Wisconsin 101

The Saratoga of the West: Resort Culture in the Waukesha Springs Era

Famed for its healing properties, the mineral spring water of Waukesha, Wisconsin grew widely popular during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Waukesha Springs Era (1868-1914) saw the rise of over 200 spring water companies and a robust resort culture.…

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February 20, 2023

Food & Cooking / Waukesha / Related Stories / Everyday Life / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / Manufacturing & Trade / Waukesha County / Nature & Environment / Science & Medicine / Region 8 - South East / Henk Mineral Spring Water Bottle

Nature’s Purest Drink: The Henk Mineral Spring Company

As a center of the mineral spring water industry in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Waukesha, Wisconsin, saw the rise of over 200 spring water companies during the period known as the Waukesha Springs Era. With over fifty mineral springs…

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February 19, 2023

Food & Cooking / Waukesha / Object Histories / Everyday Life / 1877-1900 / Nature & Environment / Waukesha County / Science & Medicine / Transportation & Tourism / Region 8 - South East / Henk Mineral Spring Water Bottle

OBJECT HISTORY: Henk Mineral Spring Water Bottle

Once a small prairie town, Waukesha, Wisconsin became known as Spring City during the late 19th century with the discovery and promotion of healing springs throughout the county. Through marketing and advertisement, Waukesha’s mineral spring water gained a reputation for its purity…

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February 19, 2023

Beetown / Grant County / Related Stories / Ethnicity & Identity / Iowa County / 1848-1877 / Pleasant Ridge / 1877-1900 / 1900-1918 / 1918-1945 / Society & Religion / Region 6 - South West / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

Pleasant Ridge: Southwest Wisconsin’s Integrated Pioneer Community

Pleasant Ridge was a rural agricultural community located near present-day Beetown in central Grant County that was founded in 1850 by formerly enslaved African Americans. Pleasant Ridge is unique in that it was one of the first fully racially integrated communities in…

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December 21, 2022

Eastern European Immigration to Wisconsin

Between the 1880s to the 1920s, a new wave of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe began to arrive in Wisconsin. The Eastern European immigrants included Poles, Czechs, Slovaks, Russians, Hungarians, and Bulgarians. Eastern European countries at this time struggled with overpopulation,…

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December 20, 2022

Grant County / Object Histories / Education / Industry / Platteville / Mining Industry / 1877-1900 / Manufacturing & Trade / Region 6 - South West / Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

OBJECT HISTORY: Ingersoll-Sergeant Pneumatic Rock Drill

The Ingersoll-Sergeant pneumatic rock drill stands in front of the Rountree Hall Apartments in Platteville, serving as an important symbol of Platteville’s mining history. The drill was manufactured by the Ingersoll-Sergeant Rock Drill Co. sometime between 1888 and 1905. Continued improvements in…

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December 13, 2022