Waubeka is an unincorporated

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counte ...

in the Town of Fredonia, Ozaukee County,

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. Located on the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the ...

, the community is part of the

Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeastern Wisconsin, consisting of the city of Milwaukee and some of the surrounding area. There are several defini ...

. As of the 2020 census, its population is 640, down from 657 at the 2010 census. Inhabited by Native Americans into the mid-1800s, Waubeka was named for a

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

chief who was friendly with the first white settlers who arrived in the area in the 1840s. Waubeka was the site of the first formal observance of

Flag Day A flag day is a flag-related holiday, a day designated for flying a certain flag (such as a national flag) or a day set aside to celebrate a historical event such as a nation's adoption of its flag. Flag days are usually codified in national s ...

in 1885, and today the community is home to the National Flag Day Foundation's Americanism Center, which serves as the organization's headquarters and contains a museum.

History

The land that became the Waubeka was originally inhabited by Native Americans, including the

tribe, who surrendered the land to the United States government in the

1833 Treaty of Chicago The 1833 Treaty of Chicago was an agreement between the United States government and the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes. It required them to cede to the United States government their of land (including reservations) in Illinois, ...

. While many people moved west of the Mississippi River to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

, a few chose to remain, and were referred to as "strolling Potawatomi" in contemporary documents because many of them were migrants who subsisted by

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

on their former lands, now owned by White settlers. One such group was led by Chief Waubeka, who maintained a winter camp on the south bank of the

in present-day Waubeka as late as 1845. The chief's wigwam was located near the present site of the Gerald Joose house. In the Potawatomi language, "Waubeka" means "metal." Eventually the Potawatomi gathered in northern Wisconsin, where they formed the

Forest County Potawatomi Community The Forest County Potawatomi Community () is a federally recognized tribe of Potawatomi people with approximately 1,400 members as of 2010. The community is based on the Forest County Potawatomi Indian Reservation, which consists of numerous n ...

. In the 1840s, Waubeka was the largest settlement in the Town of Fredonia. The first European civilization was from settlers who were English, Irish, Scottish, and Yankees from the East Coast. In 1848, a group of German immigrants arrived from

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

and settled in the northern part of Waubeka. Luxemburger and Belgian newcomers settled in eastern Waubeka, and others from

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

and

Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...

settled in the northwest.

Geography

Waubeka is 840 feet (256 m) above sea level and is located at (43.4749994, -87.9903696). According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the community has a total area of : land and water. Waubeka is located in the Town of Fredonia, and borders to the Village of Fredonia to the east and the Town of Saukville to the south. The community is located in the Southeastern Wisconsin glacial till plains that were created by the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...

during the most recent ice age. The area has some subterranean

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

limestone formations that are part of the Racine Dolomite that stretches through eastern Wisconsin and Illinois. Before Europeans arrived in and civilized the area, the Waubeka area was an upland forest dominated by

American beech American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

trees. There were also white cedars growing along the

, which flows along the community and provided a power source for the community's early industries. Much of the original forest was cleared to prepare the land for agriculture. Large mammals, including

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely relat ...

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that endemism, lives only on the North American continent throughout most of Canada, along the coasts of the U ...

s and

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

es can be seen in the village. Many birds, including

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

s and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...

s are found in the community. The region struggles with many invasive species, including the

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the abbreviation EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash trees, ash species (''Fraxinus'' spp.). Females lay eggs in bark crevices o ...

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

, reed canary grass, the common reed,

purple loosestrife ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...

, garlic mustard, Eurasian buckthorns, and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

Flag Day

United States

was first formally observed in Waubeka. On June 14, 1885, Stony Hill School teacher and Waubeka-native Bernard J. Cigrand instructed his students to write essays about what the

flag of the United States The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

meant to them to commemorate the

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

's 1777 adoption of the flag as a national symbol. It was the first formal observance of Flag Day. In 1995, the National Flag Day Foundation constructed the Americanism Center in Waubeka. A 13,000-square-foot facility on fifteen acres of land, the center serves as the foundation's headquarters and also houses a museum with an extensive collection of patriotic memorabilia, military uniforms, and artifacts from the life of Bernard J. Cigrand. The foundation organizes a parade in Waubeka each Flag Day.

Notable residents

* Bernard J. Cigrand, founder of Flag Day in the United States, was born in Waubeka.

References

External links

Fredonia & Waubeka AreaWaubeka Volunteer Fire Department
* Sanborn fire insurance map
1910
{{authority control Census-designated places in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Census-designated places in Wisconsin