In December 1845, carpenter Joel Doolittle built a log shanty at the Rock River rapids and became Horicon, Wisconsin’s first permanent settler.
Horicon’s First Settler
A Fortune on Four Legs:
The Rise and Strange Death of Horicon’s prize-winning horse –‘Ripon Boy’ On a Tuesday morning in December 1873, a groom at George W. Van Brunt’s stables in Horicon led a nine-year-old mahogany bay stallion out to water and noticed something was wrong. The horse drank only sparingly, and trembled in every limb with each attempt. …
The Old Stone Shop
The Building That Would Not Sit Still: Horicon’s Old Stone Shop Today, at the corner of Mill and Vine streets sits nothing more dramatic than a highway bridge and the quiet current of the Rock River sliding underneath it. It’s easy to stand there and forget how much history that stretch of water has actually …
The Duck War of Horicon Marsh
The Marsh the Rich Guys Tried to Own Before it was a national wildlife refuge with a visitor center and a gift shop, Horicon Marsh was 32,000 acres of the best duck hunting in the Midwest — and for about forty years, a handful of very rich men did everything short of putting up a …
Blankets, Nitro, and a Borrowed Buggy
Blankets, Nitro, and a Borrowed Buggy The Great Horicon Post Office Job of 1913 Picture Horicon in the second week of June, 1913. The marsh north of town would have been turning green, the cattails springing up, the smell of water that rises off the Rock River basin once the weather turns, and by mid-month …
From the Front to Home: Horicon’s Civil War Story
During the Civil War, they answered the call. Most came home. All left something behind. Part One of Five A Town Answers the Call How Horicon, Wisconsin, went to war in the spring of 1861 165 years ago, when President Abraham Lincoln issued his first call for 75,000 volunteers in April 1861, the citizens of …
Bowling Green Park’s Silent Sentinel: Horicon’s World War I MK1 Artillery Piece
Nestled within the peaceful confines of Bowling Green Park in Horicon, Wisconsin, stands a historic relic: a World War I MK1 60-pounder artillery piece. This imposing gun offers a fascinating glimpse into the technological advancements and strategic considerations of early 20th-century artillery — and its arrival in Horicon is a story worth telling. Special Note …
Horicon’s First Casualty of World War II
Private First Class Thomas F. Philipsky 1938 Horicon High School Graduate Private First Class Thomas F. Philipsky of Horicon, Wisconsin, is honored as the city’s first World War II casualty—a devoted son, athlete, and serviceman whose life story remains an inspiration to his community. Early Life: “Tommy” Thomas F. Philipsky was born on December 19, …
1882 Murder of Marshal William Gibson
OLD COLD CASE Horicon City Marshal William Gibson — Civil War veteran, father of four, a man his community trusted with their safety — was shot once, point-blank, on the steps of his own jailhouse, in front of his ten-year-old son. The killer vanished into the dark Wisconsin night. Suspects were arrested across the state. …
Where Water Shapes Memory: Horicon’s Boathouses through Time.
Where Water Shapes Memory: Horicon’s Boathouses through Time. The history of boathouses in Horicon, Wisconsin, is deeply intertwined with the evolution of Horicon Marsh. When European settlers arrived in the vast wetland once known as the “Great Marsh of the Winnebago,” they built some of the earliest structures along the banks of the Rock River. …
