Wisconsin Gazetteer ~ F ~

Wisconsin Gazetteer, Containing the names, location, and advantages, of the Counties, Cities, Towns, Villages, Post Offices, and Settlements, together with a description of the Lakes, Water Courses, Prairies, and Public Localities, in the State of Wisconsin. Alphabetically arranged.

Notice. Names and descriptions prepared too late for their proper place, will be found in the Appendix.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

Fairfield, P. O., (Maxson's Mill), in town of Bradford, county of Rock, on section 13, town 2 N., of range 15 E. It is 14 miles southeast from county seat and 50 miles east of south from Madison. Population 100, 12 dwellings, 2 stores, 1 grist mill, and Presbyterian and Baptist denominations. It is on Turtle creek, 16 miles from Beloit, and on the county line between Rock and Walworth, 9 miles from the state line. The first settler was Joseph Maxson.

Fairplay, P. V., in Grant County, on section 25, in the town of Jamestown, town 1 N., of range 2 W., in a good mineral and farming district; 30 miles southeast from Lancaster, 12 miles northwest from Galena, 6 miles northeast from Dubuque, and 85 miles southwest from Madison. Population 800, with 110 dwellings, 2 stores, 2 hotels, 1 church and 3 religious denominations. A Roman Catholic college is located at this place.

Fair Plat, Diggings, on section 25, town 1 N., of range 1 W., in Grant County.

Fairwater, P. V., Fond du Lac County, on section 31, town 15 N., of range 14 E.; being in the town of Metomon, 22 miles west from Fond du Lac, and 65 miles northeast from Madison. It is situated on the road from Watertown to Ceresco and Berlin, in a fine and healthy section, of good farming land, on the north branch of Grand River. It has two good water powers, one of which is improved by a fine flouring mill; the other is unimproved, with 28 feet head, and sufficient water for three run of stone. Population 40, 5 dwellings, 1 store, and 1 hotel.

Fallen Rocks, on the Wisconsin, a few miles below Helena, in Iowa County, where the river has undermined the rocks about 200 feet long.

Fall River, P. V., Columbia County, in the town of Fountain Prairie, on section 26, town 11 N., of range 12; 25 miles east of southeast from Portage City, and the same distance north-east from Madison. It has an excellent water power, with a fall of 16 feet, on which is a good saw and flouring mill, being the best hydraulic power in the vicinity. Population 175, with 35 dwellings, 3 stores, 1 hotel, 2 mills, 3 religious denominations, and a good school house.

Falls of St. Croix, P. V., and C. H., on St. Croix River, in town 34, Polk County.

Falls of St. Croix, Town, in county of Polk, comprising the same.

Farmer's Grove, P. O., in town of York, Green County, being town 4 N., of range 6 E.

Farmersville, P. O., in Dodge County.

Farmington, Town, in county of Washington, being township 12 N., of range 20 E.; centrally located, 15 miles northwest from Ozaukee. Population in 1850 was 504. It has 9 school districts.

Farmington, Town, in county of Jefferson, being town 7 N., of range 15 E.; centrally located, 8 miles northeast from Jefferson. The population is 900. It has 6 school districts. The surface is rolling, with heavy timber and good springs, and small streams of water. The soil on the high land is mostly a clay loam, in the vallies a black, vegetable and sandy loam, with subsoil of clay. The timber is mostly maple, basswood, oak, elm, walnut, and ash.

Farmington, P. O., Jefferson County, on section 14 of town of same name, being town 7 N., of range 15 E.; 11 miles north-east from Jefferson, 88 miles east from Madison, midway between Milwaukee and Madison, via Aztalan and Concord.

Farwell's Addition to Madison, is on the northeast side of the Catfish, and is laid out into lots of an acre each, conspicuous to the business portion of the village.

Farwell's Mill, a small settlement on the Catfish River, near Madison. At this place is the best flouring mill in the State, with 8 run of stone; also a good saw mill, woolen factory, brewery, and several mechanical shops.

Fayette, P. V., La Fayette County, on section 8, town 3 N., of range 4 E.; 18 miles northeast from Shullsburg, and 50 miles southwest from Madison, in a good mineral region. Population 100, 30 dwellings, 2 stores, 2 mills, 1 hotel, and 1 Methodist and 1 F. W. Baptist denomination.

Fennimore, P. V., in town of same name, town 6 N., of range 2 W., Grant County.

Fennimore, Town, in county of Grant, being all south of the Wisconsin River of towns 6 and 7 N., of ranges 2, 3 and 4, and fractional town 8 N., of range 3 W. It is centrally located, 12 miles north from Lancaster. It has 9 school districts.

