Calumet County Courthouse on September 9, 2013
Calumet County was created in 1836 from unorganized land that had previously been part of Brown County. According to the official county web site, in 1840 the Wisconsin Territorial legislature declared Calumet County’s territory non-existent and the land reverted to Brown County. However in 1842, the 1840 act of the legislature was rescinded and Calumet county resumed its existence.
Calumet County is named for a Menominee Indian village on the east side of Lake Winnebago. The name means peace and is believed to be derived from the Native American pipe of peace. Most of the western border of Calumet County is Lake Winnebago. The Niagara Escarpment on the eastern side of the lake runs through Calumet County.
The city of Chilton has been the county seat since 1856; previously the county seat was Stockbridge. The original settlement was called Stantonville and it formed along the banks of the south branch of the Manitowoc River. The river is not navigable (today it’s used only recreational purposes) but it provided power for a sawmill and a grist mill. John Marygold bought the settlement in 1852 and decided to change the name to Chilington. However, when this verbal request was sent to the county seat at Stockbridge, it was slightly garbled and the town was renamed Chilton. I don’t know if that story is true, but I like it!
The courthouse is located at 206 Court Street in Chilton. The courthouse was built in 1913. the original building was built from red sandstone with a copper dome. The site on Court Street was the site of the first courthouse built in Chilton back in 1861. The 1913 building has been added on to several times.
I visited on September 9, 2013 on my way home from the Door County Century – that morning I had also stopped in Kewaunee and Manitowoc counties. Thankfully the weather had improved by the time I got to Chilton so I got a few pictures of the courthouse in the sunshine. I really like the reproduction of the county seal near the side entrance: “We Extend the Calumet to All Mankind” with the picture of the peace pipe. Very unusual and kind of interesting.
I grew up in Appleton (the seat of Outagamie county) which extends into Calumet county, but I don’t have a lot of memories of Calumet County. The one thing that really does stand out is High Cliff State Park. We often went swimming at High Cliff when I was young, despite the dubious water quality of Lake Winnebago. Of course this was before artificial swimming lakes were constructed in the Appleton area, so your only nearby choice for swimming or beach activity was High Cliff. Later on in my Boy Scout years we often went camping at High Cliff State Park, and I also remember going ice fishing with my father once at High Cliff during a “Fish – O – Ree” of some sort. I was young enough to be totally impressed that our family car could drive onto the frozen lake.