PORTAGE, Wis. – The Wisconsin Historical Society announces the additional documentation for the Portage Canal in the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 2025 at the statewide level of significance. The Portage Canal extends from Portage, Columbia County along the Fox River.
The Portage Canal was originally listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1977 as a statewide example of transportation. Additional documentation was accepted at the National Park Service to relist the canal at the statewide level of significance because the old nomination had limited information about the property and its history, and research revealed it is also a statewide example of engineering. The additional documentation provides a better understanding of canals in the state and how innovative the design was for its time.
The Portage Canal location derives from the old Portage trail, which was used by Native Americans, French fur traders and British soldiers. The importance of the portage between the Wisconsin and Fox rivers was recorded in the late seventeenth century. Shortly thereafter followed the early years of Euro-American settlement, which identified the need for a canal. The Portage Canal was planned to be one of Wisconsin’s major water routes, connecting the American West to the eastern markets and population centers. State, private, and federal agencies developed the waterway in the nineteenth century to construct a transportation corridor connecting the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River. Planning for and constructing the canal was a large undertaking. Planning efforts began in the 1920s, and in 1835, it opened for canoe navigation. The canal was an integral part of the Fox Waterway that was utilized by steam barges from 1851 and operated until 1951, when it was decommissioned.
Additional information for the Portage Canal is available at:
To learn more about the State and National Register programs in Wisconsin, visit: https://wisconsinhistory.org/hp/register/
About the Wisconsin Historical Society
The Wisconsin Historical Society, founded in 1846, ranks as one of the largest, most active and most diversified state historical societies in the nation. As both a state agency and a private membership organization, its mission is to help people connect to the past by collecting, preserving and sharing stories. The Wisconsin Historical Society serves millions of people every year through a wide range of sites, programs and services. For more information, visit wisconsinhistory.org.
