Historical Markers in
Dane County, Wisconsin

9XM - WHA A Grand Experiment A Living Room for Campus A Stage for All Adolf H. Kayser House Albion Academy Aldo Leopold House Alexander Smith House All about nets American Exchange Bank American House American Tobacco Co. Warehouses Andreas Dahl Anna and Cornelius Collins Residence Anton F. and Mary Kubicek Duplex Armory & Gymnasium B. B. Clarke House B.B. Clarke Badger State Shoe Factory Barry Alvarez Bashford House Baskerville Apartments Battle of Wisconsin Heights Bear Bear and Lynx Effigy Mounds Beecroft House Bellevue Apartments Belmont Hotel Bernard - Hoover Boat House Bernie's Beach Biederstaedt – Breitenbach Grocery Bird Effigy Bird Effigy Mound Black Bridge Black Hawk Black Hawk Blackhawk Country Club Mound Group Blue Mounds Fort Born in Madison, the Wisconsin Idea changed the nation Boutell House Bovre Congregation Bowen House Bradley-Sigma Phi House Braley House Breese J. Stevens House Breese Stevens Field Brigham Park Brittingham Boat House Buell House Bungalowen Burr Jones Field Burrows Park Camp Randall Capitol Square has long been the heart of the city Cardinal Hotel Carp for sale Ceramic Arts Studio of Madison Chamberlin Rock Charles Butz Store Chi Phi Fraternity Chi Psi Lodge City Horse Barn City Market Collins House Conical Mound Controlling Blood Clotting Corry Carriage House Crescent Street Factories, Mazomanie Blacksmiths, Coal Buildings Curtis-Kittleson House Cutter House Dane County Home David James Schaefer De Forest Centennial Dean House / Nathaniel Dean Delta Upsilon Fraternity House Derrick C. Bush House Dick-Eddy Buildings Discovering Vitamins and Trace Minerals Discovery of Vitamins A and B Disease-Resistant Plants Dogtown - Fish Hatchery School Dogtown - Fish Hatchery School Donald Park Doty School Dowling Apartments Dr. Robert Fassnacht Draper Brothers Block Drohman Farm Eagle Effigy Early Belleville / Library Park Early Social Whirl East Park Historic District East Side High School Eben and Rosaline Peck Edgewood Edna Taylor Conservation Park Edward Klief Park Eggiman House Eliminating Pellagra Ella Wheeler Wilcox Elliott House Elvers Corner Elvis Presley Fight Scene Ely House Emily Thompson House Ernie's Trading Post Father Adalbert Inama -- St. Norbert House Fess Hotel Festge Park Fire Station #4 First Chemical Synthesis of a Gene First Church of Christ, Scientist First Reliable Test of Milk Quality First Rural Free Delivery in Wisconsin Fish Camp Launch Forest Hill Cemetery Forest Hill Cemetery & Effigy Mound Group Forest Hill Soldiers' Lot Forging Agrarian Democracy Frank G. Brown House Frank J. Hess and Sons Cooperage / Frank J. Hess, Cooper Fuller & Johnson Manufacturing Co. Office Building Gates of Heaven Synagogue Gay Liberation Sculpture Genetically Superior Crops George Kalbfleisch, Jr. Farm House George Nichols Home - Circa 1878 George Soelch Investment House Georgia O'Keeffe German Valley Gilmore House Gisholt Machine Company Manufacturing Complex Glenwood Children's Park Global Vision Gloria Dei Evangelical Lutheran Church Goose Lake Governor Leonard Farwell lived here, in his octagonal mansion Grace Episcopal Church Greenbush Grimm Book Bindery Haney's Tavern Hans Christian Heg Harvey Hospital Hauge Log Church - 1852 Here was Madison’s first African-American neighborhood Heritage of the Hill Herman J. Loftsgordon House Hickory Hill House Hiestand Park Hiestand School Hirsig House Hocheera Hoffman - Kennedy Dairy Horse Barn Holy Redeemer Catholic Church Holy Redeemer School Building Hotel Loraine How to catch 30,000 carp Howard M. Temin Howard M. Temin Hoyt Park Hyer - Jaquish Hotel Illinois Central Depot / Fitchburg In Memory of Our Beloved Sons In Memory of Rev. Adalbert Inama, O. Praem. Indian Bird Effigy Mound Indian Lake Indian Lake Passage Indian Mounds Irene and Robert Connor Residence Italian Workmen's Club Jackman Building Jacobs House I James and Bridget Casserly House James Doris Farmhouse James Mears House Johann and Elsbeth Reiner Tree John A. Johnson made Madison's Factory District Flourish John A. Urich John F. Appleby John George Ott House John M. Olin John M. Olin John Mann House John Nolen Causeway Joseph Stoner House Keenan House Kendall House Kerl School Kessenich's Building Keyes House Keystone House King Street Arcade Kircher House Klose Cottage Koshkonong La Follette House Lake Harriet School Lake View School Lamb Building Larson House Law Park Leaders in Science Leitch House Lincoln in Wisconsin Lincoln School Lincoln Statue Lizard Effigy Mound Longfellow School Lougee House Lt. Gerald Stull USAF Luther Memorial Chapel Luther Memorial Evangelical Lutheran Church Lynch and Walker Flouring Mill Machinery Row Madison Candy Company Madison Catholic Clubhouse Madison Club Madison Gas & Electric Company Powerhouse Madison Hotel Madison is an Indian mound capital Madison Masonic Temple Madison Park & Pleasure Drive Association Maeder Building / Ellsworth Block Main Street Historic District Mansion Hill Historic District Marshall Academy and High School Mass Production of Penicillin Mattermore - Malaney House Maureen Mengelt Memorial Mazomanie Mazomanie Community Building Mazomanie Electric Power Plant Mazomanie Sand