Lake Geneva, Wisconsin

Lake Geneva is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, USA. The population was 7,651 at the 2010 census. A resort city located on Geneva Lake, it is popular with tourists from metropolitan Chicago and Milwaukee.

History

Originally called "Muck-Suck" (Big Foot) for a Potawatomi chief, the city was later named Geneva after the town of Geneva, New York, located on Seneca Lake, to which early settler John Brink saw a resemblance. Geneva, to avoid confusion with the nearby town of Geneva, Illinois, was renamed Lake Geneva; later the lake was renamed Geneva Lake.

Railroad access from Chicago made the area a popular summer retreat for the barons of wealth in lumber, cattle, oil, steel, cement, manufacturing, and durable goods (e.g., Morton Salt, Wrigley Chewing Gum), with mansions and large homes such as Stone Manor and Black Point built on the lake from the 1850s, through the heyday of the Roaring 20s, and up to the present day. The city was then known as "The Newport of the West." In the early automobile era, the city hosted the first modern drive-in motel designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, and later during Prohibition smaller lake towns around the area became a haven for Al Capone and other mobsters.

Geneva, Wisconsin

Geneva is a town in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,099 at the 2000 census. The census-designated place of Como is located in the town. The unincorporated community of Lake Como is also located in the town.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 30.8 square miles (79.8 km²), of which, 29.3 square miles (75.8 km²) of it is land and 1.5 square miles (4.0 km²) of it (4.97%) is water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 4,099 people, 1,660 households, and 1,163 families residing in the town. The population density was 140.0 people per square mile (54.1/km²). There were 2,826 housing units at an average density of 96.6 per square mile (37.3/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 95.46% White, 0.61% African American, 0.10% Native American, 0.54% Asian, 2.49% from other races, and 0.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.66% of the population.

There were 1,660 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.0% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.9% were non-families. 24.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 8.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 2.89.

Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva (French: lac Léman, le Léman[lemɑ̃], sometimes lac de Genève [lak d(ə) ʒ(ə)nɛːv], German: Genfersee [ˈɡɛnfərˌzeː]) is a lake on the north side of the Alps, shared between Switzerland and France. It is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe and the largest on the course of the Rhône. 59.53% (345.31 km² [133.32 sq mi]) of it comes under the jurisdiction of Switzerland (cantons of Vaud, Geneva, and Valais), and 40.47% (234.71 km² [90.62 sq mi]) under France (department of Haute-Savoie).

Lake Geneva has been explored by four submarines: the Auguste Piccard and the F.-A. Forel, both built by Jacques Piccard, and the two Mir submersibles.

Name

The first recorded name of the lake is Lacus Lemannus, dated from Roman times; Lemannus comes from Ancient greek Limanos, Limènos Limne Λιμένος Λίμνη meaning port's lake; it became Lacus Lausonius, although this name was also used for a town or district on the lake, Lacus Losanetes and then the Lac de Lausanne in the Middle Ages. Following the rise of Geneva it became Lac de Genève (translated into English as Lake Geneva). In the 18th century, Lac Léman was revived in French and is the customary name in that language. In contemporary English, the name Lake Geneva is predominant. A note on pronunciation:

Lake Geneva (Minnesota)

Lake Geneva is a lake in Douglas County, in the U.S. state of Minnesota.

The lake was named after Lake Geneva, in Switzerland.

See also

References

Coordinates: 45°53′58″N 95°19′39″W / 45.89944°N 95.32750°W / 45.89944; -95.32750

Lake Geneva (disambiguation)

Lake Geneva is a major European lake between Switzerland and France. It may also refer to:

Locations

Other

See also

Wisconsin

Wisconsin (ⁱ/wɪsˈkɒ̃nsɪn/) is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States, in the Midwest and Great Lakes regions. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin is the 23rd largest state by total area and the 20th most populous. The state capital is Madison, and its largest city is Milwaukee, which is located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. The state is divided into 72 counties.

Wisconsin's geography is diverse, with the Northern Highland and Western Upland along with a part of the Central Plain occupying the western part of the state and lowlands stretching to the shore of Lake Michigan. Wisconsin is second to Michigan in the length of its Great Lakes coastline.

Wisconsin is known as "America's Dairyland" because it is one of the nation's leading dairy producers, particularly famous for cheese. Manufacturing, especially paper products, information technology (IT), and tourism are also major contributors to the state's economy.

Wisconsin wine

Wisconsin wine refers to wine made from grapes grown in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Wisconsin is part of the largest American Viticultural Area (AVA), the Upper Mississippi Valley AVA, which includes southwest Wisconsin, southeast Minnesota, northeast Iowa, and northwest Illinois. The state also has two smaller designated American Viticultural Areas, the Lake Wisconsin AVA and the Wisconsin Ledge AVA.

The Wisconsin Winery Association is a statewide organization that promotes wine making in the state.

History

The first wine grapes were planted in Wisconsin by Agoston Haraszthy in the mid-19th century. Before he migrated to California and helped to found the wine industry there, he established a vineyard, winery and wine cellars overlooking the Wisconsin River at what is today the Wollersheim Winery near Prairie du Sac. Although Haraszthy found the climate of Wisconsin difficult for wine grape production, later German settlers produced wine using both European and native American grape varieties.