Fennimore Fork, River, a branch from the south of Blue River, Grant County.

Fevre, River, rises near Belmont, Lafayette County, and running southerly, through Galena, into the Mississippi, 7 miles below that place.

Fillmore, P.V., in town of Farmington, Washington County, being in 12 K, of range 20 E.

First, Lake, the lowest of the chain of Four lakes, in the towns of Dunn and Pleasant Springs, Dane County, 12 miles south-east from Madison. It has an area of five square miles.

Fish, Lake, a small lake in the northeast corner of Deerfield, Dane County.

Fisk's, Corners, P. V., Winnebago County, on section 11, town 17 N., of range 15; it is 8 miles from Oshkosh, and 90 miles from Madison. Population 600, 100 dwellings, and 2 hotels.

Fitchburg, P. V., in town of same name, formerly Greenfield, on section 83, town 6 N., of range 9 E. It is an excellent region of farming land, 10 miles south from Madison, on stage route to Janesville. It has 1 hotel, 2 stores, a school-house, meeting house, 3 religious denominations, 15 dwellings, and 80 inhabitants.

Fitchburg, Town, Dane County, town 6, range 9 E., late Greenfield.

Flambeau, Lake, in latitude nearly 46°, the outlet running north to nearly the state line, thence southwest into the Chippewa.

Fleming, Creek, a small tributary of Black River, from the south-east, into which it empties in town 18 N., of range 6 W.

Flora, Town, in county of Sauk; centrally located, northeast from Baraboo. It has 3 school districts.

Fond du Lac, County, is bounded on the north by Winnebago and Calumet, on the east by Calumet and Sheboygan, on the south by Washington and Dodge, and on the west by Marquette and portions of Dodge and Winnebago. Its name is derived from its locality, being at the "end of the lake." It was established December 7, 1836, and set off from Brown, to which it remained attached until March 11, 1839, when it was organized for county purposes. The seat of justice is at the city of Fond du Lac, at the head of Lake Winnebago. This county is generally well watered with springs, brooks, and small streams of pure water. The largest streams in the western part of the county are the two branches of the Bock River; one flowing eastwardly through the towns of Alto and Waupun, and the other rising in Metomon, and flowing southwardly through Springvale and the eastern part of Waupun. There are also the two branches of Fond du Lac River (the east and west); the one rising in the town of Rosendale, and passing through a portion of Eldorado and Lamartine, and the other (the east) rising from small streams and springs in the towns of Lamartine, Oakfield, and Byron, and passing through the town of Fond da Lac, unites with its west branch within the city, about a mile from lake Winnebago. There is also another beautiful stream, known as the Chrystal Creek, (or the Green lake inlet), passing west-wardly through the town of Ceresco into Marquette county, affording, at the villages of Ripon and Ceresco, some of the best water power in the county; and also Grand river, which rises and runs southwesterly through Metomon, affording excellent water power at the village of Fairwater. In the eastern and southern portions of the county are several small lakes and numerous streams, also affording good water power. The most northerly branch of the Milwaukee River rises in a small lake in the town of Eden, within about eight miles of Winnebago Lake, and flows southerly through the town of Auburn, where there are numerous water powers. Another fine stream rises in Dodge County, and flows east-wardly through the town of Ashford, and unites with the last mentioned stream near the south line of Auburn. The east branch of the Milwaukee River rises by separate branches in the towns of Empire and Forest, and flows through the town of Osceola, passing through Long Lake, and affording excellent water power at its outlet. It is worthy of remark that the lake in Eden, which gives origin to the Milwaukee River, is also the source of a small stream running northwardly into lake Winnebago, and is within a mile or so of the source of the Sheboygan River, which runs north and eastwardly through the towns of Forest and Kossuth; affording, also, more or less water power to those towns. In the northeast part of the county, in the town of Taycheedah, and within 3 miles of Lake Winnebago, arisen the southerly branch of Manitowoc River, which runs northeasterly through the town of Calumet into the county of that name. In addition to these, there are numerous small streams and branches of the above mentioned rivers, watering almost every portion of the county. Water powers are already improved in the city and town of Fond du Lac, in Ceresco, the village of Ripon, Metomon, Eldorado, Oakfield, Alto, Waupun, Ashford, Auburn, Osceola, Empire, and Forest. The soil of the county is somewhat diversified. The eastern and southeastern portions being mostly heavy timbered land, having a dark, rich soil in the bottoms, and fine gravelly ridges upon the swells. In the western portion, which is composed of small prairies and openings, and indeed in the whole open portion of the country, which comprises more than two-thirds of the whole area, the soil is an argillaceous loam, moderately mixed with sand and lime, resting on a thin layer of limestone much broken, and occasionally interspersed with knobs of drift gravel. Under-laying a considerable portion of the whole is a red sandstone, which occasionally outcrops in ravines. On many of the highest points of the prairies and openings, in the towns of Ceresco, Metomon, Waupun, Lamartine, Oakfield, Byron, Empire, Taycheedah, and Calumet, the limestone comes to the surface, affording the best of material for building and fencing; and in many places furnishing the most beautiful flagging stones of any thickness, from one inch to ten, of a texture nearly as fine and compact as marble. The face of the country is gently rolling, and from the quality of the soil, the county is well adapted to all the more northern productions of agriculture. The peculiar geographical position of this country, embracing nearly the southern half of Winnebago lake, which is connected with the great lakes by Fox river and Green Bay, and being within some thirty-five miles of lake Michigan, at Sheboygan, as well as the character of its soil, renders it one of the most important inland counties. Fond du Lac County forms a part of the fourth judicial circuit, and of the third congressional district It constitutes the twentieth senatorial district, and is divided into four assembly districts, as follows:
1st Ceresco, Metomon, Alto, Waupun, Springvale, and Rosendale.
2d, Byron, Eden, Osceola, Ashford, and Auburn.
3d. Eldorado, Lamartine, Oakfield, Friendship, Fond du Lac, and the city of Fond du Lac.
4th. Calumet, Forest, Taycheedah, Kossuth, and Empire.
The population in 1840 was 139; 1842, 295; 1846, 3,544; 1847, 7,459. Dwellings, 2,722; farms, 1,078; manufactories, 16. County Officers for 1853 and 1854: County Judge, C. M. Tompkins; Sheriff, Robert Jenkinson; Clerk of Court, John J. Driggs; Register of Deeds, Randolph Ebert; Clerk of Board of Supervisors, A. W. Paine; County Treasurer, O. S. "Wright.

