The population of the City of Colby is 1708. Colby is the birthplace of Colby cheese. Today, Wisconsin is the number one producer of all major types of cheese made in the United States, except for Swiss.
On the original site of Ambrose Steinwand’s cheese factory stands the present day Colby Cheese Factory, which was built in 1965 by Lawrence Hoernke. It is no longer in operation.
Similar cheese factories dot the countryside in the 4-county area that makes up the Heart of Wisconsin, this nation’s largest cheese producing area. The 20 or more cheese cutting, curing and processing plants in the near area market over a billion pounds of “REAL” cheese annually.
During the centennial of Colby cheese the governor of Wisconsin proclaimed Colby cheese, “Wisconsin’s Own Colby Cheese,” as the only major natural cheese process native to America.