When French explorers and missionaries arrived in the region during the 17th century, they found the Menominee, the Outagamie (Fox) and the Winnebago peoples living there.  The French soon learned the value of the "water highway" - the Fox River in expanding trade.

New settlers began using the Fox River, establishing communities along its banks.  In 1835, Hyppolyte Grignon settled with his family at the White Heron trading post, just about the Grand Chute.  John and Jeanette Johnston soon followed, settling at what was to become Appleton.  Their house became the first hotel, boarding house, hospital, church and Sunday school.

The Fox River proved ideal for industrial development.  As the lumber industry got into full swing, many mills were built along its shores and the Fox Cities came alive with activity.  The legacy of those lumber days is the paper industry.   The Fox River Valley is known as "Paper Valley," with its many paper mills and support industries.

Agriculture was also important to the early communities and continues to be so today.  Wheat farming in the surrounding area gave way to dairy farming.   Family-owned dairy farms and local cheese factories form an important part of the heritage of the Fox River Valley.

Appleton, largest of the Fox Cities, started out as home to the second institution in the U.S. to be founded as a co-educational college- Lawrence University.   Amos Lawrence donated money to the Methodist Church for the "university in the wilderness," which was founded in 1847.  Thereafter, the city and the university grew together.

In 1851, Outagamie County was created with Grand Chute as the county seat.   Neighboring settlements decided to incorporate under a single name - Appleton- in 1853.  As the center of this fast-growing region, Appleton was incorporated as a city on May 2, 1857.

The power of the Fox River was harnessed in 1882, when the first successful hydro-electric plant in the world went into operation in Appleton.  The importance of the Fox River to industry and recreation continued to be invaluable.  It has provided the backbone for economic growth, with the paper mills dominating its banks.

The diverse cultural population of the area lends an ethnic flavor to the Fox Cities.  Many residents are descended from New Englanders, who settled much of the region.  By the turn of the century, Dutch, German and Polish immigrants had established themselves here.  Another immigrant group which recently settled in the area is the Hmong-Laorian refugees from the Vietnam War era.

Appleton also was home to two of the county's well-known public personalities.   Harry Houdini, born Ehrich Weiss, grew up in the area.  Houdini Plaza, with the sculpture "Metamorphosis", is Appleton's tribute to the world's most famous magician.  A private collection of Houdini's personal memorabilia is displayed at the Outagamie museum here.

Pulitzer Prize-winning author Edna Ferber spent her childhood here and Appleton is where she started her career in journalism.  A new elementary school is named in her honor.

Appleton

To understand Appleton today, and to appreciate it, the visitor needs to know more about the Fox River.

The Fox River drops 168 feet between the cities of Neenah and Green Bay, a vertical drop nearly that of Niagra Falls.  A series of locks and dams control the current to make navigation possible.  The Fox River remains on of Appleton's   most distinctive features.

Historic mansions line the river banks along with newer homes.  The vitality of these neighborhoods, along with more established residential areas, makes the city a desirable place to live.

Lining the actual river valley are paper mills and other industries, many of them related to the manufacture of paper.  Since 1854, when the first paper mill opened in Appleton, the paper industry has been the mainstay of the local economy.

The central business district is benefiting from community-based efforts to ensure that the area remains vital and active.

Combined Locks

The Village of Combined Locks was organized in 1921.  It was named after the combined locks which border the village along the river to the north.  These combined locks are the highest on the Fox River navigational system.

Kimberly

Records of government land grants in this area appear in 1837.  From then on, the settlement was a combination of wooded and agricultural development.  In 1889, a paper and pulp mill was built.  The area remained a part of the Town of Buchanan until its incorporation as a village in 1910.  Today, Midtec Paper Corporation has one of the largest, most technologically advanced coated paper machines in the world.

Kaukauna

In 1760, the first trading post was founded here by Pierre Grignon.   Augustin Grignon, who arrived from Green Bay in 1804 to engage in fur trading, bought this land in 1818.  The Grignon family lived at the Grand Cacilin for many years.  They controlled the local fur trade, built the first gristmill and sawmill in Wisconsin, and were prominent in developing the Fox River Valley.  Grignon's son, Charles, built the colonial style "Mansion in the Woods" in 1838, which today is a historic site open to the public.

Little Chute

The community of Little Chute dates back to the coming of the Reverend Theodore Van den Broek to a Menominee Indian settlement on the banks of the Fox River in 1836.   This was one of the first settlements south of Green Bay and was named La Petit Chute, meaning, Little Falls.  In 1848, upon returning from a visit to his native Holland, Father Van den Broek brought with him the first group of Dutch settlers.

Neenah-Menasha

In 1634, Jean Nicolet counseled and made peace with the Indians in the Fox River Valley.  Two hundred years later the United States government established a settlement here.  Both Neenah and Menasha were named by Mrs. Doty, wife of Judge James Duane Doty, an early governor of Wisconsin.  The Indian name for water is "Nee-nah." Menasha is an Indian word meaning "The Island."

The first permanent settler in Neenah was Harrison Reed in 1843.  In 1848, Curtis Reed came as the first settler in Menasha.  Curtis Reed saw visions of a great industrial city on the shore of the Fox River.  He purchased land as a site for a city by borrowing funds from Harvey Jones.

Jones was given one-half of the property of Neenah, then called Winnebago Rapids.  But he, too, had visions.  He wanted the dam which would enable development of the city constructed on the Neenah side of the river.  Governor Doty preferred Reed's property, and Menasha was consequently chosen.  But Jones was not conquered.  He constructed a canal on his own on the Neenah side.  Both cities gained the advantages of steamboat traffic on the river, and trade and development prospered.