Business tour,
from p. 2 or simply repurposed into new businesses. The former lumberyards that took up a great expanse of Spencer’s land were soon turned into homes and streets.
While too numerous to name each individual business that has been in each building during Spencer’s 150 years of existence, there were some general types of businesses that remained a fixture over the years, providing residents with the things they needed.
General stores Both before and after the Great Spencer Fire, there were businesses that sold general merchandise, which included groceries, clothing, dry goods and footwear. Some of the most prominent general stores in Spencer included the Red Store — General Merchandise and Hardware, which was owned and operated by D.M. Hanson on the north side of Clark Street near the railroad tracks. S.D. Graves also had a store, the first one being destroyed in the 1886 fire before a new building was built at 101 W. Clark Street (most recently Plan-It Earth Health Centers, now closed). The store was named S.D. Graves & Son before being sold briefly in 1903 and renamed Ingham & Merrill, after Ed Ingham and Mr. Merrill, who operated the store for a year until the Graves’ returned and took over the business again. After this, the store was known as the Graves Mercantile Co. and remained in business until 1963, being the last general store to operate in the village.
Meat markets and grocery stores The first meat markets were created by M. Eichert and Thomas Norton in the early 1870s. Meat markets were separate from general stores in those early days, as they focused on making and selling cuts of meat to lumber camps and residents. These early meat markets gradually evolved to specialize in offering more meat products, including sausages at the Model Meat Market in 1910, and these continued to operate until the 1960s when the last meat market that operated out of the Heath Drug Store was closed. After that point, meats were sold solely at grocery stores in Spencer, including Picus I.G.A and others that closed down in recent years.
Garages After horses began to fall out of use by the 1920s, harness shops and livery stables made way for garages and repair shops. In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the first garages were established. John Herman and Arlie Schofield built the first garage on LaSalle Street, and the shop changed hands several times and offered services for cars as well as motorcycles and bicycles. Around the same time, Fred Mitchell and George Cool built the “Public Garage” on Clark Street. It was eventually purchased by William Jensen in 1937 and renamed Jensen’s Motors. He continued to expand the business throughout the 1940s and 1950s, later selling the operation to his sons, DuWayne and Eugene in 1972. Jensen Motors continued to operate in Spencer before being sold to Gross Motors in the 2000s. Gross Motors operated in that location selling Ford automobiles until 2024, when they closed the garage and moved operations to Neillsville.
While many businesses have come and gone, there are still several businesses in Spencer that have stood the test of time and will likely continue to be a presence in Spencer in the years to come. There are also several businesses that have been established in Spencer’s business and industrial park that was created in the 1980s, with more room for new businesses to come in and fill whatever needs residents have in the future.
Burnett Transit Today jointly combined with Progressive Travel, Burnett Transit in Spencer was first established in 1954 when the business’ founder, Rue Burnett, purchased the first passenger school bus that would be used to transport children from the Willow Brook country school that had been annexed into the Spencer School District that same year. After the success of the first year, Burnett began to purchase more school buses over the next few years and entered into a contract with the Spencer school to provide bus transportation for its students. By 1957, Burnett Transit had five school buses, a number that only continued to expand as the business grew and partnered with more local school districts, including the Colby and Abbotsford school districts. In 1989, Burnett purchased a motor coach with his son, Joe, and started Progressive Travel. The business continues today as a transportation service, using European-style coach buses as a part of its fleet.
General Farm Supply Originally known as Spencer Farm Supply, the business was incorporated in September 1962 by Mr. and Mrs. Arnold Bruesewitz, purchasing the feed elevator that had been built by O.W. Trindal of Loyal in 1928. After the Bruesewitz family took over the operation, the business began to expand by adding larger mixers and bulk holding bins to allow trucks to be directly loaded, rather than having feed placed into sacks as it had been done in the past.
Land O’ Lakes The land that is now occupied by Land O’ Lakes started out as the location for the Spencer Lumber and Supply Company in 1913. In 1927, the company switched gears and changed its name and business operations to Dairy Belt Cheese & Butter Company. In the early 1930s, the company purchased Spencer Milk Products Co. to be operated as a subsidiary and in the 1940s, the plant was remodeled to make sweetened condensed milk. After World War II, the plant’s operations switched gears again and went into manufacturing cheddar cheese. Around this time, the Dairy Belt operation was moved into a new building, where production was increased and more employees were hired. The company grew again in 1951 when the Spencer Milk Products building was razed and new quarters were built to house the Hawley & Hoops, Corporation which made dried milk for the M& M Candy Company. In 1963, the Dairy Belt Cheese & Butter Company, with all its subsidiaries, was purchased by Land O’ Lakes Creameries of Minneapolis, Minn., and operations were continued into the present day with several expansions and upgrades made to the facility since Land O’ Lakes took over ownership.
During Spencerama, the Spencer Area Historical Society Museum will be open to the public on June 8 from 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., and anyone is welcome to tour the museum to learn more about Spencer’s vast history, including more about the many businesses that have existed in the village. The tour of businesses around Clark Street will be open for the public to view at any time during Spencerama, with signs being posted for 13 storefronts that will indicate the year of founding and the names of the businesses at those locations over the years.
Above: one of the old sawmills in Spencer. These mills were some of the first businesses in Spencer, where lumber from the nearby forests was cut and processed to build homes and other businesses in the village. Below: the Spencer Milk Products Company, which stood until 1951. Today, the location is home to Land O’ Lakes.
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