Danes in Wisconsin | Wisconsin Historical Society

Historical Essay

Danes in Wisconsin

Danes in Wisconsin | Wisconsin Historical Society
Dictionary of Wisconsin History.

 

Danes founded one of the nation's first distinctly Danish settlements at Hartland, Wisconsin in 1846. From the 1850s to the 1880s, Danish immigration to the Midwest rapidly increased. By 1897, Wisconsin was home to 35,000 Danes. Most settled in the southeast and central portions of the state. Danish immigration to Wisconsin declined during WWI. The Midwest remained the heart of the "Danish belt" until internal migration to the Pacific coast became widespread in the 1920s.  

Related Resources

"The Americanization of a Danish immigrant in Wisconsin, 1847-1872" in Wisconsin Magazine of History Vol 64, No 3 (Spring 1981) 

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