Portage, celebrating over 300 years of tradition and progress, is the third oldest city in Wisconsin. It’s long and storied past evokes images of exploration and grand adventure. As far back as June of 1673, French explorers Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet began mapping the great waterways of North America, from Canada to the upper Mississippi River. The two adventurers and their Native-American guides traveled from Green Bay down the Fox River southwestward, stopping here in central Wisconsin, where retreating glacial ice carved magnificent river valleys out of the wilderness over 10,000 years ago. Seeking a navigable waterway with which to reach the wide Wisconsin River but finding none, they carried, or "portaged," their heavily laden canoes across the narrow strip of land between the west bank of the Fox River and the east bank of the Wisconsin River. From then on, this land bridge between the two rivers would serve as a junction and respite for trappers, missionaries, and settlers.

Thus was born in the dense forest the settlement first known as "Wau-wau-onah," Winnebago for "carry on the shoulder." In the years of French occupation, it was simply called, "le portage," and eventually anglicized to Portage.

During the nineteenth century the lumber industry was king in central Wisconsin. Thousands of woodsmen and rivermen utilized Portage for rest and recreation during its heyday. A canal connecting the Fox River to the Wisconsin River was constructed in the middle of the century and, with the coming of the railroads, commerce and industry flourished in the region.

Many influential Americans, including two Pulitzer Prize winners—historian Fredrick Jackson Turner and playwright Zona Gale—have called Portage "home". Naturalist John Muir, and conservationist Aldo Leopold, are two other famous Portage natives.

Today in Portage, "Where the North Begins," visitors and residents find the best progressive living in a historic setting. Travelers can’t help but notice the city’s rich heritage and genuine pride.

So come to Portage and share in the tradition, the quality, and the memories.

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