Editing Waupun, Wisconsin (section)

==History==

===Founding===
Waupun was founded in 1839 by [[Seymour Wilcox]], the first settler along the Rock River in what was then deciduous forested land. Wilcox chose the land on recommendation of John Bannister, the first surveyor of Fond du Lac County, who reported to the government office in [[Green Bay, Wisconsin|Green Bay]] that "the Rock River Valley was the most beautiful and fertile he had ever seen."<ref name=":0">''The First Hundred Years: A History of Waupun, 1839-1939''. Scott, Edith Moul, 1939.</ref> Wilcox surveyed the land himself in late fall of 1838, returning to Green Bay for the winter. In February 1839 he returned to the plot he laid out accompanied by two men, John N. Ackerman and Hiram Walker, who were interested in the powerful river and fertile land. They quickly nailed together a shanty to four bur oaks and began building a suitable cabin for the Wilcox homestead. Leaving Ackerman and Walker to finish, Wilcox returned to Green Bay to bring his family to their new home. They reached Waupun on March 20, 1839.<ref>''The Early History of Waupun''. Hermann, Agnes E., 1916.</ref>

Waupun comes from the Ojibwe word "Waubun" which means "the east," "the morning," "the twilight of dawn" and "dawn of day."<ref>{{cite web|url=http://parkrapids.com/neighborhoods/waubun.htm|work=Tamarac National Wildlife Rescue|publisher=Park Rapids Chamber|access-date=23 March 2014|title=Waubun Minnesota Vacation Destination}}</ref> Waupun was originally supposed to be named "Waubun" but the state of Wisconsin made a spelling error, and Waupun never bothered to change it.{{citation needed|date=October 2020}} An adjacent town with the same name was changed along with the village.

===Early history===
The first town election took place in 1842 at the Wilcox home; eleven votes were cast. When the village charter was ratified 15 years later, 323 votes were cast in the first election. Because of the steady growth of the village, a city charter was granted on March 15, 1878. John N. Ackerman was elected as the first city mayor.<ref name=":0" />

In 1851, the city was chosen for the State Penitentiary, owing to the abundance of limestone for construction. The main building, constructed in 1854, is still in use.

The Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad reached Waupun in 1856. It was sold to the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway June 23, 1863.  This company eventually became the [[Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad]], known as "The Milwaukee Road", which served Waupun until 1980, when the line was sold to the state of Wisconsin and became the [[Wisconsin & Southern Railroad]].<ref>August Derleth. ''The Milwaukee Road: Its First Hundred Years''. New York: Creative Age Press, 1948.</ref>

The Waupun Library Association was established in 1858 through the efforts of William Euen and [[Edwin Hillyer]]. Hillyer ran the library out of his insurance office for 37 years without pay. In 1895, the city took ownership of the library, appointing a new library board which included Edwin Hillyer and Lucius D. Hinkley. When the city took ownership, it was soon moved to a side room in the Whiting Theater, which became the Davison Theater while still housing the library. In 1900, through the fundraising efforts of the Waupun Women's Club, it became a free public library. The [[Waupun Public Library|Waupun Carnegie Library]], now Waupun Heritage Museum, was built in 1904 with a $10,000 grant from [[Andrew Carnegie]].<ref name=":0" /> A new library building was built in 1968 and is the current Waupun Public Library.

The territorial census in 1847 showed the Town of Waupun to have a population of 956. The 1875 Wisconsin census showed the village of Waupun to have a population of 1,867.<ref>''[https://books.google.com/books?id=SQ0rAQAAMAAJ&q=The+History+of+Dodge+County,+Wisconsin The History of Dodge County, Wisconsin]''. Western Historical Company, 1880.</ref>

===Second World War===
In 1945 Waupun, was selected for the site of a German POW camp. Despite public opposition, the camp was constructed next to the canning factory, south of Doty Street. The prisoners were brought to Wisconsin to relieve deficits of manpower in the area factories and farms. There were about 200 POWs at the Waupun camp who were assigned to work either for Canned Foods Inc. in Waupun or Stokely Foods in [[Brandon, Wisconsin]].<ref>''The First One Hundred Fifty Years: A History of Waupun, Wisconsin, 1839 to 1989''. James Laird, 1989.</ref>