Fond du Lac () is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is at the southern end of Lake Winnebago and had a population of 44,678 at the 2020 census. so named because of its location at the bottom (south end) of Lake Winnebago.
Native American tribes, primarily the Winnebagos but also the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Mascoutin lived or gathered in the area before Europeans arrived. Although the identity of the first European to colonize the southern end of Lake Winnebago is uncertain, it was probably Claude-Jean Allouez, followed by French fur trappers. James Doty, a federal judge for the western part of the Michigan Territory, thought the land at the foot of Lake Winnebago might be a good place for a city, so he and his partners bought land in the area.
In 1836, during the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, John Arndt proposed making Fond du Lac the new capital. The motion failed, and Doty convinced the legislature to choose Madison instead. Colwert, Fanna Pier, and Alex Tomasik were the first white residents of the area.
In 1835, the construction of the Military Ridge Road began. It passed through Fond du Lac, connecting the forts in Wisconsin and Fort Dearborn in Illinois. The first school in Fond du Lac was built in 1843. The first railroad came to the community in 1852. About 1856, the first English-language newspaper in Fond du Lac, the Fond du Lac Commonwealth, was founded. Logging and milling were primary industries in the late 1880s, with lake access the engine of the industry.
From June to August 1944, the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds housed an Allied prisoner of war camp that held 300 German prisoners of war guarded by 39 U.S. soldiers. The prisoners worked on pea farms and in canneries that summer.
Geography
Fond du Lac is at (43.775, −88.445).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which is land and is water.
Fond du Lac lies on the southern shore of Lake Winnebago. The east and west branches of the Fond du Lac River connect in the city and then flow into Lake Winnebago near Lakeside Park.
Climate
As with the rest of Wisconsin, Fond du Lac has a humid continental climate. The record low was −41 °F (−41 °C) on January 30, 1951. The record high was 111 °F (44 °C) on July 13, 1936; the days immediately before and after that date hit 109 °F and 110 °F, respectively.