SHEBOYGAN, a thriving town, capital of Sheboygan county, Wisconsin, is situated on Lake Michigan, at the mouth of a river of its own name, 62 miles N. from Milwaukee, and 110 N. E. from Madison. The Milwaukee and Green Bay railroad, in progress, passes through it, and a plank-road about 40 miles in length has been completed to Fond du Lac. Sheboygan was settled in 1836, abandoned in 1840, and in 1845 it had 150 inhabitants. It now contains churches of 7 denominations, 4 newspaper offices, and about 2000 inhabitants: $30,000 have been expended in improving the harbor within the past year. Large quantities of lumber and other articles are shipped here in steamboats. (Baldwin's New and Complete Gazetteer of the United States..., 1854)
SHEBOYGAN, P. V., the county seat of county of same name, is situated on the lake shore, near the middle of the county, and at the mouth of Sheboygan river, a stream about 400 feet wide, and from 12 to 15 feet deep. The town plat is a dry, level and sandy plain, about 40 feet above the level of lake Michigan. In 1846 this village contained about 400 inhabitants, and had no churches, newspapers, or roads. At present it has a population of 2,000; 7 good churches, viz. Episcopal, Baptist, Presbyterian, Congregational, Methodist, German Reformed and Roman Catholic, and 4 weekly newspapers, viz., Mercury, Lake Journal, Republicaner, and The Niewsbode. During the past year the county has raised $20,000, and the General Government has appropriated $10,000 for the purpose of constructing a harbor at the mouth of the river. The work was commenced last spring, and has been vigorously prosecuted during the summer and fall. It will be finished during the coming season, which will give Sheboygan the best and most accessible harbor on the lake. One of the best plank roads in the State runs from this place to Taycheda, a thriving village on Lake Winnebago. There are four stage and mail routes running from here: one north, to Manitowoc and Two Rivers; one west, to Fond du Lac, Menasha, and Green Bay; one southwest, to Cascade, Mayville, &c.; and one south, to Milwaukee and Chicago. (John Warren Hunt, Wisconsin Gazetteer..., Madison, 1853)