Train Crash of 1859

Date in History: October 1859 In September of 1859 everyone in the county was celebrating the new Chicago-Northwestern railroad line that had just opened for service. This excitement quickly waned, however, after the first train wreck occurred just a month later. It...

First Telephone

When the first telephone was installed in Fort Atkinson in 1883, just seven years after its invention by Alexander Graham Bell, many thought it was a mere novelty. The phone was located in Dexheimer’s Drugstore on South Main Street and was linked to a telephone in...

Tchogeerrah

Date in History: 1917 The very first Fort Atkinson High School yearbook – the Tchogeerrah – was publishing in 1917. “In moments stolen from the classroom,” the editor reported, “we have wrought this book hoping that it may lighten the...

Sunday Night Dances

Date in History: 1927 The following article appeared in the September 9th, 1927 edition of the Jefferson County Union. “The dance hall committee of the Jefferson County Board of Supervisors met in the office of the District Attorney last week and agreed that...

The Settlement Cookbook

Date in History: 1900 In 1900, the Milwaukee Jewish Mission opened a settlement house to assist new immigrants to America. One of the more popular events held at the house was a class on the preparation of simple nutritional meals using American products. The women...

First High School

Date in History: 1866 – 1888 South High Street in Fort Atkinson has been the site of public schools for almost 150 years. In 1859, a cream brick two-story schoolhouse was built on the corner of South High Street and South Fourth Street. The lower level was a...
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