Fond du Lac, Town, in county of same name, being town 15 N, of range 17 E. It is the seat of justice of the county. Population in 1850 was 2,016. It has 6 school districts.

Fond du Lao, City, see Appendix.

Fond du Lac, River, rises in Oakfield, Fond du Lac County, and runs northeast, emptying into Lake Winnebago, at Fond du Lac city.

Fort Atkinson, P. V., on section 3, town 5 N., of range 14 E., Jefferson County, being in the town of Koskonong, at the junction of Bark with Rock River. It is 6 miles south of Jefferson, and 32 miles southeast from Madison. It derives its name from General Atkinson, who built a temporary fort at this place during the Black Hawk war, hence its name. Population 350, with 70 dwellings, 8 stores, 3 hotels, 1 steam saw mill, 3 tailors, 2 shoe, 3 blacksmith, 2 cooper, and 1 cabinet shops. 1 Presbyterian and 1 Methodist church.

Fort Crawford, formerly a military station near Prairie du Chien, in Crawford County, about 540 miles above St Louis.

Fort Howard, formerly a military station at mouth of Fox River, see Fort Howard village.

Fort Howard, Village, is situated on the west side of the Fox River, near its mouth, opposite to the old town of Green Bay. The site of the village of Fort Howard was purchased and surveyed into village lots by Joel S. Fisk and the Hon. Urial H. Peak, in the spring of 1850, since which there has been a rapid growth and settlement of the place, and it bids fair to become one of considerable commercial importance. It derived its name from being situated immediately in the vicinity of Old Fort Howard, a military post of considerable notoriety. The village contains some four or five hundred inhabitants; it has several stores, three public houses, a large foundry and machine shop which gives employment to some thirty or forty workmen; there is also in the course of erection two steam saw mills, together with shops for various mechanical purposes. The soil on which the village is located is alluvial, on a clay subsoil, and is well adapted to gardening and the growth of fruit trees and shrubs; it possesses a back country of very considerable extent, which is rapidly filling up with an intelligent, industrious and go-a-head population; and although the pioneer settler is under the necessity of undergoing the fatigue and labor incident to the settlement and clearing up of a heavy timbered country, yet when it is brought under a state of proper cultivation it will not be stir passed by any section of the state in fertility of soil, and all the other appendages which make a country desirable for farming purposes.

Fort Winnebago, P. O., at the old military station of same name, at the Portage of Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, near Portage city.

Fort Winnebago, Town, in county of Columbia, being town 13 N., of range 9 E. Population in 1850 was 1,642. It has 11 school districts.

