Wisconsin
State in N central USA; nicknamed Badger State
Area:
145,500 sq km/56,163 sq mi
Capital:
Madison
Cities:
Milwaukee, Green Bay, Racine
Physical:
Lakes Superior and Michigan, with Apostles Islands national lakeshore;
Mississippi and Wisconsin rivers; Door Peninsula, with cherry trees;
Wisconsin Dells
Features:
Milwaukee, with the Milwaukee Art Museum, Kilbourntown House (1844),
Iron Block Building (1860s), the Pabst Mansion (1893), Mitchell Park
Conservatory, Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church (1961, designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright), and the Allen-Bradley Company clock (the largest
four-faced clock in the world); Prairie du Chien (1673), including the
Villa Louis Mansion (1870) with a fine collection of Victorian decorative
arts; Old World Wisconsin, restored buildings depicting 19th- and 20th-century
Wisconsin, in Southern Kettle Moraine State Forest; Spring Green, with
Taliesin (1911), the home of Frank Lloyd Wright, and the school of architecture
started by him; Kohler, a planned village surrounding the factories
of the plumbing fixtures manufacturer Kohler Company, including the
Kohler Design Center and Waelderhaus (John M Kohler's home); House on
the Rock, overlooking the Wyoming Valley, a re-creation of historic
village streets (begun in the 1940s); Circus World Museum, Baraboo;
University of Wisconsin (1849), including the Golda Meir Library, with
the map collection of the American Geographical Society; American Players
Theater, with an outdoor amphitheatre
Industries:
Leading US dairy state; maize, hay, industrial and agricultural machinery,
engines and turbines, precision instruments, paper products, cars and
lorries, plumbing equipment
Population:
(1995) 5,122,900
Famous People:
Edna Ferber, Harry Houdini, Joseph McCarthy, Spencer Tracy, Orson Welles,
Thornton Wilder, Frank Lloyd Wright
History:
Explored by Jean Nicolet for France 1634; originally settled near Ashland
by the French; passed to Britain 1763; included in the USA 1783.
Wisconsin became a territory 1836 and a state 1848. Lumbering
emerged as a major industry in the late 19th century, and Milwaukee
became an industrial centre. Germans, Scandinavians, and Poles
settled in large numbers. In the early 20th century, Wisconsin
pioneered progressive legislation.
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