Wauwatosa

Wauwatosa 458

Wauwatosa is a city in Milwaukee County that is surrounded by Milwaukee (north, east, and south) and Elm Grove, Brookfield, and (a little bit of) Butler (west). I-41, US 18, and state highway 190 (Capitol Dr.) all pass through it. I-94 runs just south of the city. Wauwatosa has about 48,400 residents.

The settlement was first called Hart's Mill after Charles Hart. It was later going to be changed to Wauwautosa (note the 2nd "u") after an Indian chief, but somewhere along the way the spelling became Wauwatosa. No matter, today most people in the greater Milwaukee area simply call it Tosa, for short.

Several meanings for the Indian name Wauwautosa have been suggested.

One refers to swarms of fireflies (Wau-wau-rae-sie). Others include...

• what he works for
• what he earns
• dim memory
• I grabbed something
• he shines as he walks

Pick your favorite.

Powers Lake

Powers Lake 734

Powers Lake is located near US 12 just a couple of miles north of the Illinois border and 25 miles west of Kenosha in Kenosha County. It has about 1400 residents who live around Powers Lake and the smaller Benedict and Tombeau lakes.

Powers Lake was first called Lakeville, then Nippersink (source unknown), and was finally named for James Powers, an early settler.

Lima Center

Lima Center 713

Lima Center is located just off state highway 59 about 5 miles southwest of Whitewater in Rock County. It's one of those places that it amazes you that it ever had a post office. There are railroad tracks through the area, so it probably had a depot at some point in its history. The handful of homes in the area are mostly situated along Lima Center Rd.