history

In the days before Wisconsin’s statehood, the Fox River was an important water highway for travelers and fur traders. At a natural portage point along the Fox, where the Mansion now stands, a trading post was established as early as 1760. Charles A. Grignon, whose family had been active in the fur trade for over 100 years, took over this post in 1830.

In 1837, Charles A. Grignon built this elegant Mansion as a wedding gift for his Pennsylvania bride, Mary Elizabeth Meade. An oasis of luxury and civilization on the Wisconsin frontier, this stately home was known as “The Mansion in the Woods” to countless travelers.

The Mansion and the Grignon family were also familiar to local American Indian tribes. The grandson of a Menominee woman, Charles acted as an interpreter for the U.S. government at the Treaty of the Cedars, which transferred four million acres of Menominee land to the U. S. Government for European and Euro-American immigration: the area now known as Northeast Wisconsin.

Today, the Grignon Mansion is a proud reminder of our state’s beginnings. Restored to the time period of 1837-62, when Charles lived there, the Mansion is a beautiful link to our heritage.