LAKE GENEVA

city, Walworth county, southeastern Wisconsin, U.S., on the northeastern shore of Lake Geneva at its outlet (the White River), 52 mi (84 km) southwest of Milwaukee. Named for Geneva, N.Y., it developed after 1840 and has been a popular year-round resort for more than a century, with many summer homes and estates (most of which are now permanent residences) on the lake and the wooded hills. The Northwestern Military and Naval Academy moved there in 1911 from Highland Park, Ill. Lake Geneva is the site of the University of Chicago's Yerkes Astronomical Observatory (at Williams Bay). There are some light manufactures. The lake, covering 5,230 ac (2,120 ha) is 7.7 mi long and 2 mi across at its widest point; it is partly spring-fed, has a shoreline of 26 mi and a maximum depth of 140 ft (45 m), and is angled for several types of fish. At its western end is Fontana, the site in the 1830s of the Potawatomi village of Chief Big Toe (or Big Foot). Big Foot Beach State Park is at the lake's eastern edge, and the smaller lakes Como and Delavan are nearby. Inc. village, 1844; city, 1883. Pop. (1990) 5,979.