Barrens Mendota Middleton's Beginning Miller House Mills Brothers Commercial Building Milwaukee & Mississippi Railroad Depot Milwaukee Road Depot Mohr / Christoffer Block Monona Lake Assembly Normal Hall Monona’s Birthplace / Monona's History Morehouse House Mound City Nakoma Nathan Dane Nathan Dane Nathaniel Dean Farmhouse Natural Wonders Nelson House Nichols Station North Hall Olbrich Park Olbrich Park / Michael B. Olbrich Olbrich's Thai Pavilion and Gardens Old Governor's Mansion Old Halfway Prairie Old Military Road - 100 Mile Point Old Spring Hotel Old Spring Tavern Old Town Olin Terrace Olin-Turville Park Olson and Veerhusen Building / Hobbins Block On the Air Orpheum Theater Orton Park Orton Park Otis Redding Otto Schroeder House Our Bell Outdoor markets are a Madison tradition Panther Mound Paoli Pat Richter Patrons' Mercantile Co-op Paunack Park Peck Cabin Peculiar Corners Period Garden Park Pheasant Branch Encampment Phi Gamma Delta House Philip Schoen Building Pierce House Pioneer Men and Women Pioneer Scottish Settlement Pioneering Bacterial Genetics Pioneering Human Genetics Plough Inn Preventing Endemic Goiter Primrose Lutheran Church Quisling Towers Apartments Rasmus Björn Anderson Reform and Revolt Reindahl Memorial Park Revolutionary War Veteran Revolutionizing Animal Reproduction Riley House Robert E. Gard Memorial Storyteller's Circle Robert Lamp House Robert M. La Follette Home Robert M. La Follette: The Early Years Robert Marion La Follette, Sr. Rockdale Mill Royal Airport / Charles Lindbergh Sauthoff House Schmidt's Auto, Inc. Schubert Building Schumacher Farm Science Hall Scientific Approach to Agriculture Seasons of Fish Camp Securing the Future Sheepskin School Sherman Avenue Crossing Shipley-Shuttleworth House Site of Blue Mounds Fort Site of Former Greenbush Cemetery Burials Site of the First Well in DeForest Sixth Ward Public Library Smith and Lamb Block Smith-Ogg House Spirit of Greenbush Springdale Lutheran Church Springhaven Pagoda St. Bernard's Catholic Church St. Mary of the Oaks St. Patrick's Church St. Raphael's Frenchtown Cemetery Stang-Wirth House Starkweather's Harried History State Historical Society State Office Building Steensland Bridge Steensland Bridge Steensland House Steinle Turret Machine Co. Stephen Moulton Babcock Sterling North Stoughton Suhr Bank Building Suhr House Swan Pond Tenney Park Tenney Park Tenney Park Lock and Dam Terrace Homes Apartments The American Character The Big Church on the Hillside The Branch Line The De Forest Depot The Fairchild Home The First Dance The Flag on the Bluff The Greenbush The Land Ethic The Lemcke Farm House The Lewis Nine Springs E-Way / Philip and Elizabeth Lewis The Matz Farmstead The Mazomanie Depot The Mazomanie Downtown Historic District The McCoy Farmhouse The Monona Mound The Nurses Dormitory The Outlet Mound The Plain Good Building of Cross Plains The Power of Ideas The Railroad in Mazomanie The Ringling Brothers The School of Pharmacy The Second Herbert and Katherine Jacobs House The Stamm House The Story of the Pink Elephant The Temperance Movement Battled Madison''s Breweries The Train Wreck of 1906 The Turntable, The Engine House, The Water Tower The Wisconsin Granger Movement Third Lake Third Lake Passage This Cabin... / Esta Cabaña... This city was planned in 1836 Thomas / Hill Grocery and Residence Thorstrand Timothy and Katherine McCarthy House Timothy Brown House Token Creek Token Creek Sedge Meadow Trail Too many carp Toward Revolution / 1970's Vision Tragedy of War Treatment of Iron Deficiency Anemia Turtle Effigy U.S. Post Office and Courthouse Understanding Immunity Unitarian Meeting House University Creek Group University of Wisconsin Dairy Barn University of Wisconsin Field House University of Wisconsin-Madison Arboretum University Presbyterian Church and Student Center Van Slyke House Vermont Creek Vietnam War protesters and police clashed here Vilas Village of McFarland Vitamin D Production Ends Rickets Voluntarios Internacionales de la Libertad Warner Park Washington Grade and Orthopedic School Way of the Cross at Cathedral Place Welcome to the Edgewood Park and Pleasure Drive West Koshkonong Lutheran Congregation What would you have seen here 14,000 years ago? Wiedenbeck-Dobelin Warehouse Willett S. Main Building Winterbotham Building Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation Wisconsin Heights Battlefield Wisconsin State Capitol Wisconsin Wagon Company Factory Wollersheim Winery Woman's Building Wootton - Mead House Working at Fish Camp World-famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright called Madison his hometown Yahara River Yahara River Parkway Yahara River Parkway "Elmside" "Let The Great Spirits Soar"
The first kindergarten in the United States was started in Watertown, Wisconsin in 1856 by a German immigrant named Margarethe Meyer Schurz.
Dane County, Wisconsin, has a rich history that dates back thousands of years. Before European settlers arrived, the area was inhabited by various Native American tribes, including the Ho-Chunk (Winnebago) and the Menominee. These tribes relied on hunting, fishing, and farming for their livelihoods and had established communities in the region.

