Town of Holton, Marathon County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

No primary source names a major employer located in the Town of Holton.

The town's own website and email subscription are its stated channels for news and notices; no designated official newspaper was confirmed.

No hospital or clinic located in the town was confirmed.

The civic calendar centers on the April annual meeting, the spring election at the Town Hall and twice-monthly Saturday recycling; no community festival was confirmed.

The municipality is the Town of Holton, a civil town in Marathon County, Wisconsin (Census county subdivision GEOID 5507335500).

Holton is a town (civil town) governed by a town chairman and two supervisors, not a city or village.

The Town of Holton sits on Marathon County's western edge; its mailing address is in Dorchester and its town hall carries an Abbotsford address, but it is a separate municipality from the Village of Dorchester and the City of Abbotsford.

The Town of Holton covers 34.516 square miles of land and 0.006 square miles of water.

The town's Census internal point is near 44.996164, -90.248292.

The 1913 county history places the town in township 29 north, range 2 east, a single 36-section survey township.

The 2020 Census counted 859 residents in the Town of Holton.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates Holton's population at 845 as of January 1, 2025.

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of Holton's population is 857 (+/-164).

The ACS 2019-2023 median age in Holton is 45.7 years (+/-10.1).

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income in Holton is $95,167 (+/-$31,299).

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes in Holton is $219,900 (+/-$47,960).

Dennis Venzke is Town Chairman.

Pat Tischendorf and Gene Peissig are Town Supervisors.

Taylor Ensign is Town Clerk (715-316-2040, [email address]).

Paula Ruesch is Town Treasurer ([email address]).

The Wisconsin Municipal Data System lists the Holton clerk's mailing address as 107645 County Line Road, Dorchester, WI 54425.

Town Board meetings are held on the second Wednesday of each month at 7:00 p.m. unless otherwise posted.

Meeting notices post at the Town Hall and on the town website, and residents can subscribe online for news, agendas, minutes and packets.

The annual meeting of electors is held on the third Tuesday of April at 8:00 p.m.

The Holton Town Hall is at 233727 Rosedale Avenue, Abbotsford, at the corner of Fence Road and Rosedale Avenue, and is the polling place (7 a.m. to 8 p.m.).

The official website is townofholton.wi.gov, hosted on Town Web; its agenda archive loads from the HeyGov platform.

Building, sanitation and zoning permits for Holton are handled by Marathon County Conservation, Planning and Zoning (CPZ), not by the town.

The town has posted notices about a Board of Adjustment hearing on a conditional use permit for a non-metallic mining operation, held at the Lake View Conference Center in Wausau.

Recycling is collected at the town garage on the first and third Saturday of each month, 8:00 a.m. to noon; garbage is not accepted.

The town's 2024 letter reminds residents that pushing snow across a road is against state law, and says anyone who damages a town road can be billed for cleanup and repairs, up to three times the cost under state statute.

The Holton Town Hall is available to rent through the town clerk.

Two unified school districts cover the town: about 60 percent of its area lies in the Colby School District and about 40 percent in the Abbotsford School District.

Colby School District (NCES 5502730) runs 4 schools from PK-12 and enrolled 930 students in 2024-25.

Abbotsford School District (NCES 5500030) runs 2 schools from PK-12 and enrolled 799 students in 2024-25.

The town's 2024 letter addresses farm traffic directly, asking residents hauling manure to notify the chairman so warning signs and cones can be placed.

For county context, Marathon County had 3,436 business establishments and 65,770 paid employees in 2023.

The Tribune-Phonograph, a weekly, serves the Abbotsford, Colby and Dorchester areas and covers the Abbotsford and Colby school districts.

Fire and EMS service comes from the Central Fire & EMS District, of which Holton is one of seven members; the district meets at 7 p.m. on the third Tuesday at the Abbotsford Fire Hall.

The district bills by the man-hour for fire calls, and those bills come from the Central Fire & EMS office rather than the town.

The town's site points residents to the Dorchester Public Library.

Holton addresses use the Abbotsford (54405) and Dorchester (54425) ZIP codes; no post office inside the town was confirmed.

The town's site lists the Midnight Riders as the local snowmobile club.

ATVs and UTVs on town roads must follow DNR rules with a 35 mph speed limit.

The 1913 county history says the town (spelled Holeton) was established September 16, 1875, and organized with town officers elected in spring 1876, with A. G. Stoughton as first chairman.

The same history says the early settlers nearly all took land under the Homestead Act, and by 1913 the town supplied one creamery and five cheese factories with milk.

The 1913 history singles the town out for its good roads, built to a plan with drainage and cleared rights-of-way.