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Fontana, Wisconsin

19 topographic sheets cover this place, the earliest surveyed in 1893 and the latest in 1980. It stands in Fontana-on-Geneva Lake Village. It lies in ZIP code area 53125. It stands on Potawatomi Creek. The Survey maps it on the Walworth quadrangle. 3,120 people lived here at the 2020 count. It stands 909 feet above sea level.

Fontana within Walworth County

On record in Fontana

Buildings and businesses the archive holds for this place. Each opens its own page, with the source record it came from.

On the National Register 1 record

Population over time

2 figures

Fontana grew from 1,672 to 3,120 between 2010 and 2020. These are the recorded population figures Wikidata holds for this place, reached through the Geographic Names Information System number this page is keyed on rather than by name, so they belong to this place and not to another of the same name. Most are census counts, but not all are: an early figure may be a founding or settlement estimate, and an estimate published within five years of a census is left out. The change column is computed, and is left blank where more than 20 years separate a figure from the one before it, because a gap that long is not a change between two counts.

YearPeople Change
20101,672
20203,120+1,448 (+87%)

Topographic sheets covering this place

8 surveys from 19 printed sheets

Matched by testing this settlement's coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet in the United States Geological Survey's historical collection. Each opens the scanned sheet at the Survey.

In the county-history sources

25,986 words on this township

History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882 names this settlement in its chapter on Fontana-on-Geneva Lake Village. These are the passages that mention it, exactly as the scans read.

The lover of rustic life may long for more rural scenes than is presented by a modern hotel teeming with life, fashion and beauty. To such, the fullest enjoyment of a summer vacation comes from camping out, or in a semi-rustic life in lake-side cottages. There are many camps and camping grounds about the lake that offer to the visitor every facility for the free enjoyment ot life, untrarameled by the requirements of society. Among such camps or parks at the command of the public, in addition to those mentioned above, may be mentioned Fontana, or Porter & Montague's Park, Camp Collie, Russell's Park and " Warwick," and private parks - Lakeside, Harvard, Belvidere, Oak Park, Englewood, etc.

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

This hotel is admirably located near the head of the lake in a beautiful grove of oaks. It commands one of the finest views of the lake it is possible to obtain from any point. It is managed by Misses Bissell & Reed, who came here in 1880, from Toledo, Ohio. The park is situated directly opposite Fontana, and in addition to the hotel contains a number of cottages owned by people of Marengo, 111., which has given the park its name. The hotel is a large two-story mansion with broad piazzas like a Southern planter's home, and the cottages, bathing houses, boat houses, laundry, office, and other substantial buildings which surround it add to that resemblance. A broad, beautiful lawn of many acres slopes from its front to the water's edge. Swings, croquet grounds, a dancing platform, and numerous rustic benches and decorative flower beds ar« distributed about it.

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

(1) Dock for private boats; (2) George Sturges; (.3) L. Z. Leiter: (4) N. K. Fairbank; (5) J. T. Lester; (6) Henrv Strong: (7) H. L. Gav: (8) E. Bm-k; (9) T. J. Schneider: (10) Judge Withrow; (11) O. W. Potter : (12) Elgin, 111., Chib House; (13) new Elgin, III. club; (U) E. T. Crane; (15) Pisheotaqua Hotel, C. F. Hall, proprietor: (IP)) Camp Collie, a resort for ministers and their families, on the point west of Williams Bay; thence returning around the head of the laki^ and down the south shore is (17) Eussell's Park, public; (18), Belvidere Park, owned mostly by residents of BeU-idere, 111.; (19) Fontana, public, Porter & Montague: (20) N. K. Fairbank, fish pond; on the south shore (21) Marengo Hotel: (22) A. Sperry's Landing: (23) Harvard Park, owned by citizens of Harvard, 111.; (24) Prof. Nightingale's Lauding: (25) Bon Ami Club, Chicago; (2fi) Englewood Camp, Chicago Club: (27) Kaye's Park, public, with hotel; (28) Warwick Park; (29) J. S. Eumsey. private, (30) Geo. L. Dunlap; (31) J. C. Walter. The last-named landing is immediatelv south of the Whitinir House dock.

Passage source: History of Walworth County, Wisconsin, Containing an Account of Its Settlement, Growth, Development and Resources...its War Record, Biographical Sketches, Portraits of Prominent Men and Early Settlers; the Whole Preceded by a History of Wisconsin...and an Abstract of Its Laws and Constitution.., published 1882.

Machine-read from a century-old scan, so expect the errors a machine makes: misspelled names, dropped words, stray characters.

Read the whole chapter on Fontana-on-Geneva Lake Village.

Fires near this place

19 since 2015

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 19 fires within 5 miles of Fontana between 2015 and 2020, burning about 43 acres in total. None started naturally. 1 was recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Debris and open burning7
Missing data/not specified/undetermined7
Equipment and vehicle use2
Arson/incendiarism1
Smoking1
Power generation/transmission/distribution1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
5 September 2020Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources20340
8 May 2019Arson/incendiarismunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources174
26 May 2018Smoking1.0 acresWisconsin Department of Natural Resources18-084
7 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources1804008
26 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources109
23 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources108
21 April 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreWisconsin Department of Natural Resources64
14 April 2015Debris and open burning1.0 acresIllinois Division of Forestry Resources15-334

Settlements close enough to share some of these fires:

Every fire recorded in Walworth County

Mines and quarries near this place

3 within 5 miles

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 3 workings within 5 miles of Fontana: 2 past producers, 1 producer. 1 still produces. What was taken out: Sand and Gravel, Construction. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Mann Brothers, Inc.Sand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Stewart PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionPast Producer
Williams Bay PitSand and Gravel, ConstructionProducer

Every working recorded in Walworth County

Storms near this place

8 since 1995

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Fontana in 8 storm reports between 1995 and 2020: 4 thunderstorm wind, 3 hail, 1 funnel cloud. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
November 2020Thunderstorm WindFontana$100,000Widespread tree damage and power outages in the Village of Fontana-On-Geneva-Lake. Dozens of roads blocked by fallen trees. At least 14 homes sustained structural damage due to fallen trees. A roof blown off a home. A green house destroyed.
June 2002Thunderstorm WindFontana$10,000no account filed
August 2000Thunderstorm WindFontana$2,000no account filed
May 2018HailFontana-no account filed
August 2006HailFontana-no account filed
June 2005Thunderstorm WindFontana-no account filed
June 1999Funnel CloudFontana-no account filed
June 1995HailFontana-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Walworth County

Nearest settlements

The eight closest, with where each one stands in the county. Distances are straight-line, computed from the Geographic Names Information System coordinates.

Map PlaceDistance Sheets
Walworth1.9 miles19
Williams Bay2.6 miles19
Delavan Lake3.8 miles19
East Delavan4.0 miles19
Linton4.1 miles19
Lake Como4.7 miles19
Lake Lawn5.2 miles19
Inlet5.3 miles19

Elsewhere

Matched on this settlement's Geographic Names Information System number rather than its name, so it cannot be a different place of the same name in another state.

Wikipedia article on FontanaAn encyclopaedic summary. Its text is share-alike, so it is linked here rather than copied.
Wikidata item Q2640552The structured record the population and elevation above come from. Public domain (CC0).

Provenance

This settlement is recorded in the Geographic Names Information System as feature 1584503. The sheet list is computed by point-in-boundary test against the United States Geological Survey's historical topographic inventory. Both are works of the United States government and carry no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.

Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.

Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.