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History of the Town of Lomira

Settlers began arriving in the area beginning in 1843. The Town of Lomira was created by a group of these early settlers who met on April 10, 1849 at the home of Henry M. Luce. Elections were held soon after.  The first officers were Town Chairman-Oscar Hilbert, Supervisors-Nathaniel Gage and John McCann, Town Clerk-Samuel Nichols, Town Treasurer-George Camp, and Assessor-Jeremiah Walker. 

The duties of the town at that time were to create school districts, lay out roads, provide protection against crime and record mortgages.  All town board meetings and elections were held in the homes of residents from 1849-1904.  In 1905, the Brownsville Fire House became the official Town Hall and remained so until 1952 when the present Town Garage was built at Knowles. In 1997, a large meeting room addition was built on the north side of the Garage.

The unincorporated village of Knowles grew up around the railroad which began service through the small community in 1877. Some of the businesses that developed at that time are still in existence today.

The history of the township is not complete without mentioning the limestone quarries that are found about a mile north of Knowles at Nasbro and about 3/4 of a mile south of Knowles at what used to be called Crusher and now is known as the Farmersville Quarry. The quarry at  Nasbro has a long and storied history and is still in operation today. Many people from the area have worked at this quarry including immigrants who lived in company homes in Nasbro. Nasbro is now a ghost town when the last resident passed away in 2021.

A Picture from the Past

Nasbro

A look at the Nasbro Lime Kilns about 1911

Historical information taken from "Knowles Past to Present-A History of Knowles from 1877-1977".