Joel Valle: Nasbro’s Forgotten History

Nasbro was once a small but flourishing company town located between Knoweles, Brownsville and Lomira, known for its lime kilns and production. The town was officially founded and named Nasbro after the Nast Brothers in the late 1800s, who bought property from Carl Happe. Thus, Nast Brothers Lime and Stone Company was formed, and the town was named Nasbro.

Over time, Nast Brothers Lime and Stone merged with four other companies and became Western Lime & Cement Company. While this company owned most of Nasbro, there was another company, Standard Lime & Stone Company, who owned the rest. Eventually Standard Lime also went out of business, and Western Lime bought them out and completely owned the town of Nasbro.

The Valle family worked for many generations in the lime industry, the family spanning four generations when Joel Valle’s great-grandparents immigrated to the area from Italy. Joel grew up within the business, following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather. He watched the way the factory and production worked from a young age, and listened to his grandfather, Albert Valle, tell stories about growing up in Nasbro. Joel also worked for Western Lime for many years until it was bought out by Graymont, where he still works.

After the railroads were removed from Nasbro in the 1980s, Western Lime began to use their Marblehead plant as their primary location. By the late 1980s, the plant and all but one home was demolished, turning Nasbro into an almost forgotten ghost town. As of this day, you can still see remnants of the remaining kilns as well as the home of Albert and Gloria Valle, Joel’s grandparents, the last standing home of the town. This house was not only a home, but also a central hub for the town, being the town’s post office at one point and even a grocery store. While Joel Valle has keys to the house, it is still owned by Graymont, and it is unknown how much longer it will be around.

Joel learned everything he knows about Nasbro from his grandfather, and he decided to compile all his facts, stories and the stories of others into a book called “Nasbro: A Forgotten History.” He also runs two Facebook pages called Nasbro, www.facebook.com/groups/nasbro, and The History of Wisconsin Lime and Stone Industry, www.facebook.com/WILimeHistory. If you have any connections to Nasbro and would like to know more, reach out to Joel Valle on Facebook or by emailing jl@greymont.com.