Population Outagamie
County: Latest 150,048
Wisconsin became a state
in 1848. Outagamie County was created from Brown County in 1851.
The Fox Cities are 12
communities along the Fox River. Appleton, Neenah, Menasha,
Kaukauna, Kimberly, Combined Locks, Town of Grand Chute, Little
Chute, Freedom, Town of Neenah, Town of Menasha, Town of
Vandenbroek.
Early residents of the
area included the Menomonee, Outagamie and Winnebago tribes.
Although the Menomonees are the oldest known residents, the
history of the area comes from the Outagamie Indians whom the
French nicknamed "les renards," meaning foxes. Hence the name
Fox Cities.
In 1634, French explorer
Jean Nicolet was the first European to the area followed soon by
French fur traders. One of these traders, Charles Grignon
(GREEN-YO), built his mansion in the woods in 1837, the oldest
home in Outagamie County. Other ethnic groups settling here
include Dutch, German, Polish, Irish and, more recently,
Laotian.
The first mills in the
area using water power from the Fox River were flour and woolen
mills. These were converted to paper-production when the wheat
crop failed and farmers turned to dairy cows for their
livelihood.
The early giants of the
paper industry, Kimberly-Clark, Appleton Papers, Wisconsin
Tissue Mills and Menasha Corporation have earned the area its
nickname--the Paper Valley. While paper-making is still the
largest industry here, insurance, finance service and
hospitality are also important to the economy.
Lawrence University, the
second oldest co-educational college in the country, was
established in 1846 by Amos Lawrence with 5,000 acres of land
and $10,000. Its reputation as a fine liberal arts and music
school brings it national attention.
Outagamie County History -
Appleton Public Library
Last Update Monday, 07-May-2018 17:25:00 CDT
WIGenWeb State Coordinator:
Tina Vickery WIGenWeb Assistante State Coordinator: Marcia Ann Kuehl Copyright 2010 by the WIGenWeb Team. All rights reserved. Copyright of submitted items belongs to those responsible for their authorship or creation unless otherwise assigned. |