Point Basse
Five rapids covering a distance of about three miles in this area were referred to as Nekoosa (swift water) by the Chippewa Indians, who made their campground on high Swallow Rock overlooking these rapids. At the lower end of the rapids, Wakeley’s tavern served as a rendezvous and resting place for the river traveler and lumber raftsmen. Wakeley’s was the nucleus for the development of a settlement named Point Basse (low point). The name was later changed to Nekoosa.
The settlement became a key town during the colorful era when lumber was rafted down the river from the pineries of the North to Mississippi River markets.
Daniel Whitney built the first sawmill on the Wisconsin River here at Whitney’s Rapids in 1831, making Nekoosa the birthplace of Wood County. From this first harnessing of the river’s power developed scores of power facilities making the Wisconsin River the hardest-worked river in the world.
Marker can be reached from Prospect Avenue (State Highway 73) ½ mile north of State Highway 173, on the right when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
