Little Kohler, or Kohler, is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

located in the Town of Fredonia in

Ozaukee County Ozaukee County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,503. Its county seat is Port Washington, making it one of three Wisconsin counties on Lake Michigan not to have a county seat with the same ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States.

Transportation

Little Kohler is located at the intersection of County Highway H (Kohler Drive, Fredonia-Kohler Road), Belgium-Kohler Road, and County Highway E. County H had been designated as Wisconsin Highway 84 before the highway was decommissioned.

History

Martin and Theresa Koller and their children settled in the area in the 1840s, having emigrated from

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

. The community was originally named Koller, after them. In 1912, the

Kohler Company Kohler Co., founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler, is an American manufacturing company based in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kohler is best known for its plumbing products, but the company also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and g ...

created a planned community in an area of

Sheboygan County Sheboygan County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after the Sheboygan River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 118,034. Its county seat is Sheboygan. The county was created in 1836 and organized in 1846. At th ...

formerly known as River Side. They named the village

Kohler Kohler is a surname of German origin. The name was first found in Saxony. It means, "charcoal burner" so the first "Kohlers" were most likely of that occupation. Notable people with the surname include: *Alan Kohler, Australian journalist *Anton ...

after the family company. At some point, the community of Koller began to be called Kohler as well. Residents of the Kohler in Ozaukee County then began referring to their community as "Little Kohler" to differentiate the two. Little Kohler is the location of the former Camp Fredonia, an Allied

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

that held 330 German

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held Captivity, captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold priso ...

guarded by 46 U.S. combat veterans under the command of Captain Ray Thill, a native of

Belgium, Wisconsin Belgium is a village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located along Interstate 43, the village is one of the northernmost communities in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 2,245 at the 2010 census. Beginning in th ...

. The camp opened on June 15, 1945, and closed in January 1946. The headquarters was located in the Louis Glunz Hall on Fredonia-Kohler Road, while the prisoners slept in tents in a fenced enclosure. Most of the prisoners worked on local farms harvesting peas and sugar beets. Some were contracted to work at canneries in West Bend, Thiensville, Saukville and Belgium.

Attractions

The Pineview Wildlife Rehabilitation Center is located in Little Kohler. St. Mary Mother of Sorrows Catholic Church was built in Little Kohler in 1849. This parish merged with those in Fredonia and Holy Cross in 2001.

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Unincorporated communities in Wisconsin