Dodgeville

Dodgeville may refer to:

Dodgeville, Wisconsin

Dodgeville is a city in and the county seat of Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,693 at the 2010 census, making it the most populous city in the county. Dodgeville is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. Its sister city is Oakham, Rutland, United Kingdom.

History

In 1827, Henry Dodge, his family, and about 40 miners began what would become the city of Dodgeville. Dodge made a pact with the local Winnebago Indian leaders so he could build a cabin and smelter. The original community was made up of three separate settlements: "Dodgeville", "Dirty Hollow" and "Minersville".

Dodgeville, which was named after Dodge, grew slowly during its early years. It was incorporated as a village in the 1840s. Later a small "war" was fought with Mineral Point over which community would become the seat of Iowa County. At the time, Mineral Point was the seat, but Dodgeville residents felt they should have it. Dodgeville eventually won the "war" and Wisconsin's oldest county courthouse. Dodgeville then saw a population boom, and it became a center for mining. Miners from England flooded the city, and the area flourished. British and Cornish architecture is still visible in the city today. Dodgeville became the largest city in Wisconsin at the time as well as most of the Midwest north or St. Louis, and west of Cincinnati. The community's boom didn't last long though, and with the decline of mining its population was overtaken by rapidly growing cities like Chicago and Milwaukee. Several factors led to the decline in importance of mining, including the Black Hawk War, the California Gold Rush of 1849, the Civil War, and the emergence of farming, leading to Dodgeville's development as a business and agricultural center. Today the city is most commonly known for being the headquarters for the apparel company Lands' End.