Sheboygan River Dam, Broadway St., Sheboygan Falls, Sheboygan County 

In 1835, upon finding these falls and their fine water power, Massachusetts pioneer and entrepreneur Silas Stedman decided to purchase the surrounding land for vil­lage and industrial development. The following year, Stedman platted the "Town of Rochester" and built the first sawmill at the falls. By 1849, the industrial center grew to three sawmills, a tanning mill manufactory, two flour mills, and an iron foundry. In 1850, Wisconsin legislators renamed the "Town of Rochester" to Sheboygan Falls, and the village continued to develop throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries. The Downtown Sheboygan Falls Historic District, bounded by the Sheboygan River on the east and Detroit Street on the west and including Broadway, Pine, and Monroe streets, encapsulates this history. This compact and picturesque district contains many industrial and commercial building examples in a variety of architectural styles dating from the 1840s through the early 20th centu­ry. The district was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.

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[Source: McBride, Sarah Davis. History Just Ahead (Madison:WHS, 1999).]