Custer, Wisconsin
Custer is an unincorporated community in Portage County, Wisconsin, United States.
Geography
Custer is located in central Wisconsin approximately half way between Stevens Point, and Amherst (Lat: 44.51056, Lon: -89.42611). Custer is located in the town of Stockton.
Social History
As of the census of 2000, Custer was not an incorporated entity. Custer at one time was formerly named Dawson. Custer is the host site of the annual Renewable Energy and Sustainable Living Fair sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association. Custer has a post office designated by the zip code 54423.
Residents of the Custer area vote at an old school building located on County J as constituents of the town of Stockton. Most children in the area attend school in the Stevens Point Area School District.
In addition to the post office, the small downtown area of Custer has several houses, an auto shop, and several bars (3 bars/9 houses) . About a mile east of this area at the intersection of County J and Highway 10 there also used to be an F&M bank and a Shell gas station/tavern with a softball diamond up until sometime in the 1990's. The bank building still stands and is the site of a real estate company. Near where the tavern and bank used to be are a meat storage facility as well as Faivre Implement Inc. Roughly one mile north of the downtown area is St. Mary's Catholic Church and a golf driving range. To the nearby west of the downtown area is the "Wag Inn" which also had a variety of grazing animals such as llamas and ostrich. Further down on "Deer Road" is an equine facility and the MREA’s ReNew the Earth Institute. In this same area there has been a quarry, a wild animal rehabilitation center, and the "Oldies but Goodies" antique shop.
Custer has traditionally been an agricultural community but has for some time been undergoing a transition to a more mixed residential neighborhood.
Custer is also home to the first of a small chain of bakeries known as "Out of Mama's Oven". It was rumored that the original owner Kathy "Mama" Szymanski had worked as a nurse at an abortion clinic before opening her bakery, thus suggesting that the name of her bakery was some kind of a sick joke, but none of those rumors have ever been verified.
Notable people
Custer was the childhood home of Janel McCarville of WNBA's New York Liberty.