Westby is located on a ridge between the Mississippi River's Coulee Region and the Kickapoo River Valley at the interesection of Highways 14-61 & 27. Westby was named after its first settler, Ole Westby. Westby is a short, senic drive from LaCrosse or Sparta and is an interesting trip from Madison, Chicago, the Quad Cities, Dubuque or Minneapolis. We are located approximately 29 miles south of LaCrosse, 102 miles west of Madison or 88 miles north of Dubuque. We are the home of th 90 meter ski jump and the Syttende Mai celebrations. With a population of only 1,797, it is the second largest city in Vernon County. Click here to find out where Westby is.
>>Taken from Among the Hills, by Josie Churchill.
Although settlers had been homesteading the land in Christiana township, Vernon county, from 1848, Westby did not have its beginning until 1879, when the Milwaukee Railroad built a spur line from Sparta south to Viroqua. The railroad platted the village of Westby and erected a depot with Andrew Johnson as its first agent. It was then that Ole T. Westby built the first store. The whole area was called Coon Prairie. Many of its first people were immigrants from Norway; brother sent for brother to come live on this land which is some of Wisconsin's finest farmland. Raccoons, foxes, wolves and such were the earlier settlers, so Coon Prairie was rightfully named. The first regular train reached this spot on the 13th of August 1879. Soon warehouses for lumber, grain, and tobacco were erected. The first stock dealers were Cargill and King, of Sparta. It was then that the surrounding farmers could ship products to better markets and the whole region prospered.
Syttende Mai Celebrations, Mid-May
Stabbur House, Ski Jump, Davidson Park.
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