Wisconsin Dells Wisconsin Info Site!
Click to see pictures of the "empty" Lake Delton.
French explorers "discovered" what they called the "Dalles" in the 1700s. The word means "flagstone" and you can see why they gave it that name by looking at all the layered stone cliffs that these early explorers saw as they paddled down the Wisconsin River. Among other things, "dalle" meant a stone used to "flag" gutters, and the stone formations along the river as it narrows through Wisconsin Dells, could have also suggested gutters or waters confined by rocks. Before the dam was built, the river used to roar through this area because of the narrowness of the stone walls causing a venturi effect.
The village of Kilbourn was formed where the railroad finally crossed the river in 1857. Local residents and visitors never stopped calling the area "The Dalles." Kilbourn was later, in 1931, renamed to the americanizaton of the word "Dalles" and became Wisconsin Dells.
Nearby Lake Delton, West, across the Wisconsin River and to the South, is often lumped together with Wisconsin Dells in the Tourist's mind. All they are looking at are all the gift shops, motels and recreation opportunities and they all just kind of flow together as one big vacation area named Wisconsin Dells. The Dells, because of its beautiful sceanery of the river and the rock formations and the trees is one of the oldest tourst destinations in the state of Wisconsin. It is still a ver popular tourst destinations not only during the summer time with all the outdoor activities but now, with many of the hotels building the indoor water parks, even during the Winter it is popular with the tourists.
Many of the nicer hotels are time-shares and you will find the same "salesmen" trying to get you to sign your vacation life, of the next thrity years, away for a time share the same as though you were in Maui.
Police and Fire Departments:
Wisconsin Dells Police Department & Kilbourn Fire Department
712 Oak Street
Wisconsin Dells WI 53965
Non-emergency: (608) 253-1611
Fax (608) 254-4375
Hospitals:
The nearest hospital is in Baraboo, Wisconsin:
St. Clare Hospital
707 Fourteenth Street
Baraboo, WI 53913
608-356-1400
You can look at a map of the hospital by clicking here.