Wisconsin Dells Is Built On Family Fun

Today’s toddlers, tweens and teenagers think of Wisconsin Dells as a shiny, new vacation spot.  Little do they know we’ve been a tourism town for more than 150 years!  From steamboat tours on the Wisconsin River to modern day waterparks, this city was built on family fun.

In 1856, the community was incorporated as Kilbourn City, in honor of the president of the railroad that went through the town.  The name did not stick.  In 1931, it was changed to Wisconsin Dells, the name locals and tourists had always used, with “Wisconsin” derived from the Native American word meaning “dark rushing waters” and “Dells” mimicking the French word “dalles” meaning “layers of flat rock” and describing the bluff rock formations here.

Local photographer H.H. Bennett is credited with making Wisconsin Dells famous by snapping photos of the scenery and getting those incredible photos posted along the railway from Chicago north.  Steamboat tours and hiking excursions quickly followed, with Duck tours, the famous Tommy Bartlett Show and attractions like Storybook Gardens next.

And then came the opening of Noah’s Ark Waterpark, the country’s largest outdoor waterpark, and the indoor waterpark, invented right here in little ol’ Wisconsin Dells.  The rest, as they say, is history.  Today, we’re the world waterpark capital and the #1 Family Destination in the U.S. as ranked in the 2010 TripAdvisor.com Travelers’ Choice poll.

Our business owners, nearly all of them locals, have worked hard to turn Wisconsin Dells into the kind of vacation playland that little ones dream of and parents reminisce about, with value and variety the pillars of our popularity.  Let the family fun continue!