Colgate
Richfield/Lisbon Townships

Colgate is situated on the border and the community is located in both the Township of Richfield in Washington County and the Township of Lisbon in Waukesha County. This would be section 35 in the Township of Richfield and section 2 in the Township of Lisbon.

The community first appears on a plat map in 1892 as Colgate Station as the Minneapolis, St. Paul and Sault Sainte Marie railroad had been located through the community. The 1915 plat map also identifies the community as Colgate Station while in 1929 it is now referred to just as Colgate.

The book Richfield Remembers The Past identifies Colgate was established in 1886. Initially the community had the usual compliment of businesses: small hotel, general store, four saloons, a tin shop, a blacksmith shop, a cheese factory, with a church and school nearby. The cheese factory went out of business in 1914. In 1916 the community was said to possess a population of 50.

With the passing of the railroad as a primary means of transportation, the closing of the cheese factory, the hotel and several saloons burning to the ground, the Community of Colgate began to fade. Today the community exists only because it once existed as is the case with many old time hamlets.

As there is a zip code assigned to Colgate, this will keep the communities name alive.