Editing Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin (section)

==History==
Fort Atkinson was named after General [[Henry Atkinson (soldier)|Henry Atkinson]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n127 128]}}</ref> the commander of U.S. forces in the area during the [[Black Hawk War]] (1832) against a mixed band of [[Sauk people|Sauk]], [[Meskwaki]] and [[Kickapoo people|Kickapoo]] peoples. The city developed at the site of [[Fort Koshkonong]], which was used during that war. A replica of the original 1832 [[stockade]] has been built just outside town, although not at the original site. The fort was located to control the [[confluence]] of the Rock and [[Bark River (Rock River)|Bark]] rivers.

The settlement grew rapidly in the mid-19th century, after the migration of pioneers from the east, especially New York State and the northern tier. They were among the many migrants carrying New England Yankee culture west across the northern tier of states.<ref>[[David Hackett Fischer]], ''[[Albion's Seed: Four British Folkways in America]]''. 1989).</ref>

The history and natural history of Fort Atkinson and the surrounding area are presented at the [[Hoard Historical Museum]] and [[National Dairy Shrine]] Museum.<ref>[http://www.hoardmuseum.org Hoard Museum information]</ref> [[William Dempster Hoard]] founded the nationally distributed dairy farm magazine ''[[Hoard's Dairyman]]'' in Fort Atkinson in 1885. The museums include the Frank and Luella Hoard House, the Dwight and Almira Foster House, and the Knox Research Library and Archive. The Dairy Shrine portion of the complex portrays the past, present, and future of the dairy industry.

The oldest manmade features near Fort Atkinson are a cluster of prehistoric earthworks [[Native Americans in the United States|indigenous]] mounds just south of town. Early European settlers named them the General Atkinson Mound Group. The mounds are a remnant of the [[Woodland period|Woodland Period]] in present-day Wisconsin. They are [[Effigy mound|effigy]] and geometric mounds, different from the [[platform mound]]s at nearby [[Aztalan State Park]], built by peoples of the [[Mississippian culture]], which reached its peak around 1300. They had settlements throughout the [[Mississippi Valley]] and its tributaries, extending from central Illinois northward to the [[Great Lakes]] and also to the Southeastern United States.  Materials were traded within the culture from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. A {{convert|125|ft|m|adj=on}} long panther [[intaglio (burial mound)|intaglio]], the [[Panther Intaglio Effigy Mound]], appears on a mound west of town, the last remaining intaglio in the state.<ref>[http://www.wisconsinstories.org/2001season/native/nj_journey.html  "Indian Mounds"], Wisconsin Stories website<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Fort Atkinson's 19th- and early 20th-century building history is preserved in the [[Main Street Historic District (Fort Atkinson)|Main Street]] and [[Merchants Avenue Historic District|Merchants Avenue]] historic districts. Other [[National Register of Historic Places listings in Jefferson County, Wisconsin|Registered Historic Places]] include the [[Fort Atkinson Water Tower]], [[David W. and Jane Curtis House]], [[Hoard's Dairyman Farm]], and [[Jones Dairy Farm]].