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More about Fond du Lac:
A
Journey to the Far End of the Lake
More Wisconsin Destinations
Beaver Dam
Door County
Eagle River
Fond du Lac
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Lake Geneva
Madison
Manitowoc
Mauston
Mercer
Minocqua
Phillips
Port Washington
Rhinelander
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St. Germain
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Wausau
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Wisconsin Dells
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"First on the Lake!"  The very same former federal judge (James Duane Doty) who purchased over
1000 acres of swamp land in an area that later was voted to become the
state capitol of Wisconsin also in the very same year (1836) formed
a partnership with about 20 investors and created a land company to sell
3,705 acres of rich, fertile land at the southern end of Lake Winnebago.
 In French, Fond du Lac is interpreted to mean bottom or foot of the
lake". Only after regular mail service was established did this
area at the bottom of Lake Winnebago really begin to grow. Missing
out at being named the Capitol of the state of Wisconsin by a single
vote, Fond du Lac grew to almost 4000 citizens by the mid-1850s.
By 1860, a railroad that later became the Chicago & Northwestern
began to deliver to Chicago, Illinois, goods from Lake Winnebago and
the Fond du Lac area.
The rest is the richness of
history. The rails from Chicago and the lure of pleasure boating on
Lake Winnebago brought increasing numbers of people to Fond du Lac
today home to just under 45,000 residents, but also many vacationers
at all times of the year. They come to share in the history, the
arts, the parks, the boating and fishing, the gardens, the trails,
the dining and shopping, and just as often to share in the numerous
wintertime activities as well.
Fond du Lac has entered the
new century and the new millennium respectful of its past and with
confidence in its people and its strengths.
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