meeting.

The plan places the Town Hall at CTH N and Hazelnut Road, the town garage at CTH N and Pinenut Road, and a dump run jointly with the Town of Hull at Hazelnut and Blueberry Roads.

The Town Hall rents for $75 per day, booked through the clerk.

The recycling center and waste disposal site is open Saturdays 8:00 a.m. to noon, plus Thursdays 6:00 to 8:00 p.m. from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

On May 8, 2023, the town enacted a Wind Energy Facility Licensing Ordinance (20230508-A) and a Citation Ordinance (20230508-B); it also has a subdivision ordinance and a 2-acre minimum on land purchases.

Building permits go through Marathon County rather than the town.

The town's comprehensive plan was adopted in November 2018, prepared with the North Central Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission.

Four unified school districts divide the town: Colby (about 38 percent of its area), Stratford (about 37 percent), Edgar (about 21 percent), and Abbotsford (about 4 percent).

Colby School District (NCES 5502730) is a PK-12 district of 4 schools with 930 students in 2024-25, based at 705 N Second St, Colby.

Stratford School District (NCES 5514580) is a PK-12 district of 3 schools with 774 students in 2024-25, based at 213311 Legion St, Stratford.

Edgar School District (NCES 5504080) is a PK-12 district of 3 schools with 575 students in 2024-25, based at 203 E Birch St, Edgar.

Abbotsford School District (NCES 5500030) is a PK-12 district of 2 schools with 799 students in 2024-25, based at 510 W Hemlock St, Abbotsford.

Agricultural land uses dominate the landscape, with woodlands second; the plan records town concern about road damage from large dairy farm traffic.

According to the plan, the number of employed residents fell from 372 in 2010 to 332 in 2016, with management, business, science and arts the largest occupation group (36.4 percent in 2016).

Four fire districts serve the town: the Central Fire and EMS District (based in Colby and Abbotsford) in the western half, and the Stratford Area Fire Department, Edgar Volunteer Fire Department, and Athens Area Fire Department in parts of the east.

EMS is split the same way: Central Fire and EMS District in the west, and Stratford Area Fire Department and Ambulance, Edgar Volunteer Fire Department, and Athens Area Ambulance Service in the east.

Police protection is provided by the Marathon County Sheriff's Department.

The plan says the Marathon County Public Library system serves the town and describes the Stratford, Marathon City, and Athens branches.

The 2018 plan says three major hospitals serve the town, including Aspirus Hospital in the City of Wausau; no hospital or clinic in the town was confirmed.

The town hall uses a Colby address and the clerk a Stratford, WI 54484 address; no post office inside the town was confirmed.

The plan lists a Mennonite Cemetery on CTH E (Section 21), a German Lutheran/Peace cemetery on Huckleberry Road, a cemetery at Hope Church on STH 97, and a cemetery in Wien owned jointly with the Town of Wien.

The town owns no public parks and has no Marathon County park or forest unit; nearby county parks on the Big Eau Pleine River include Cherokee Park (69 acres) and Big Rapids Park (33 acres).

Hamann and Randall Creeks are the main creeks, the Big Eau Pleine River crosses the town, and the town lies in the Lower Big Eau Pleine River Watershed, a DNR priority watershed.

Recurring civic dates include tire recycling on the fourth Saturday in September; the home page calendar also posted gravel and dust-control bids for April 13, 2026. No community festival was found in a source read this session.

The plan says Frankfort was first settled in 1877 after the Wisconsin Central Railroad reached Colby, five miles west; the town's site dates the railroad's arrival at Colby to September 1872.

Frankfort split from the Town of Wien; the town's site says it organized in 1889, while the plan and the centennial booklet title (1890-1990) give 1890.

Ed Protze, the first elected town chairman, named the town after his hometown of Frankfurt, Germany.

Logging came first; by the early 1900s farmers grew wheat and hay, and the growth of dairying brought cheese factories to the town.

No property in Frankfort is on the National Register of Historic Places; two properties appear in the Wisconsin Architecture and History Inventory.

CTH E is the north-south collector and CTH N the east-west collector that bisect the town; STH 97 forms its eastern boundary and connects to STH 29.

The town provides no public sewer or water; all development uses private wells and septic systems.