On March 1, 1838, Fanna Pier, the first white woman to live in Fond du Lac County, died at the age of 30 after a short illness. Her death was the first of a white person in the county. This plot of high ground was selected for the burial two days later. The eleven remaining pioneers in the county attended the funeral officiated by Rev. Cutting Marsh, missionary to the Stockbridge Indians. After arriving in Green Bay from Vermont in 1834, Fanna's husband, Colwert, and his brother, Edward, checked out land as far away as southern Illinois for the purpose of settling and farming. On February 16, 1836, they left Green Bay by horse and sled to look over land at the foot of Lake Winnebago. They traveled mostly on the ice up the Fox River, down the east shore of the lake and up the Fond du Lac River, reaching the center of the present-day city of Fond du Lac by noon on the 17th. They liked what they saw and returned to Green Bay to purchase land. Colwert returned in late May and settled down becoming the first white settler in Fond du Lac County. Fanna joined him June 6, 1836. From that date until March 11, 1837, when the Edward Pier family arrived, Colwert and Fanna were the only white residents in Fond du Lac County. Colwert was later buried here with other early settlers.

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Located in Section 22 on a small family plot, the Pier Cemetery contains the natural remains of the first pioneer settlers of Fond du Lac, starting with the passing of Fanna (Kendall) Pier, wife of Colwert E. Pier in 1838. It is also the burial ground for Pier, the first permanent white settler who helped build the Fond du Lac House in 1836. This small cemetery also contains the remains of Kate (Hamilton) Pier who came to Wisconsin at the age of 8. She graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1888, becoming the second female lawyer in Wisconsin, and the first to serve as a Circuit Court Commissioner. Colonel Colwert K. Pier served in the Civil War.

Pier Cemetery

The Fond du Lac Loop is a 16-mile bicycle and pedestrian pathway designed to facilitate a safe, healthy, enjoyable way for community members to explore our beautiful city and to provide for a cost effective alternative system of transportation.  The beauty of a Loop system is that it provides easy accessibility for Fond du Lac residents. The length is a perfect distance for an after-work bike ride/walk/run with lots of alternative ways to shorten or lengthen the journey. Additionally, The Loop allows people from different parts of town to rendezvous and continue to journey together.

The original plans called for an octagon-shaped building which is 30 feet tall, topped with a 12 foot flagpole which was later removed. The building architect was Hiram P. Thompson. The platform is elevated to eight feet with a liberal amount of ornamentation such as beaded posts, brackets, and scroll work. A protective railing was built around the platform. Original access to the platform from the ground level is located inside the building via a stairway and a trap door. At a later date, an outside stairway was constructed for easier access to the platform. Sunday afternoons were popular times for the people of Fond du Lac to meet around the bandstand and enjoy a concert by the Military Band of the City, and it was eventually named in honor of Joseph Schmitz, who conducted many concerts there. The May 30, 1959 issue of the Saturday Evening Post drew national attention to the Bandstand when it featured a color photograph and short article about it. This brought a request from the mayor of New Berlin, New York, for the plans of the bandstand, but it is not known if a copy of the bandstand was made.

In the early 1900s, local citizens of Fond Du Lac started an effort to construct this bandstand at Lakeside Park. William McDermott, a well-known resident of Fond du Lac, provided the city with funds to build this structure which has been well-preserved. The Fond du Lac Historic Preservation Commission designated the bandstand as a local historic site in 1991.

Lakeside Park Bandstand

The Supple Marsh adjoins Lake Winnebago which has long been regarded as an excellent haven for fish and game. The Winnebago Native Americans fished and hunted in the marsh years before the settlers came. As the years progressed and the population grew, hunters and anglers came to the marsh to hunt and fish for profit, sport, and food. As its popularity grew, the state leased the area as private duck hunting ground and later leased as one of the best areas for mallard, Black duck, teal, and muskrat hunting. On March 25, 1929, Mathias Supple purchased the marsh from the Wisconsin Central Land Co., the holding firm for the Soo Line Railway. The Supple family started a fur farm here in 1932, harvesting as many as 6,000 muskrats in one year. The family also worked as ice merchants, cutting large ice blocks during the winter months to be stored in a Water Street warehouse. From there, the Supple ice trucks would deliver the blocks throughout the city for refrigeration needs and use by the railroad. In 1967, the City of Fond du Lac acquired the marsh from the Supple family. Hunting and trapping are no longer allowed, as Supple's Marsh has become a nature conservancy for all to enjoy.

Supple Marsh is a 107 acre wetland in Lakeside Park. Named for the original owners, the Supple Family, the DNR states that the marsh was probably formed
during the retreat of a glacial ice sheet. As the ice retreated, gravel and rocks were deposited, forming a large lake called Glacial Lake Oshkosh. Centuries later, this lake became known as Lake Winnebago.

