Wisconsin Dells is a resort city that almost happened by accident. In 1946 a Milwaukee native named Mel Flath bought some amphibious trucks (called "Ducks") at an auction in California while looking for war surplus trucks. He bought them on a whim. Well, he put them to use on the Wisconsin River giving tours of the dells. It became very popular and many tourists came from all over to take the tours. Because the tourists were coming, other entrepreneurs started opening up things like tee shirt shops, gift shops, miniature golf and on and on. If you've ever been to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls, you've seen similar results.
Lake Geneva, Wisconsin was a beautiful location that was liked by Chicago millionaires for its hunting and fishing. They built lavish summer homes on the shores of Geneva Lake. It was a classy place and the early owners like chewing gum magnate William Wrigley, Jr. bought up lakefront property that was adjacent to his in order to keep it from being subdivided and turned into something less opulent than his vision. Well it worked and today it is still a classy place with beautiful views.
While these two summer resort cities are pretty close to one another geographically, they couldn't be much further apart in terms of what they've become. One is a commercial center that keeps getting bigger and bigger and the other is a beautiful town on a beautiful lake that is now as beautiful as it was when I first saw it as a child more than fifty years ago.
