A tourist booklet from Wisconsin Dells, ca. 1930

Dell View on Lake Delton at the Dells of the Wisconsin River

In 1925 an imaginative Chicago millionaire named William J. Newman decided to develop Delton, Wis., into an ultra-modern vacation resort. After buying up the necessary acreage along Dell Creek, he brought in engineers to build a 30-foot high dam where the creek entered the Wisconsin River. Then they piled a 1,000-foot long dike alongside the dam, sculpted 1,000 acres of artificial shoreline into prime tourist real estate, and began designing his resort. On July 27, 1927, he let the pretty little valley fill up with water and held a banquet to celebrate. By then his state-of-the-art Dell View Hotel was also ready. As this brochure illustrates, it included a bathing beach, golf course, trout pond, fish hatchery, hiking and horse trails, baseball diamond, amusement park, family cottages, and a nightclub with one of the best and largest dance floors in the state. For as little as $2.50 per day, visitors could have comfortable modern accommodations and explore the entire Dells region. A lock was built to enable small motorboats to travel into Lake Delton from the Wisconsin River, an airport was constructed for the convenience of wealthy tourists, and "almost numberless" summer cottages and substantial homes were soon going up along the lakeshore. For more details on the town's early history, see "Creating Lake Delton" in our Odd Wisconsin pages.

This undated, 12-page pamphlet was shaped to fit in a standard letter envelope or display rack, and contains nearly 30 photographs of the resort and the Dells natural attractions. Click on any image to zoom in, and use the "Print Version (PDF)" link at the upper right of the viewing frame to download a copy for closer inspection.

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