In the early 1800s, European settlers began to arrive in what is now Dane County. The first permanent settlement was established in the present-day city of Madison in 1829 by James Duane Doty, who would later become the first territorial governor of Wisconsin. Doty selected the location for its strategic position between the Four Lakes region and the established lead mining communities to the southwest.

In 1836, the Wisconsin Territory was created, and the territorial capital was moved from Belmont to Madison, making it the center of government for the region. The construction of the Wisconsin State Capitol building began in 1837, solidifying Madison's status as the capital of the newly formed state of Wisconsin in 1848.

Throughout the 19th century, Dane County experienced significant growth and development. The construction of railroads in the mid-1800s brought increased transportation and commerce to the region. Agriculture, particularly dairy farming, became a major industry, and the county became known for its production of milk and cheese.

In the 20th century, Dane County continued to grow as the University of Wisconsin-Madison became a prominent educational institution and the state's flagship university. The county also became a center for government, healthcare, and technology, with the establishment of government agencies, hospitals, and tech companies. Today, Dane County is known for its vibrant culture, beautiful natural landscapes, and thriving economy.

This timeline provides a concise overview of the key events in the history of Dane County, Wisconsin.

  • 1836: Dane County is established and named after Nathan Dane, a Massachusetts lawyer.
  • 1848: Wisconsin becomes a state, with Madison selected as the capital of both the state and Dane County.
  • 1850s: Railroads are built in the county, leading to increased trade and economic growth.
  • 1861-1865: Many residents from Dane County serve in the Civil War.
  • 1870s: The University of Wisconsin-Madison is established, becoming a major educational institution in the county.
  • 1880s: Urbanization and industrialization lead to the growth of Madison's economy.
  • 1930s: The Great Depression hits Dane County and the rest of the United States, causing significant economic hardships.
  • 1950s-1970s: Urban growth, suburbanization, and the expansion of the University of Wisconsin-Madison contribute to the county's population growth.
  • 1992: Construction of the Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center in Madison is completed.
  • 2000s: Dane County experiences steady population growth and becomes known for its vibrant arts, culture, and outdoor recreational opportunities.