Ft. Winnebago Surgeon’s Quarters Historic Site

Bedroom of Surgeons Quarters (Photo: Fort Winnebago website)

The Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters is owned and operated by the Wisconsin Society Daughters of the American Revolution. The Surgeons Quarters, built in 1828, is one of the oldest French Colonial log structures in the state.  Fort Winnebago was constructed from 1828-1830 as one of three forts built along the Fox – Wisconsin Waterway from Green Bay to Prairie du Chien.  The Fort was abandoned in 1845 and much of it was destroyed in an 1856 fire. 

Fort Winnebago was of strategic importance due to its location at the portage of the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers, the major route from Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River until the mid-nineteenth century.  The location was initially intended as a deterrent to further conflict between the Winnebago and American settlers, and probably to oversee trade with the Indians.

The property’s primary significance in military history in Wisconsin is that it is the last remaining building of a military installation. Despite Fort Winnebago’s relatively short existence, it was highly significant to the commerce and development of Wisconsin prior to achievement of territorial status in 1836 and until attainment of statehood in 1848.

The Fort Winnebago Surgeons Quarters was listed in the National Register of Historic Places on October 28, 1970.  A nearby attraction is the “Old Indian Agency House.”