This settlement was originally named Holmes' Landing after a family who traded with the Sioux and Chippewa.

Buffalo County was settled primarily by Swiss, German, and Norwegian immigrants who were drawn to the area by the growing lumber industry, fertile soils, access to the Mississippi, and available land.

Agriculture developed during the 1850s on top of the ridges where natural prairies and oak savannas occurred, which made working the land much easier.

With the lack of good roads, settlement remained along the Mississippi River, where farmers could ship their grain on steamboats.

The Civil War gave a boost to the local economy with the rising demand for wheat, which was the main crop of the county.

[citation needed] With the price of wheat falling, farmers turned to dairy farming, and by the 1880s, local creameries had started to appear.

[12] Additionally, there were fewer than five reported induced abortions performed on women of Buffalo County residence in 2017.

The results from 2012 foreshadowed the shift in the electorate in Buffalo County, as in 2016, once again like the rest of rural southwestern Wisconsin, the county dramatically swung to the right, shifting 25 points and giving a 22% victory to Republican Donald Trump.