Oshkosh, Wisconsin, USA
Created | Updated Mar 3, 2006
The city of Oshkosh is named for a chief of the Menomenee people. In 1795 Chief Oshkosh was born, he became chief of the Menomenee Tribe at the age of 32. He died in 1858.
European fur traders settled in this area as early as 1818 including Robert Grignon who established a trading post on Lake Butte des Morts. He moved his trading post on to land which would eventually become part of the city in 1821. Mr. Grignon was the first white inhabitant. His relative Antoin in Kaukauna was married to a Native American (Not sure of her tribe.) woman who had been educated in France as a young lady. In 1839 the area residents decided to choose a name from these choices: Athens, Stanford, Oseola and Oskosh. The spelling of Oskosh was later changed to Oshkosh which means brave in Menomenee, one of the local native languages. In 1840 the post office was established by the U.S. government and John P. Gallup was the postmaster. 1842 Winnebago county is chartered. In 1848 Oshkosh whose population is over 2000 is named the county seat and Wisconsin becomes a state. 1850 Philetus Sawayer built a lumber company on the west side of the Fox River. The City of Oshkosh was incorporated in 1853. 1855 Paine lumber company is established. 1859 saw the railroad come through Oshkosh. By 1870 Oshkosh was the third largest city in the state with a popultion of over 12,000. In 1870 a huge fire burned most of downtown Oshkosh. Fires were common in those days of wood buildings.
Today Oshkosh is a small city of about 40,000. Oshkosh Truck, Leach Co., Oshkosh B'Gosh(overalls and children's wear), Buckstaff Furniture and Miles Kimball are among her many industries. Several industries have closed in the past decade that were related to wood and pulp products. The availability and cost of wood and pulp coupled with the cost of labor made those industries less than successfull compared to earlier times.
Like most cities built on waterways Oshkosh has many streets that change their name when they cross the Fox River which goes through town from Lake Buttes Morts to Lake Winnebago. Lake Winnebago is a large but shallow lake which is visible on weather satilite radar just south of Green Bay on Lake Michigan.
Every Summer in late July small air craft fly in to Oshkosh for the annual Experimental Aircraft Convention. Hotels fill up in the area and private homes make themselves available for the overflow. For one week Oshkosh develops a southern suburb by Whitman Airport and the air traffic rivals O'Hare International in Chicago. The best part of the show they have is usually the Stealth flying over or the War birds in formation. Quite a sight even if you don't go to the air shows.
One of the more interesting historical sights is the Oshkosh Public Museum. It is housed in the former home of Philetus Sawyer. There are displays of many types in the museum. One of the most fun to watch is the Apostles Clock, built by Matthias Kitz in the late eighteen hundreds. The clock had a large metal disk that plays music as the 12 apostles file out of the doors on one side, turn and nod to the figure of Christ and file into the doors on the other side. Judas turns away. The museum also has a miniature of the Paine Lumber company buidlings, many natural artifacts and an archives of city history, photos and art work. This museum is owned and run by the city of Oshkosh.
Across Congress street diagonally is the Paine Art center and Arboretum. This is more of a tribute to the Paine family and is run on a private trust. It is quite impressive to visit.
Oshkosh has several fine parks the largest being Menomenee Park on the shore of Lake Winnebago. Menomenee Park has a small zoo, a miniature train to ride on, a carousel and one or two other kiddie rides. There are several shelters you can reserve for family or business picnics. The fireworks for the 4th of July are alway done on Miller Bay's Island in Menomenee Park. This means that all the colors reflect in the bay around the island.
Oshkosh has one the the University of Wisconsin campuses. The school started as a State Normal School dedicated to preparing teachers. The first Kindergarten was started on campus and for many years (until around 1980)there was a campus school for teachers to do their student teaching at. Today it is one of the larger campuses in the system.
With a University comes a more diverse population than might have been so there are a wider variety of restaurants in the Fox Valley. Oshkosh has several Oriental restaurants with the typical buffet offered and two or three Mexican restaraunts. Lara's Tortilla Flats has been on Main Street for at least 30 years and offer a wide variety of Mexican foods, there are also some newer places, Mazatlan on the frontage road by Highway 41 and Mario's on 24th and Oregon St, near Oshkosh Truck Inc. Nearby on the north side of Appleton there is a lovely Indian restaurant called Sai Ram. They offer a daily lunch buffet and evening menus for finer dining. There is a vwery authentic German restaurant downtown Appleton called Old Bavarian. There is a Japanese Hibachi style restaurant called Nakashima just off HWY 41 outside Appleton as well. This is only a small list of the variety of cuisines available.
Fishing is a popular sport in the area with a wide variety of fish easily caught. Perch (recently overfished and not as available) Walleye, White Bass and Trout are common in several small lakes in the area with Lake Winnebago being know for it's Sturgeon spearing season in February each year. Hunting is also very popular with rabbits, ducks, canada geese and white tail deer the most common targets.
There are several area theatrical stages. the Weidner center at UW. Green Bay, Lawrence University offers musical and theatrical events, The Pickard Auditorium in Neenah and The Grand Opera House in Oshkosh. the Grand opera House is downtown and offers regular events like "Riders Radio theater", "The Chenelle Sisters" and many more.
North of Oshkosh about 3 miles along the shore of Lake Winnebago is Winnebago Mental Health Institute. This institution was founded in 1873. It's original name was Northern Wisconsin Hospital for the Insane. It is a 250+ bed residential hospital for the whole spectrum of illnesses of the mind. Patients are both forensic and civil cases and benefit from the beautiful park like grounds.
Oshkosh has a city sister in Nebraska which was established by a group who traveled from Oshkosh Wisconsin to homestead.
For more information you can go to www.oshkoshonthewater.com
