History of Wisconsin Dells

sing wooden rowboats until 1873 when the first steamboat, the Modocawanda, was used. In 1875, early landscape photographer H. H. Bennett established a studio in the city and took many photos of the sandstone formations in the dells, including stereoscopic views. Prints of these photographs were distributed across the United States, further enhancing the status of Kilbourn City as a destination for sightseers. Taking advantage of this, Bennett began offering to take souvenir pictures of visitors to the dells, becoming one of the first to capitalize on the area's burgeoning tourist trade. Today, the H. H. Bennett Studio is a historic site operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society.

The Dells region remained primarily a place for sightseers to escape the bustle of the city for many decades. By 1894, distillate-powered tour boats began to be used. In 1908, the Kilbourn Dam was installed by what is now Alliant Energy, over the protests of people such as H. H. Bennett, separating the Dells into the Upper and Lower Dells.

Since the time of LeRoy Gates, the Dells Boat Tours have gone through many operators. Some of the previous companies were The River view Boat Line, the Olson Boat Line, the Dells Boat Company, the Consolidated Boat Company, and the Silver Dollar Boat Line.

A few other events of interest took place during this time, including the June 16, 1911 impact of a 772-gram stony meteorite in rural Columbia County near the city, damaging a barn.

DUCKS come to the Dells

In 1946 a Milwaukee native named Mel Flath brought the first amphibious truck (DUKW) to the Wisconsin Dells. It was an impulse buy that he had made at a government auction in California; the trip's purpose had been to purchase war surplus