Dodgeville, WI

Dodgeville is a small town located in Dodge County, Wisconsin. The population was 1,811 at the 2010 census. Dodgeville is home to the Dodgeville Dells amusement park and the Dodgeville Correctional Facility.

The history of Dodgeville can be traced back to 1836 when John and Elizabeth (Baker) Dodge settled on a tract of land east of present-day Dodgeville. The first settler in what would become Dodgeville was Solomon Mack, who arrived in 1837. Mack built a cabin on the site that would later become the town's first business district. In 1848, James Houghton purchased Mack's land and founded Houghton Mills, one of Wisconsin's earliest cotton mills. By 1860, there were twenty-one businesses in downtown Dodgeville.

Dodgeville's growth continued throughout the nineteenth century as new businesses were established and residents moved into town to take advantage of its many opportunities: farming and lumber were two important industries at the time, and there was plenty of work available for people who wanted to start their own businesses. In 1870, a railroad line was built through town linking it with other communities in Wisconsin; this helped spur even more growth as people began commuting to work outside of Dodgeville. By 1900, there were over two hundred businesses in downtown DodgeVILLEand it had become known as "the Commercial Capital of Wisconsin."

However, by the early twentieth century things had started to change for Dodgeville; industry had begun moving out of town and more people were working at jobs that didn't require them to live in downtown dodgevillesuch as factories located near Milwaukee or Chicago. This decline in business led to decreased tax revenue for local government which resulted in cuts to services such as police protection or street maintenance; by 1942 only fifty-four businesses remained downtownand many buildings had been abandoned or destroyed due to neglect. It wasn't until 1973 that restoration efforts began aimed at bringing back Downtown dodgevillesuccessfully restoring over sixty buildings while also creating new jobs and revitalizing the area into what we see today - a thriving commercial district with plenty of stores and restaurants catering to locals and tourists alike!