| Appleton, the seat of Outagamie County, is located on the Fox River. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 70,087.
The city extends into both Calumet and Winnebago Counties.
Appleton was the childhood home of magician Harry Houdini, author Edna Ferber and Iwo Jima flag-raiser John Bradley, and is the birthplace of actor Willem Dafoe, and football player Rocky Bleier. Sen. Joseph McCarthy, who was born nearby in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, is buried in Appleton, in St Mary's Parish Cemetery.
Appleton also had the first telephone in all Wisconsin and the first incandescent light in any city beyond the East Coast.
The first hydroelectric power was generated in Appleton, on the Fox River.
The city has commercial air service provided at Outagamie County Regional Airport.
The Valley Fair Mall, recognized as the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States, was built in Appleton in 1954. |