October 9, 2021 – Jackson, WI – There was a ribbon cutting in Jackson this week as neighbors were able to tour the new Village Hall. One family had a few more ties to the facility than the rest as John and Margaret Schmahl gave up their homestead so the building could be constructed on Highway 60.
John Schmahl, 70, spent his entire life in the old cream city brick home. “We decided it would be a tribute to the family in terms of turning it over to a government agency,” he said.
There were 80 acres in the Schmahl farm. Forty acres were north of Highway 60 and the other 40 were south of the highway.
John remembered when Highway 60 was an “old 2-lane highway” with “very little traffic and very easy to ride a bike back and forth to the village.”
The property dates to 1846 and it was Reuben Schmal’s great great grandfather who homesteaded the area.
Reuben, John’s father, was actively involved in the betterment of Jackson and Washington County for more than 45 years.
A gold-lettered plaque in the Village Hall pays tribute to Reuben Schmahl and his years of service in local government.
In addition to operating the family farm at this location, he served the community in many significant ways: 30 years on the Jackson Volunteer Fire Department, 44 years as Town of Jackson supervisor, 20 years as Jackson School Board Treasurer, 30 years as Bank of Jackson director and chairman, 28 years as a director of St. Joseph’s Hospital, and 45 years on the Washington County Board of Supervisors, 22 years as its chair.
“It was sad to lose the homestead and it was a difficult decision but we were at the point in our lives whether we would stay here and maintain the farm or move,” said Margaret Schmahl, John’s wife. “When you look at the whole picture it was a blessing for the village and for our lives too in its own way.”
Click HERE to take a tour inside the new Jackson Village Hall.
