Koshkonong, Wisconsin

Koshkonong, Wisconsin
Town
Albert and Mary Shekey House in Koshkonong
Location of Koshkonong, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 42°54′0″N 88°50′24″W / 42.90000°N 88.84000°W / 42.90000; -88.84000
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Jefferson
Area
• Total	42.6 sq mi (110.3 km2)
• Land	41.4 sq mi (107.3 km2)
• Water	1.2 sq mi (3.0 km2)
Elevation	817 ft (249 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	3,692
• Density	87/sq mi (33/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
FIPS code	55-40375
GNIS feature ID	1583494
Website	www.koshkonongwi.com

Koshkonong is a town in Jefferson County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,692 at the 2010 census. The town entirely surrounds the city of Fort Atkinson. The unincorporated communities of Blackhawk Island, Koshkonong Mounds, and Vinnie Ha Ha are located in the town. The unincorporated community of Koshkonong is also located partially in the town.

The Sac, Fox, Potawatomi, and Winnebago tribes had members in the area when settlers arrived. The first Europeans to settle in the area were French traders from Canada. The region about the Yahara River was called Gishkzhegonang (Catfish Place) by the Potawatomi peoples, and was transcribed into English as "Koshkonong." The Potawatomis called Lake Koshkonong as Éndayang-zagegen (Lake Where-we-live-on), but the early settlers began calling this lake in the Koshkonong region as Lake Koshkonong.

The first settlers for farming arrived around 1836. In 1840, Norwegian families from Telemark settled near Lake Muskego in Waukesha County. In 1841, what would become for a time the largest Norwegian-American community in America was founded at Koshkonong in eastern Dane and western Jefferson counties. It was started by settlers from the Jefferson Prairie Settlement and the Fox River settlement. By 1850, over half of the Norwegian immigrants in Wisconsin lived in the Koshkonong settlement, known as Kaskeland in Norwegian.

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