Fountain City

Buffalo County, Wisconsin

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Fountain City administrative offices are located at 42 North Main Street, Fountain City, WI 54629.
Phone: 608‑687‑7481.

Fountain City as described in 1941 [1]

Fountain City spills down Eagle Bluff and Head Rock. Stone walls hold terraced gardens on steep cliffs; houses seem to hang precariously on the hills. Lots along the main street, which begins and ends near old breweries, were once sold at high prices by two brothers named Pierce, who had acquired title to the section of land designated as the Trempealeau County seat. Later they discovered that the section set aside as the county seat plat was not at Fountain City at all, but some distance upstream. They rushed up the river, seized a stray lumber raft, clapped together a shack, and called it a courthouse, notifying Fountain City officials that the county offices must be moved to the new site. Lawyers supported their claim, the offices were moved, and a new settlement arose called Upper Fountain City. Old Fountain City built a stately courthouse and offered it dirt cheap to the county, which accepted it. But the following year, 1860, the settlement of Alma built still another courthouse, and the seat was finally moved there.

  1. Workers of the Writers' Program of the Works Progress Administration, Wisconsin: A Guide to the Badger State, American Guide Series, Wisconsin Library Association, 1941.

Nearby Towns: Winona City •


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