Outagamie County was created in 1851 by separation from Brown County. The region was once the hunting and fishing grounds for several Native American tribes including the Menominee, Outagamie, and Winnebago. The county’s website notes the name Outagamie is derived from a Native American word meaning “dwellers on either shore” or “dwellers on the other side of the stream.”
In 1634, French explorer Jean Nicolet was the first European to the area. He soon was followed by French fur traders. One of those traders, Charles Grignon, in 1837 built his “Mansion in the Woods” as a wedding gift for his Pennsylvanian bride, Mary Elizabeth Meade. The oldest home in Outagamie County, the Grignon Mansion is now a popular tourist attraction.
Other important dates in Outagamie County’s history include the following:
- In 1838, Wisconsin Territorial Governor Henry Dodge asked Congress to approve the sale of 150,000 acres of land to fund improvements of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. Morgan L. Martin, a Congressional Delegate representing the Wisconsin Territory, envisioned a system of dams and locks that would allow commerce up and down the river.
- Lawrence University (Appleton), the second oldest co-educational college in the nation, was established in 1847.
- Outagamie County was officially established in 1851 by separation from Brown County.
- Thanks to Morgan Martin’s vision, the first wood pulp mill began operations in Appleton in 1871. Most of the paper mills on the Fox were converted flour mills, and product went to market on the waters of the Fox River and on newly built railroads.
- In 1877, the first telephone exchange in Wisconsin was established in Outagamie County.
- In 1882, the first hydroelectric central station in the United States began operation here, and in September of that year the Hearthstone House (Appleton) became the first home in the world lighted by a hydroelectric station. The Appleton Edison Light Company became the first organization in the world to commercially distribute electric power.
- The Town of Seymour, located in Outagamie County, claims to be the birthplace of the hamburger, in 1885.
- According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, on August 16, 1886, the Appleton Electric Street Railway Company began operation of the world’s first commercially successful electric street railway.
- In 1887, Frank Harwood and other prominent community leaders started the YMCA in Appleton.
- On November 14, 1908, future U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy was born near Appleton.
- What is now known as the Neenah-Menasha YMCA began in 1911 as the Young Women’s Club in a modest home providing rooms for rent and holding classes for women.
- In 1917, the first facility in the United States constructed exclusively for vocational education was completed – this was the forerunner to Fox Valley Technical College.
- In 1965, Outagamie County Airport (now Appleton International Airport) began operations in the Town of Greenville, just west of Appleton.
- The Fox River Mall, located in the Town of Grand Chute just west of Appleton, opened on July 18, 1984, with one anchor store, Sears, along with 67 other stores, a movie theater, and a Walgreens drugstore.
- Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region was established in 1986 with start-up funding from Walter L. Rugland.
- On May 25, 2000, the Boards of Directors for the Appleton and Neenah-Menasha YMCAs voted to consolidate under the corporate name of YMCA of the Fox Cities.
- In fall 2008, construction began on the new College Avenue Bridge in Appleton, replacing the nearly 50-year-old bridge.
Among the well-known people who called Outagamie County home were Pittsburgh Steelers star Rocky Bleier, actor Willem Dafoe, novelist Edna Ferber, escape artist Harry Houdini, and U.S. Senator Joseph McCarthy.
