1928–1933

30km
19miles

   

Location of Original 3-C Conference Members

The 3-C Conference, originally known as the Tri-County Basketball Conference for its first sponsored sport,^[1] was formed in 1928 by seven small high schools in central Wisconsin: Abbotsford, Colby, Dorchester, Granton, Greenwood, Neillsville, and Unity^[2] (not to be confused with the Unity High School that was later opened in Balsam Lake). An eighth school (Loyal) was part of this initial group,^[3] but wouldn't join in athletic competition until a few years later. The conference's name originated with the three counties that member schools were located in (Clark, Marathon and Taylor). Rib Lake and Spencer joined the 3-C Conference in 1929,^[4] and Medford became its tenth member in 1930^[5] after leaving the Wisconsin Valley Conference a few years earlier.^[6] Spencer would leave the next year with Loyal entering competition,^[7] and in 1932, Neillsville departed for membership in the Little Eight Conference.^[8]

1933–1955

In 1933, Westboro entered the 3-C Conference, and the conference split into geographically aligned sections:^[9]

Spencer reentered the 3-C Conference in 1934 and were assigned to the conference's Southern Section.^[10] In 1935, Loyal left the conference and were replaced by Prentice High School in Price County, entering the league's Northern Section.^[11] Despite the addition of a fourth county to the membership stable, the 3-C Conference kept its name. Loyal rejoined the 3-C Conference's Southern Section in 1938,^[12] bringing membership back up to twelve schools. Prentice's membership lasted until the middle of World War II,^[13] and the conference went back down to eleven schools until Phillips joined the loop's Northern Section in 1949.^[14] Football was first sponsored by the conference for the 1948 season, with five members (Abbotsford, Granton, Greenwood, Loyal and Spencer) participating.^[15] Unity High School was consolidated into Colby in 1954,^[16] leaving the conference with eleven members.

1955–1962

50km
31miles

   

Location of Final 3-C Conference Members

In 1955, Medford and Phillips left the 3-C Conference to become exclusive members of the Lumberjack Conference^[17] after having dual affiliation the past two years.^[18][19] Membership decreased to eight schools in 1961 when Abbotsford and Dorchester merged,^[20] and divisional play was discontinued as well.^[21] The 3-C Conference played its last game in 1962, with four members (Colby, Dor-Abby, Greenwood and Loyal) joining the Cloverbelt Conference, two members (Granton and Spencer) becoming members of the Marawood Conference, and two entered the Flambeau League (Rib Lake and Westboro).^[22]

Final members

Previous members

Football-only members

Full members

 Northern Section  Southern Section

Football members

Boys Basketball

Football