Supple Marsh

The 30-room mansion was the "farmhouse" of the Galloway family for three generations. In addition to farming, Galloway family pursuits included the Moore Galloway Lumber Company, Savings Bank of Fond du Lac, political offices, award-winning dairy, and cold storage. Originally a simple cabin when purchased from Selim Newton, one of the county's first highway commissioners, ornate additions by the Galloways turned the house into a showplace of gracious living and entertaining. The hand-carved woodwork of the staircase and exterior details was supervised by William Heathcote, a retired church architect and well-known woodworker, who oversaw the woodworking on Pullman cars for the Northwestern Railroad. The interior pine was milled at the Galloway's own lumber company. Etched glass is seen in all of the first floor doors and ruby etched glass in the doors of the second floor hall. The hand-stenciled ceilings were painted, and the wallpapers were most likely all hung by Jacob Thomsen, a contracting decorator and later owner of Thomsen Decorating Company of Fond du Lac. Both Newton and Galloway were originally from Lewis County, New York. James D. Doty, the second governor of the Territory of Wisconsin, encouraged Newton to move to Fond du Lac (Doty chose the site for the city as well as the capital, Madison). Doty convinced Edwin H. Galloway to move to Fond du Lac as well. The house remained in the Galloway family until 1955 when his grandson, Edwin P. Galloway, at the urging of his sister Theresa Galloway Ebernau, donated the home to the Fond du Lac County Historical Society.

The Galloway House is a historic home located in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, part of the Historic Galloway House and Village, which is operated by the Fond du Lac County Historical Society. The original portion of a simple house was built ca. 1846 by Selim Newton until Edwin H. Galloway purchased the home in 1868. Galloway hired Newton's son-in-law, Thomas H. Green, as the architect for each of the additions up to the final one in 1880. The house is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (1976) and is a good example of Victorian Italianate architecture.

Galloway House

The land started out as a family burial ground for the Tallmadge family, but when William Davies Tallmadge, the 19 year old son of territorial Governor Nathaniel P. Tallmadge died in 1845, Gov. Tallmadge decided to donate 8.5 acres of his land for the of a public cemetery. In the weeks leading up to his death, William selected the name for the family plot and his burial place. Rienzi Cemetery serves as the final resting place for over 1,000 veterans including Civil War General Edward Bragg and many early, local settlers including Nathaniel Tallmadge and Dr. Mason Darling, often referred to as the Father of Fond du Lac.

The name Rienzi may come from the last Roman tribute—Cola di Rienzi—a popular Italian leader who believed he could help restore ancient Rome’s greatness, or it may be named for an 1840 opera by Wagner. Rienzi Cemetery is one of the oldest local cemeteries, three years before Wisconsin achieved statehood. 

Rienzi Cemetery

In 1931, work began on the Wisconsin Prison for Women, located adjacent to the Industrial Home. The facility was completed and opened in 1933, and the women housed in Waupun were transferred. The two facilities operated separately on the same grounds until 1945, when they were consolidated as the Wisconsin Home for Women. In 1975, the legislature officially changed the name to Taycheedah Correctional Institution. TCI is now a maximum and medium-security facility for adult female offenders. The historic Doty House is also located inside the grounds, and is used for the extended visit program which allows incarcerated mothers to spend time with their visiting children in a residential setting.

In the early 1850s, female offenders were housed in the state prison known today as Waupun Correctional Institution. In 1912 work began for a facility in Taycheedah and in 1921 the Wisconsin Industrial Home for Women was opened. The first inmates were mostly committed for “crimes against morality,” while repeat and more violent or serious offenders continued to be housed in Waupun.

Taycheedah Correctional Institution

James Doty held one of the original land grants issued for the Wisconsin Territory and became owner of the site in 1836. He lived in the house from 1839-1843. Doty founded the Town and Village of Taycheedah and was responsible for platting the City of Fond du Lac. He served as territorial governor of Wisconsin from 1841 to 1844. The Doty House is located inside the Taycheedah Correctional Institution grounds and is not accessible to the public. The home and a playground is utilized for the extended visit program which allows incarcerated mothers to spend time with their visiting children in a residential setting.

The Doty House, also known as “The Homestead,” was built in 1839 and is possibly the oldest structure in Fond du Lac County. The house was built of square logs with plastered interior walls. The interior still retains the random-width plank flooring, narrow steps to the loft, and exposed (tamarack) tree trunk beams in the basement.

