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Monday, October 28, 2013

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Entry

Menasha

MENASHA (an Indian word meaning "thorn" or "island"), a city of Winnebago County, Wisconsin, U.S.A., 88 m. N. of Milwaukee, and 14 m. N. of Oshkosh, attractively situated at the N. extremity of Lake Winnebago at its outlet into the Fox River. Pop. (1890), 4581; (1900), 5589 (1535 foreign-born); (1905, state census), 5960; (1910), 6061. Menasha is served by the Minneapolis, St Paul & Sault Ste Marie, the Chicago, Milwaukee & St Paul, and the Chicago & North Western Railways, and by an inter-urban electric railway system. Several bridges across the Fox River connect Menasha with Neenah, with which it really forms one community industrially. Doty Island, at the mouth of the river and divided about equally between the cities, is a picturesque and popular summer resort.

Menasha had good water power and among its manufactures are paper and sulphite pulp, lumber, wooden-ware and cooperage products, woollen and knit goods, leather, boats and bricks. The first white man to visit the site of Menasha was probably Jean Nicolet, who seems to have come in the winter of 1634-1635 and to have found here villages of Fox and Winnebago Indians. Subsequently there were French and English trading posts here. The city was settled permanently in 1848, and was chartered in 1874.
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I find the statement interesting, about how "... the bridges connect Menasha with Neenah, with which it really forms one community industrially."   That statement is (was) true in more ways than just industrially, though many citizens of both towns would argue against it.  Also, I find the Doty Island reference curious, as if it was simply a vacation spot.  Yes, Roberts' Resort was a big attraction on the island, but much of the island by 1911 was already residential and had industrial sections and was a part of both cities.   

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