APPLETON, a city of Wisconsin, U.S.A., on the lower Fox river, about 90m. N.W. of Milwaukee, near Lake Winnebago, the largest and one of the most beautiful lakes of the State; the county seat of Outagamie county. It is on Federal highway 41, and is served by the Chicago and North-Western, the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul and the Soo Line railways; and by steamboats on the river, connecting with lake steamers at Green Bay. The population was 19,561 in 1920 and 25,267 in 193o, by Federal census.
The city is attractively laid out on high bluffs above the river. It is the centre of a rich live stock and dairy section, and has large paper-mills and other factories, utilizing power developed from the Fox river. The total value of its factory products in 1927 was Lawrence college (chartered 1847) occupies a campus of 6ac. in the heart of the city. The college was founded in 1846 by a gift of $ I o,000 from Amos Adams Lawrence (1814-86) , a merchant of Boston, to the local conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and was opened in 1849. In 1926-27 the enrolment was 1,1o6.
Appleton was settled in 1833 and incorporated as a village in 1853. The villages of Grand Chute and Lawesburg were con solidated with it to form a city, which was chartered in 1857. Appleton also, like the college, was named after a Boston merchant, Samuel Appleton, who owned part of the original town plot and contributed generously to the college library.