Forrest, Town, in county of Fond du Lac, being town 15 N, of range 19 E.; centrally located, 12 miles east from Fond du Lac. The population in 1850, as then organized, was 1,218. It has 8 school districts.

Fountain, Prairie, is the name of a large prairie south and west of Columbus, in Columbia County.

Fountain, Prairie, Town, in county of Columbia, being 11 N., of range 12 E.; centrally located, 23 miles from Portage city. The population in 1850 was 546. It has 5 school districts. This is an excellent farming town, and has a good water power at Fall River, with a mill capable of making 500 barrels of flour per week.

Fourth, Lake, adjoining and north and northwest of Madison, is the uppermost and largest of the Four Lakes. It has an area of nearly 16 square miles. Its diameter is 6 miles, and its periphery 19¼. It is also called Mendota.

Fowl, River, (Sand Creek), a tributary from the north of St. Croix River, in the west part of La Pointe County.

Fox, Lake, (Waushara), in town of same name, in northwest corner of Dodge County, is three miles long and two wide. It is of an oval form, and discharges its waters into the Crawfish River, through Beaver Dam creek.

Fox Lake, P. V., see Waushara.

Fox Lake, Town, (formerly Waushara), in county of Dodge, being north half of town 12, and town 13 N., range of 13 E.; centrally located, 14 miles northwest from Juneau. The population in 1850 was 856. It has 6 school districts.

Fox, River, of Illinois, (Pishtaka), rises in the north part of Waukesha county, and running south through the counties of Waukesha, Racine, and Kenosha, into the State of Blinds, discharges its waters into the Illinois river at Ottawa, LaSalle County.

Fox, River, of Green Bay, (Neenah), rises near the middle of the town of Randolph, being in the northeast corner township of Columbia County, runs southwesterly to the Portage, where its course is turned to the northeast, passing through extensive marshes, covered with wild rice. It enters on the west side of Lake Winnebago, at Oshkosh, and forms the outlet of the same lake, which it leaves on either side of Doty's island, Menasha on the north, and Neenah on the south, Below the lake it has a succession of rapids as far down as Depere, 7 miles above its outlet, into Green Bay.

Franklin, Town, in county of Milwaukee, being town 5 N, of range 21 E.; centrally located, 12 miles southwest from Milwaukee. The population in 1850 was 1,246. It has nine school districts.

Franklin, P. V., Milwaukee County, in town of same name, on section 7, town 5 N., of range 21 E., 12 miles southwest from Milwaukee, and 80 miles east from Madison. It is beautifully located, 2 miles south of the Milwaukee and Janesville plank road, and three miles northeast from Muskego Lake. Population 60; with 17 dwellings, 2 stores, and 2 hotels.

Fredonia, Town, in county of Washington, being town 12 N., of range 21 E.; centrally located, 9 miles northwest from Ozaukee. The population in 1850 was 672. It has 9 school districts.

Fredonia, P. O., in county of Washington, being town 12 N., of range 21 E.; centrally located, 9 miles northwest from Ozaukee.

Freedom, Town, in county of Outagamie, being all of said county, not included in the Oneida Reservation, in towns 22 and 23 N., of range 18 and 19 E; centrally located, 15 miles north east from Grand Chute. It has two school districts.

Freedom, Town, in county of Sauk, located west from Baraboo. It has 5 school districts.

Fremont, P. V., in Waupacca County, being on section 25, town 21 N., of range 13 E.; it is 11 miles southwest from Mukwa. Population 50; 12 dwellings, 2 stores, and 1 hotel. It is situated on the left bank of the Wolf River; is a steam boat landing, and the only feasible crossing on the river in the route from Menasha to Plover Portage.

French, Creek, in Columbia County, a small tributary of the Tax or Neenah River, from the east, in Port Hope.

French, Creek, a branch from the east of Little Platte River, in the towns of Paris and Smeltzer.

Friendship, Town, in county of Fond du Lac, being town 16 N., of range 17 E. The population is 415. It has 5 school districts.

Friendship, Town, in county of Fond du Lac, being town 16 N. f of range 17 E; centrally located, 6 miles north from Fond du Lac city.

Fulton, P. V., in town of same name, Rock County, on section 7, town 4 N., of range 12 E.

Fulton, Town, in county of Rock, being town 4 N., of range 13 E.; centrally located, 10 miles north from Janesville. The population in 1850 was 1828. It has 7 school districts.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y

Source: Wisconsin Gazetteer,  By John Warren Hunt. Madison: Beriah Brown, Printer, 1853

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