Oconomowoc area residents aren't hard at work, chances are they're out enjoying the area's myriad cultural and recreational activities and events. Oconomowoc's many lakes and rolling woodlands are the setting for four seasons of outdoor recreation.

Summer Fun

For generations, summer has been an especially popular time to get out and enjoy the area's amenities. The area's rivers, lakes, and ponds make it perfect for the whole range of water activities, including swimming, water skiing, sailboarding, fishing, and boating of all types.

Summer is just as much fun on dry land. Area parks accommodate biking, hiking, camping, picnicking, and nature watching, and fields and facilities for every sport that uses a ball. For many, summer isn't summer without golf, and Oconomowoc's six golf courses offer challenges for players of all abilities.

The City of Oconomowoc's Parks and Recreation Department administers 33 parks, and sponsors activities and fitness programs for youths and adults ranging from ballroom dance to Tae Kwon Do, and organized league play in a variety of sports. The YMCA at Pabst Farms provides an array of sports programs and activities for the entire family, and provides a 115,000-square-foot facility.

Winter Opportunities

Winter comes with even more reasons to play outside in the Oconomowoc area. With frozen lakes, it's time for ice fishing, figure skating, hockey games, and ice boating. The snow-covered countryside is ideal for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, and sledding.

Spring & Fall

The "shoulder seasons" are also wonderful times to be outside in Oconomowoc. The fall colors bring out hikers, bikers, and Sunday drivers. Spring carpets the forest floor with flowering trillium, followed by mushroom hunters in search of delectable morels.

A year-round recreational asset in the Oconomowoc area is the Lake Country Trail, a multi-use recreational trail running from Waukesha to Oconomowoc. During spring, summer and fall, the 15-mile trail is used by bicyclists, in-line skaters, hikers and joggers. In winter, it’s open to skiers.

Cultural Venues

The Oconomowoc area is also home to a number of unique cultural venues. The Oconomowoc Arts Center (OAC) seats 755 people with luxurious comfort and consummate acoustics. The OAC offers a professional series of programming, a film series, the Cabaret dinner / show series, a comedy series and special events.

Special Events & Festivals

The community also hosts special events and festivals throughout the year. A highlight of the year is the annual Oconomowoc Festival of the Arts, one of the nation's best juried art fairs. Held the third weekend in August for more than 30 years, the event features music on three stages, food booths, children's art activities, and artwork by local and nationally-known artists.

The civic groups sponsor a number of events throughout the year, including street dances in August, a farmer's market every Saturday from May through October, and Gallery Night events in May and October. On Thursday evenings throughout the summer, the Badgerland Water Ski Show Team presents free shows on Fowler Lake. Free Moonlit Movies concerts are held throughout the summer in the community bandshell. Oconomowoc's annual parades for Memorial Day, Veterans Day, Independence Day, Homecoming, Halloween, and Christmas celebrate the community throughout the year.

City History

You don't have to go back hundreds of years to discover why the Oconomowoc area was settled - the reasons are still here.

It was the area's abundant natural resources that attracted its first recorded settlers, members of the Potowatomi and Winnebago tribes. Deep woodlands and clear lakes provided the tribes with wild game, fish, and the raw materials to build their tools and homes. It was they who named the area "Coo-no-mo-wauk," or "Where the waters meet."

Settlement

The first white settlers were Charles Sheldon and Phil Brewer, who in 1837, built log cabins in the area. The pair was soon followed by other settlers lured by stories of the area's beauty and abundant resources. Early settler John S. Rockwell was responsible for establishing a great deal of the town's foundation. The young entrepreneur built a grist mill and established the town's first store, hotel, fire department, and library. The "Father of Oconomowoc," as he came to be known, also donated land for the community's churches and started Bord du Lac, a women's seminary.

Incorporation

Oconomowoc was incorporated as city in 1865, and by 1875 its population had grown to almost
3,000. Following the arrival of the railroad, Oconomowoc became a favorite summer retreat of tourists and wealthy vacationers from Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Louis, and other Midwestern cities. Some of the nation's wealthiest families built stately summer homes on the lakes, and by the 1880s Oconomowoc featured 6 luxury resorts. From the 1870s until the Great Depression, Oconomowoc was known as the "Newport of the West," and visits by Presidents Cleveland, Harrison, Grant, Taft, Coolidge, McKinley, and Theodore Roosevelt earned Main Street the nickname, "Avenue of the presidents."

Businesses & Attractions

The area also attracted new businesses, such as the Carnation Company, Brownberry Ovens, and the Oconomowoc Canning Company. Pabst Farms became internationally known for its purebred livestock. Oconomowoc's downtown has retained most of its historic 19th century architecture, and numerous grand Victorian homes still grace area lakeshores. Many city homes and businesses are listed on the state and national Register of Historic Places and can be seen on a self-guided historic walking tour developed by the Oconomowoc Historical Society.

The Oconomowoc and Lake Country Museum, located in Oconomowoc, recounts local history with a number of artifacts and exhibits. The museum’s Streets of Old Gallery features displays of a turn of the century Victorian home, dentist office, barbershop, print shop, medical clinic, bank, and John S.Rockwell’s general store. Ole Evinrude, an Oconomowoc resident who invented the outboard boat motor in 1907, is the focus of an exhibit of early boat motors. Another Oconomowoc claim to fame is its setting for the 1939 premier showing of the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.”

The only thing brighter than the Oconomowoc area's past is its future!

Departments