Belmont, Wisconsin Territory, 1836
When Governor Henry Dodge addressed the joint session of the legislature here on October 25, 1836, the Territory of Wisconsin included all of present day Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, and parts of the two Dakotas. The population was about equally divided east and west of the Mississippi. There was so much criticism of Governor Dodge's choice of Belmont as the Territorial Capital that he immediately offered to accept any location decided upon by the majority of the representatives. A bitter contest developed with the Dubuque and Burlington (Iowa) delegations finally joining the eastern Wisconsin group to move the capital for one year to Burlington and thence permanently to Madison. The briefly blooming village of Belmont quickly declined. When the railroad bypassed it by two miles to the southeast, many of the residents moved their buildings to the "new" Belmont.
Marker is at the intersection of County Route G and County Route B, on the right on County Route G.
Courtesy hmdb.org
