Wisconsin 101

Orlando Metcalf Poe and Wisconsin’s Waterways

Photograph of Orlando Metcalf Poe. Image courtesy of the Village of Wind Point Brochure. Orlando Metcalf Poe was an engineer who shaped the landscape of Wisconsin’s harbors and waterways, playing a crucial role in the development of Wisconsin’s commerce. Through his lighthouse…

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May 10, 2023

New Glarus / Food & Cooking / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Green County / Global Connections / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / Region 7 - South Center / Swiss Cheese Kettle

Early Cheese Factories in New Glarus

Green County has long been known for its cheese factories, particularly ones making Swiss cheese. However, when the first Swiss immigrants arrived it wasn’t at all clear that they would go into cheesemaking at all. New Glarus’s rise to prominence as a…

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April 17, 2023

Swiss Immigration to New Glarus

For nearly a century, southeastern Wisconsin and especially Green County was a hotbed of Swiss immigration. Even though the immigration slowed dramatically in the early 1900s, the area still preserves a distinctive Swiss character. Visitors can attend the annual Cheese Days festivities…

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April 17, 2023

New Glarus / Food & Cooking / Object Histories / Ethnicity & Identity / Green County / Global Connections / 1860-1880 / Region 7 - South Center / Swiss Cheese Kettle

OBJECT HISTORY: Swiss Cheese Kettle

This cheese kettle, now held at the Swiss Historical Village in New Glarus, reflects Green County’s cheesemaking past. Made out of copper because of its ability to retain heat well and to be heated easily on an open fire, this cheese kettle…

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April 17, 2023

Read more about the article Platteville’s Mining History

The Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin, showing a Cornish miner right of the shield, circa 1881. Image ID: 91654. Wisconsin Historical Society

Grant County / Education / Related Stories / Platteville / 1820-1840 / 1840-1860 / Manufacturing & Trade / 1860-1880 / Nature & Environment / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / 1960-1980 / 1980-2000 / Region 6 - South West / 2000-2020 / 2020-2040 / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

Platteville’s Mining History

The Great Seal of the State of Wisconsin, showing a Cornish miner right of the shield, circa 1881. Image ID: 91654. Wisconsin Historical Society The Platteville lead boom spanned from 1827 to 1849, bringing diverse groups of people and the mining industry…

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December 21, 2022

Read more about the article Pleasant Ridge: Southwest Wisconsin’s Integrated Pioneer Community

Schoolhouse of District #5 in Pleasant Ridge. Both Blacks and whites built, attended, and taught at the school, circa 1890. Image ID: 4239, WI Historical Society.

Beetown / Grant County / Education / Iowa County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Pleasant Ridge / 1840-1860 / 1860-1880 / 1880-1900 / 1900-1920 / Politics, Society & Government / 1920-1940 / 1940-1960 / Region 6 - South West / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

Pleasant Ridge: Southwest Wisconsin’s Integrated Pioneer Community

Schoolhouse of District #5 in Pleasant Ridge. Both Blacks and whites built, attended, and taught at the school, circa 1890. Image ID: 4239, WI Historical Society. Pleasant Ridge was a rural agricultural community located near present-day Beetown in central Grant County that…

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December 21, 2022