About Kaukauna

HISTORY OF KAUKAUNA
(Information Obtained from City of Kaukauna Budget Book)

Kaukauna is one of Wisconsin's oldest communities. The first white explorer to see Kaukauna was Jean Nicolet, who pushed his birch bark canoe up the Fox River from Green Bay in search of a water passage to the Orient. Nicolet made allies with the Winnebago Indians that he found in the region. Trappers, hunters, missionaries, and merchants soon followed with additional expeditions to the new territory.

Because travelers had to carry their boats and cargoes over the three waterfalls at what is now Kaukauna, that spot was destined by nature to become a way-station and settlement on this important waterway. When Father Claude Allouez paused there on April 18, 1670, he noted in his journal, "we passed the portage called by the natives KeKaling, our sailors dragged the canoe among the rapids: while I walked on the Riverbank, where I found apple trees and vine-stocks in great numbers."

Thousands of bales of furs were carried over the KeKalin Falls during the ensuing fur trading period and log dwellings were erected at the site to house the portagers and travelers. By 1760, Charles de Langlade had a fur trading post at the falls.

Dominique Ducharme was the first permanent white settler and built a substantial log house in 1790 in KeKalin (Kaukauna) and began trading with the Menomini and Chippewa Indians. At the time, 1,500 Indians lived in the village of Kaukauna.

The north side of the City was the first to be settled, with Dominique Ducharme's land deed of 1793. The Ducharme deed was Wisconsin's first recorded deed in which he obtained several hundred acres of land for the initial payment of two barrels of rum. In 1818, Augustin Grignon moved from Green Bay to take up residence in Kaukauna on a government grant of 1,000 acres of land on the lower rapids. On this property, but closer to the river, Augustine's son Charles built the "Mansion in the Woods" in 1837. The Charles A. Grignon Home is the oldest home in Outagamie County and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

A settlement known as Statesburg began on the south side of what is now Kaukauna. The Stockbridge tribe had fought on the side of the Americans in the Revolutionary War, and were rewarded with western land to be held with the native American groups already in the area.

In 1831, a new series of American treaties resulted in the relocation to the Stockbridge settlements. The departure of the Stockbridge from Statesburg substantially reduced the population. The Grignons were left in the wilderness in the company of a small group of French farmers.

Two factors led to immediate growth: the 1836 Treaty of the Cedar opened the Fox Valley settlement through U.S. territorial land offices, and George W. Lawe arrived in 1850 to create the first plat on the north side of town. The plat of about 17 blocks created the "diagonal" French-oriented street system which still prevails on the near north and south sides of Kaukauna.

A small north side business district developed during canal building activities in the 1850's. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad's north side line encouraged local industry such as flour milling and lumber processing in the 1860's and 1870's, but before 1880, the north side remained a modest settlement and the south side had reverted to scattered farms.

The second railroad boom of the 1880's brought Irish and German workers who created the south side Village of Ledyard. In 1881, Milwaukee Lakeshore and Western Railroad relocated its district office from Manitowoc to Kaukauna's south side. First Street was vacated and the railroads sprang up. Company housing for the railroad workers was developed in the south central area known as "Yankee Hill."

In 1885, the Village of Ledyard joined with the north side to form the City of Kaukauna. The 1880's railroad developments coincided with the creation of new water power canals to supply Kaukauna industry. The men who built the railroad and power canals stayed to create the paper industry which is so important to Kaukauna today. The construction of five municipal hydroelectric generating plants gave Kaukauna its nickname, "The Electric City."

Today, the City of Kaukauna is a growing community of 15,519. The City has its own Police, Fire and Rescue service available to our residents. Kaukauna is well-maintained with regular garbage collection, street cleaning, well-lit and well-paved streets and other services vital to keeping our community safe and attractive. Kaukauna boasts a 350 acre Industrial Park Network, complete with rail and heavy truck access. Kaukauna also affords its residents with numerous recreational opportunities such as the Historic Grignon Mansion, the 1000 Islands Environmental Center, fourteen private parks, eight sports fields, a public swimming pool, Downtown Farmers Market, and a public library. With such a variety of activities available, it should not come as a surprise that Kaukauna is also known as "The Friendly City."

SOURCES:
Walking Tour Through Old Kaukauna, Dept. of Planning and Community Development, City of Kaukauna (1983).

Charles A. Grignon Mansion Pamphlet, Outagamie County Historical Society (1988).