Wisconsin Dells was founded as Kilbourn City in 1857 by Byron Kilbourn, who is notable for also founding Kilbourntown, one of the three original towns at the confluence of the Milwaukee, Menomonee, and Kinnickinnic Rivers that joined to become Milwaukee. Before the establishment of Kilbourn City, the region around the dells of the Wisconsin River was primarily a lumbering area until 1851, when the La Crosse and Milwaukee Railroad was chartered with Kilbourn as its president. The railroad made plans to bridge the Wisconsin River near the river's dells, and a boomtown named Newport sprang up at the expected site of the bridge in 1853. The population of this new city quickly swelled to over 2000, but when the railroad finally came through the area in 1857 it took nearly everyone by surprise by crossing the river a mile upstream from the site of Newport. As a result, Newport was rapidly turned into a ghost town as the settlers flocked to the new city at the site of the railroad bridge, Kilbourn City. Because of the scenery provided by the dells of the Wisconsin River, Kilbourn City quickly became a popular travel destination in the Midwest. In 1875, early landscape photographer H. H. Bennett established a studio in the city and took several photos of the sandstone formations in the dells, including many stereoscopystereoscopic views. Prints of these photographs were distributed across the United States, further enhancing the status of Kilbourn City as a destination for sightseers. Taking advantage of this, Bennett began offering to take souvenir pictures of visitors to the dells, becoming one of the first to capitalize on the area's burgeoning tourist trade. Today, the H. H. Bennett Studio is a historic site operated by the Wisconsin Historical Society. The dells region remained primarily a place for sightseers to escape the bustle of the city for many decades. A few events of interest took place during this time, including the June 16, 1911, impact of a 772-gram stony meteorite in rural Columbia County near the city, damaging a barn. In 1931 Kilbourn City was renamed Wisconsin Dells after the natural feature which was drawing so many visitors to the town. As the twentieth century progressed, new attractions would begin to draw even more tourists. In 1946 Wisconsin Ducks began offering tours of the river dells and adjacent areas using decommissioned amphibious DUKW vehicles from World War II. Jack B. Olson started the Wisconsin Ducks. The Ducks remain one of the area's most popular attractions. Later, in 1952, a new traveling performance from Chicago called the "Tommy Bartlett Water Ski & Jumping Boat Thrill Show" came to Wisconsin Dells on its second stop. Following the show's huge success in the city, the show's owner, Tommy Bartlett, chose to keep the performances permanently in Wisconsin Dells. To promote the show, Bartlett gave away bumper stickers advertising his thrill show and the city, effectively spreading word about the area across the nation. Soon more attractions followed to serve the ever-increasing number of tourists, along with countless hotels, shops, and restaurants. Beginning in the late 1970s and continuing to the present, the Dells area has become a waterpark mecca. Noah's Ark water park opened in Wisconsin Dells in 1979, and has grown to become the largest and the eighth most visited waterpark in the U.S. Other outdoor amusement and water parks followed, featuring water slides, mini golf, roller coasters, go karts, and other attractions. In 1994 the Polynesian Resort Hotel opened the area's first indoor water park, and recently the number of combination resort/indoor water parks in the Dells area has swelled, with each new indoor park a bit larger than the last, in an effort to claim the "world's largest" title for the resort. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wisconsin_Dells%2C_Wisconsin