history

In the days before Wisconsin’s statehood, the Fox River was an important water highway for native tribes,  travelers, and fur traders. Since as early as 1760, the land where the Mansion now stands, held a trading post to welcome travelers at a natural portage point along the Fox River. The Grignon family actively ran the fur trade post until Charles took over in 1830.

In 1837, Charles A. Grignon built this elegant home as a wedding gift for his Pennsylvanian bride, Mary Elizabeth Meade. Known as “The Mansion in the Woods” to countless travelers and traders, the Grignon home was built during a time of economic change from fur trading to farming, logging, and industry in the Fox River Valley.

The Mansion and the Grignon family were also familiar to local indigenous 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 United States Government: the area now known as Northeast Wisconsin.
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Today, the Grignon Mansion is a proud reminder of the diverse history of Kaukauna and the Fox River Valley.