BARABOO 101: From River to Ringling

Part 1: Before Baraboo - A River and its People - YouTube link: https://youtu.be/rhT-MBb7gGc

Part 2: From Dams to Downtown 1840 - 1870 YouTube link: https://youtu.be/JFD9xdbPaYA

Part 3: From Railroad to Ringling 1871 - 1884 ( available on YouTube March 19)

They say real estate is about three things, “Location, location, location.”  One could say that history is often the same. It certainly is the case with the City of Baraboo. Its history and existence are tied to its location. While a community called Baraboo has existed since 1847, the story of human habitation on this stretch of river by the same name goes back thousands of years. The river passes through a gentle valley dropping over 40 feet becoming quite shallow in spots making for easy places to cross and great places to catch fish. Humans have thrived here at various times and made it a sacred place. Hundreds of earthen burial mounds were once found within yards of the river, many built over 1,000 years ago. When the Ho-Chunk established a village here in the early 1800s they built a council house between the mounds. When Euro-American settlers arrived in the late 1830s the river, with its drop in elevation, was seen as a great place to harness water power. Dams were built and two villages were platted, one as the county seat.