Genoa CityGenoa City is a small town with a current population of about 1300 located in the southeastern part of the state. It is on county road H and just off Highway 12, about 1 mile north of Richmond IL and 9 miles south of Lake Geneva, WI. Genoa City is seated amidst rolling hills, large lovely trees, beautiful old homes and near beautiful lakes and vacation sites. In 1849, James Dickerson dammed Nippersink Creek to establish a gristmill. About the same time, a sawmill was built on the west side of the creek. The village of Genoa (as it was called at that time) was born in the year 1850. A large gristmill was built by Mr. Dickerson. W J Miller built a wagon and carriage factory. A store was built and opened by James Stilson. The home of James Dickerson was the fourth building to be erected. On Nov 6, 1893, L G Deignan, who had attended the Metropolitan Business College of Chicago, was appointed Postmaster. In addition to being Postmaster, Mr Deignan sold stationery, books and writing material. In 1895 Benjamin J Bill was Genoa Junction's (as the town was then called) family doctor. Dr Bill attended most of the deaths of the Bohm family, that settled in Genoa Junction in 1890's and the births of their children and grandchildren. The Congregational church, located on Bond St, was organized April 15, 1846. A part of the present church was built in 1893. The German Methodist Episcopal church, where Emma Bohm and Ferdinand Maaske were married 5 June 1902, held their services in the Congregational church building. In 1895, Genoa City's grad school had an attendance of about 150 pupils. The town had no high school at that time. In 1854 Genoa City's train depot was built. At one time, genoa City had train service by the Fox River Road, the Kenosha and Rockford line and the Chicago Northwestern. Genoa City was the center of an area large in dairy farming. For many years a milk train was being run each morning carrying a large quantity of milk to the Chicago market. In 1900, the Borden Company built a milk factory in Genoa City for a milk bottling operation. The old building was removed by burning on 11 and 12 November 1978 and the Wisconsin Dairies opened their new more efficient Genoa City transfer plant. In 1924, the Bible church was built on Sumner St. Rev Paul Weber, the first pastor of the Bible Church help lay the building bricks. It was in this church that Leland Moore and Bernice Maaske were united in marriage 12 January 1926. The building stands today, but is being used for purposes other than religious services. From the 1930's through the 1960's Genoa City was a bustling little town with a Ford and Chevrolet garage, hotel (first called the Junction House), an opera house, a bank, and enough shops and stores to provide every need. Industry in addition to the milk factory consisted of an ice plant, a mill, a lumber yard, Gibbs ice cream factory, a sauerkraut factory, and probably others that I don't remember. During this period, US highway 12 ran with Genoa City's Freeman St, the town's main street. On Saturday, this street was filled bumper to bumper with cars caring people, mostly from Chicago, to Lake Geneva and then again on Sunday evening, it was filled with passengers on their way home. Because HY 12 has been rerouted to bypass Genoa City, to its east, the town traffic is gone. Vacationers on their way Lake Geneva may save a couple of minutes by taking the bypass, but are missing out on seeing a lovely town that was built in the mid and late 1800's. Copyright 2013 Walworth County Genealogical Society
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