Town of Holland

The Town of Holland was set off from the Town of Wrightstown in 1853. Its settlement, however, preceded that date by about five years.

The Town of Holland is a true township, it is four miles from north to south and nine miles east to west, totaling 36 square miles.

In 1848, Father Van Den Broek, a Catholic priest, returned from Holland, a region in the Netherlands, with three ships filled with immigrants. Their destination was Little Chute where Father Van Den Broek had earlier established a parish. He brought a fellow priest, Father Godthardt, with him. When they landed in New York, they went to Buffalo by way of the Hudson River and then on the Erie Canal to the Great Lakes and eventually to Green Bay, but the majority continued to Little Chute on pole boats up the Fox River.
When they reached Little Chute they drew lots for parcels of land. Some families were dissatified with their parcels and this group of nine families, led by Father Godthardt, eventually made their way southeast to Military Road. There they were advised to head east for about two miles to a large open space in the forest. They decided to stay at that spot and immediately set about building a church one log in lengh. This was the beginning of what we know today as Hollandtown in the far southwest corner of the Township of Holland.
By the time of the 1855 State Census, 55 families were listed, 34 with Irish names and 21 with Dutch names plus seven single men.