Doty House

In 1887, the company was sold to Minneapolis parties who planned to relocate the firm to Minnesota. The building was purchased in 1890 by the Gurney Refrigerator Company, which was organized in Oshkosh and moved to Fond du Lac after a fire burned the Oshkosh factory. In 1901 a fire burned down expansions from 1895 and all that remained with the original three-story building. The expansions were rebuilt within six month. By 1890 the company was moved to Superior, Wisconsin. In 1922 a 60’x140’ three-story addition was built. A 1910 newspaper indicates the firm employed 200 hands, manufactured more than 200 styles of refrigerators (as well as custom orders) sent throughout the United States. Gurney was a successful company, but did not survive the Great Depression, closing between 1934 and 1936.

The south portion of this building was built for LaBelle Wagon Works which was founded in 1869 as Farnsworth, Knapp and Co. In 1874, interest in the company was purchased by Benjamin F. Moore and A.G. Ruggles and the business expanded. As of 1874, the company produced 3,000 wagons annually; in 1880, a county history identifies that 200 workers were producing 20 wagons a day.

Gurney Refrigerator Co.

Nehrbass was then purchased by the Northern Casket Company, which had been taken over by William A. Mauthe of Fond du Lac (the owner of William Mauthe Furniture). In 1917, land was purchased in order to expand the factory to include a facility for metal working, as the company had recently developed a non-corrosive, sheet steel and statuary work casket and a three-story factory addition was added in 1919. The Northern Casket Company (headed by Mauthe until his death in 1942 and then by his son Armin) closed between 1962 and 1963. The building stood vacant for a year before Wells Manufacturing Company purchased the building and utilized it for their engineering department while manufacturing automotive ignitions, replacement parts and fuel pumps. The property is listed on both the State and National Historic Registers.

According to a 1917 city directory, the Northern Casket Company was incorporated in 1872, with a capital stock of $400,000. In 1906, the structure was operating as the Nehrbass Casket Company, having acquired the building which had been used for a few years as a canning company, and improvements were made to the original two-story building. 

Northern Casket Co.

After the waning of the lumber industry, the firm moved into the production of other types of machine tools for the booming factory business in the country; manufactured lampposts and catch basins for the City of Fond du Lac; and was contracted, first by the British, then later by the American government to manufacture shell lathes during World War I. During the 20th century, the company grew and expanded its product line under the guidance of the Rueping family who now owned the company. After the Great Depression and World War II the company continued to expand and diversify. In 1994, Giddings &amp; Lewis ranked as the largest North American industrial automation and machine tool company and one of the largest firms in the world, Theissen/Trekker. It was acquired by the Paris-based Fives Group in 2013 and was renamed Fives Giddings &amp; Lewis.

Giddings & Lewis began in the mid-nineteenth century when John Bonnell opened a machine shop to provide services to the booming lumber industry in Fond du Lac. In 1866, the company added a foundry and named the firm Novelty Iron Works. By the turn of the century, George Giddings and O.F. Lewis had acquired the firm, naming it Giddings & Lewis Manufacturing Company and making sawmill machinery and steam engines.

Giddings & Lewis

This building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places as a fine example of the Gothic Revival style of church architecture. The parapeted roofs, buttresses, and gothic-arched openings are all elements of the style. This rambling church is well-built and is typical of early twentieth century Gothic Revival church design. The building incorporates the coloration and proportion of Craftsman design with the ornamental and structural features of Gothic tradition. The interior is still virtually intact: the Estey organ (purchased with a matching grant from Andrew Carnegie), baptistery, pews, and entire Sunday School with its gallery, chalkboards, and curtain partitions remain as they were in 1907. The congregation moved to a smaller structure in 1980.

The First Baptist Church of Fond du Lac was organized in 1845 and joined with the People’s Church, an unaffiliated body, in 1905. With the increase in size the congregation had to construct a new building to accommodate families and over 500 Sunday School attendees. This locally and nationally designated structure is an example of early 20th century Neo-Gothic design. 

First Baptist Church

This historic passenger depot, located between Forest Avenue and Second Street, was built in 1890 and was enlarged shortly thereafter. The depot was built to replace the previous depot at Division Street. As the railroad system and Fond du Lac grew, this depot averaged 46 passenger trains and 54 freight trains daily. All passenger services ceased in 1975, and the depot was unused except for its telegraph office. The depot is a classic example of railroad architecture and stands as a monument to the railroading era of the past century. The Chicago &amp; Northwestern Depot was designated a historic landmark in 1975 by the City of Fond du Lac.

This depot was constructed in 1890 and operated until the mid-1970s. The Northwestern system began in the Village of Fond du Lac on July 10, 1851, with the construction of the Rock River Valley Union Railroad. The C&NW and other railroads were deeply connected to the growth of area communities and the depot has been restored thanks to the efforts of local citizens and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

Fond du Lac Loop Bike Tour

Pier Cemetery

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Backstory and Context

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