Guest, Sign inJoin

Post to Oconomowoc Lake

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in
–Not graded
History · Oconomowoc Lake

14% of Oconomowoc Lake’s homes were built before 1940

Below: 1 old photo or paper, maps from 1892 on, and the census since 1960.

0on the National Register
14%homes built before 1940
1old photo or paper
Add an old photoShare a memory
From Oconomowoc Lake’s archive · credits on each photo

What stands out about Oconomowoc Lake’s past

Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.

A history waiting to be writtenOnly 1 old photo is in the public archives. The rest are in attics and albums.On the map since 18924 editions of the USGS map, 1892 to 1971. Watch Oconomowoc Lake change.
★ What stands out · Help out

Start Oconomowoc Lake’s collection

The first neighbors to add old photos shape how Oconomowoc Lake’s history is told.

Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.
Retake an old viewOconomowoc, Waukesha and the lake regio…: stand where they stood+15Share a family photoSign in to add one+10
On the map

Oconomowoc Lake on the map, 1892 to 1971

Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of Oconomowoc Lake. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.

Oconomowoc Lake on the 1892 USGS mapOconomowoc Lake on the 1909 USGS mapOconomowoc Lake on the 1959 USGS mapOconomowoc Lake on the 1971 USGS map1892Oconomowoc sheet · 1:62,500

U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of Oconomowoc Lake.

The story

How Oconomowoc Lake came to be

From Wikipedia’s history of Oconomowoc Lake.

Read it all →

Development of the Oconomowoc lakeshore began in 1858 with the newly arrived Gifford family, who built a large summer home near the present-day site of the Oconomowoc Lake Club. Train service to Oconomowoc was initiated in the same year, allowing wealthy families from Chicago and Milwaukee to tour "Lake Country" on weekends. In 1878, the Giffords converted their property into the Gifford Hotel, a 100-acre (0.40 km2) luxury summer retreat for Milwaukee's elite. When the hotel closed in 1910, it had lured many well-heeled families to build their own summer homes along the lakefront.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

By decade

Oconomowoc Lake, decade by decade

One decade in the archive so far: the 1890s. Scroll each row; tap a photo for its story.

1890s1 item
Oconomowoc, Waukesha and the lake region of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, all these lakes and resorts are within four hou…1890Oconomowoc, Waukesha and the lake region of Waukesha …
1900s–1990snothing yet
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
Add from your album
Today5 recent
Okauchee Lake Dam2023Okauchee Lake DamOkauchee Lake Dam 032023Okauchee Lake Dam 03Oconomowoc Lake2023Oconomowoc LakeOconomowoc Lake welcome sign2023Oconomowoc Lake welcome signOconomowoc Lake Village Hall2023Oconomowoc Lake Village Hall
Then & now

Stand where they stood

No then-and-now pairs yet. Take a photo from the same spot as an old one and they appear here side by side.

Oconomowoc, Waukesha and the lake region of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, all these lakes and resorts are within four hou…
Retake this viewOconomowoc, Waukesha and the lake region of Waukesha County, Wisconsin, all these lakes and resorts are within four hou…, 1890

Find the spot, match the angle, and add your photo. It becomes the first then-and-now pair on Oconomowoc Lake’s page.

Retake this view · +15
People over time

Oconomowoc Lake, census by census

01002003004005006001960198020002020Peak: 599

Between 414 and 599 people in every census since 1960.

7 censuses, 1960–2020.

U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on Oconomowoc Lake’s Wikipedia page.

Famous people

Famous people close to Oconomowoc Lake

Nobody well known was born in Oconomowoc Lake itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.

See all →
Les PaulAmerican jazz guitarist, country guitarist, son… · b. 1915
Vernor VingeAmerican mathematician, computer scientist, and… · b. 1944
David KoeppAmerican screenwriter and director · b. 1963
Gwen JorgensenAmerican triathlete · b. 1986
M
Michael RitchieAmerican film director · b. 1938
Brianna DeckerAmerican women's ice hockey player · b. 1991
Stories next door

History across the town line

Each neighbor’s History grade, on the same three inputs.

Oconomowoc2 historic placesA−Oconomowoc6 historic placesA−Okauchee Lake1 historic placenot graded: under 1,000 residents or part of its townSummit3 historic placesA−Delafield6 historic placesA−

Questions about Oconomowoc Lake’s history

Memory lane

What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.

Town Square →
Start a conversation
Sources

Where this page comes from

Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →

From Wikimedia Commons (6), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.