Ulao, Wisconsin
Ulao, Wisconsin, is an unincorporated community in the Town of Grafton in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin.[1] It is located at the intersection of Ulao Road and the old Chicago and Northwestern railroad running from Milwaukee to Green Bay. Today, I-43 runs a few hundred feet to the west of the town. Ulao Creek runs through the community.
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[edit] History
Just to the east of Ulao, on the shore of Lake Michigan, was the town of Port Ulao, which was founded in 1847 by James T. Gifford, an investor from Elgin, Illinois. Gifford began a business of selling wood to steamships heading down the lake, and built a 1000-foot wooden pier into the lake for ships to dock. He then constructed a chute down the side of a steep bluff to transport logs that farmers in the area produced while clearing land.[2]
The same year, Gifford was granted a charter by the territorial legislature to build a plank road from Port Ulao west to the Wisconsin River. Only three miles of it were actually built, but this turnpike, now known as Ulao Road, became the basis of today's Highway 60.[2]
In 1862, the Latter Day Saints visited Ulao.[3]
[edit] Landmarks
- Kevich Light is located in Ulao.
[edit] Notable residents
- Charles Guiteau, assassin of President James Garfield, was James Gifford's nephew and lived in Ulao from 1850 to 1855.[4]
[edit] References
- ^ "Ulao, Wisconsin". Geographic Names Information System, U.S. Geological Survey. http://geonames.usgs.gov/pls/gnispublic/f?p=gnispq:3:::NO::P3_FID:1577866.
- ^ a b Early History of Grafton is Recalled in Talk by Ralph Zaun
- ^ http://www.centerplace.org/history/ch/v3ch15.htm
- ^ History and origin of Port "Ulao"; Jill Hewitt; Retrieved October 5, 2007
[edit] External links
- Hewitt, Jill "History and Origin of Port "Ulao". From the Ulao Creek Partnership
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Coordinates: 43°19′14″N 87°54′55″W / 43.320623°N 87.915269°W
