Red River Township and the Two Darbellays.....

Friend Sally lives near one of Kewaunee County's tiniest, but most well-known, communities. For most, it is a 45 mph limit nuisance with a tavern. Sally mused that if she lived near Darbellay, she wouldn't even know it. But, does she know that she lives near Rushford and Royal Creek which disappeared before Joseph Wery even thought of naming his area - nearly 25 miles north - Darbellay? And, Darbellay? There were two of them!

The first Darbellay was actually a postal community that opened on March 16, 1874 in the SW 1/4 of the SW 1/4 of Section 21 in the Town of Red River. Joseph Wery requested the office which brought business to his store, the site of the office. That office closed on January 1, 1875 and was relocated to Thiry Daems where Constant Thiry became the postmaster. It took Wery until July 7, 1887 to establish the second post office to be called Darbellay and in the same location. That Darbellay was closed in 1904 with the advent of Rural Free Delivery in Kewaunee County.

Darbellay appears in Wisconsin's 1901-1902 business directory. It was in the approximate area of the intersection of today's Kewaunee County Highways S and SS, an area of cornfields. There isn't even a 45 mph sign. Why Darbellay when Wery could have easily named the spot for himself? Joseph Darbellay was a Kewaunee resident who was appointed a postal inspector in 1867. More importantly, he was in charge of relief work following the horrendous Peshtigo fire in 1871. The fire ravished much of the northern portion of Kewaunee County, especially the towns of Red River and Lincoln. The high esteem in which area residents held Darbellay is evident in the naming of the postal community.

If Sally should venture north to find Darbellay, she won't find a 45 mph sign marking the community, but she will find corn growing on some of the finest farms around.