(Coo-no-mo-wauk meant Falling Waters)

First settler, Charles B. Sheldon, arrived April 21, 1837.

The Oconomowoc River flowed down through a tamarack swamp into Lac LaBelle, a dam built across it in 1837 formed Fowler's Lake. Here the town.

Oconomowoc was named in 1846; made a village in 1865, a city in 1875.

The Milwaukee-Watertown Plank Road reached here in 1850. Its tollhouse still stands. The Milwaukee and Watertown Railroad came in 1854.

Pioneer John S. Rockwell led in many enterprises such as the dam, mills, hotel, bank, stores, plank road, railroad; and in religious, cultural and civic affairs.

Pioneer David W. Small was Judge of the Waukesha-Milwaukee Circuit Court 1870-82. This was the home of national figures, Increase A. Lapham, scientist; and James A Henshall, conservationist.

After 1870, it was widely acclaimed "The Newport of the West" as a summer resort center. Great estates dotted the lakeshores. Fashionable hotels included the Townsend House, Woodlands, and Draper Hall.

Its colorful summer society era has long since vanished but not its lake-land charm. This and its strong impulses in trade confirm its position as the center of the famed Oconomowoc Lakes region.

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Show me all markers in:  Oconomowoc, WI  |  Waukesha County  |  53066  |  Wisconsin  |  United States of America

Oconomowoc Masonic Center
The Inn at Pine Terrace
Historic Okauchee
Highway Marking
Nashotah Mission
Stone Bank
Bishop Jackson Kemper Home Built 1849
Cushing Memorial Park
Wm. R. Look Log Cabin
St. John's Military Academy

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