The Washington County courthouse on Monday September 14, 2015
Washington County was created in 1836 from Brown and Milwaukee counties. It is named after the first President of the United States George Washington, so it is one of Wisconsin’s presidential counties. In 1853, for no apparent reason, the state legislature split the original Washington county in two, and the eastern part became Ozaukee County. This is how the city of Port Washington wound up in Ozaukee County.
The county seat is West Bend. The story of West Bend begins in 1845 when the Wisconsin Territorial legislature authorized the construction of a road from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac. The path chosen for the road is now US highway 45, and the rest stop at the halfway point eventually became West Bend. The settlement got its name from the Milwaukee River which makes a western bend in this area. West Bend was incorporated as a city in 1885.
The Washington County courthouse is located at 432 East Washington Street in West Bend. The old courthouse is located at 320 South 5th Avenue; it is now a museum. I visited West Bend on September 14, 2015 on my way home from the Door County Century. I got to West Bend around 11:00 a.m. and stopped first at the new courthouse which was built in 1961. Although the address is on Washington Avenue (Highway 33) the main entrance to the building is actually around the corner on Schmidt Road, which was a little misleading. Then I drove through the downtown area to the old courthouse which was built in 1889. It is an amazing looking building and is now used by the Washington County Historical Society as a museum.
Once again, I don’t have any memories of Washington County or any particular ties to the area. I know I’ve driven through it many times on Highway 41 between Appleton and Milwaukee, but as far as I can remember, I never really stopped and visited any place in Washington County until I made this trip to West Bend. I’ve read that West Bend does have an extensive network of bike trails, so perhaps I will visit again some day to do some biking.