WAUKESHA

city, seat (1847) of Waukesha County, southeastern Wisconsin, U.S., on the Fox River, immediately west of Milwaukee. Settled in 1834 as Prairieville, it was renamed Waukesha (Potawatomi for "By the Little Fox"). A station on the Underground Railroad for runaway slaves, it was an Abolitionist centre before the Civil War, publishing the anti-slavery American Freeman. From 1870 to 1915 it was a health resort known for its mud baths and mineral springs. Limestone quarrying and diversified industries, including machine shops and foundries and food processing, are economic mainstays. It is the seat of Carroll College (1846) and of a University of Wisconsin centre (1966). Inc. village, 1852; city, 1896. Pop. (1990) 56,958.