About the Town of Whitewater Walworth County, Wisconsin

The Town of Whitewater is a thriving rural community located in southern Wisconsin in the heart of Kettle Moraine Country. The first people to live on Whitewater Lake were the Algonquin Indians, their tribe name was Wau-be-gan-naw-po-cat which means whitish or muddy water. Governor Doty later gave the lake the Menomonee name Waubish Nepayuaw meaning Whitewater. There was skirmish in Whitewater between Chief Black Hawk and General Atkinson over lands promised to the Indians in the Treaty of 1804. As early as 1830 Norwegian settlers came to the area. The records of 1843 show them as the first white settlers. In the year 1844, thirty seven Norwegian immigrants settled near the Heart Prairie on the wooded high grounds of Whitewater Lake. In the 1840’s the first dam was built near Rice Lake. In 1855 the first church was built, called Heart Prairie Lutheran Church. This church still stands on Chapel Drive and services are held there on summer weekends.

The Town of Whitewater has grown into a beautiful community nestled in the Kettle Moraine Area. There is much to say about this beautiful recreational area around Rice and Whitewater Lakes. As it started out being an agricultural area, there is still pride in the farming community. The Town offers manufacturing, shopping. banking and restaurants. Our neighbor, the City of Whitewater, has additional shopping, restaurants, banking and a variety of cultural, sports, and theatrical productions offered by the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater, as well as educational opportunities. There are emergency facilities and health care services offered as well.