Clemansville, Wisconsin

Oshkosh, Wisconsin
Downtown Oshkosh
Nickname(s): Sawdust City
Motto: "On the water"
Oshkosh Location in Wisconsin
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
Counties	Winnebago
Settled	1853
Government
• Type	Council-Manager
• Mayor	Steve Cummings
• City Manager	Mark Rohloff
Area
• City	26.61 sq mi (68.92 km2)
• Land	25.59 sq mi (66.28 km2)
• Water	1.02 sq mi (2.64 km2)
Elevation	790 ft (241 m)
Population (2010)
• City	66,083
• Estimate (2012)	66,653
• Density	2,582.4/sq mi (997.1/km2)
• Metro	160,000
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP Code	54901-54904
Area code(s)	920
Website	www.ci.oshkosh.wi.us

Oshkosh is a city in Winnebago County, Wisconsin, United States, located where the Fox River enters Lake Winnebago from the west. The population was 66,083 at the 2010 census. The city is located adjacent to and partially within the Town of Oshkosh.

Oshkosh was named for Menominee Chief Oshkosh, whose name meant "claw" (cf. Ojibwe oshkanzh, "the claw"). Although the fur trade brought the first European settlers to the area as early as 1818, it never became a major player in the fur trade. It was the establishment and growth of the lumber industry in the area that spurred development of Oshkosh. Oshkosh was incorporated as a city in 1853, although it had already been designated the county seat, and had a population of nearly 2,800.

The lumber industry became well established as businessmen took advantage of navigable waterways to provide access to both markets and northern pineries. The 1859 arrival of rail transportation expanded the ability to meet the demands of a rapidly growing construction market. At one time, Oshkosh was known as the "Sawdust Capital of the World" due to the number of lumber mills in the city, 11 by 1860. By 1874, there were 47 sawmills and 15 shingle mills. By 1870, Oshkosh had become the third-largest city in Wisconsin with a population of over 12,000. The Oshkosh Daily Northwestern newspaper (now the Oshkosh Northwestern) was founded around this time, as was the Oshkosh State Normal School (now the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh). On April 28, 1875, Oshkosh had a "Great Fire" that consumed homes and businesses along Main Street north of the Fox River. The fire had engulfed 70 stores, 40 factories, and 500 homes costing nearly $2.5 million (or $51.2 million in 2010 money) in damage.