Menasha

Menasha (/məˈnæʃə/) is a city located on former Menominee and Ho-Chunk territory in Winnebago and Calumet counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 18,268 at the 2020 census, of which 15,144 were in Winnebago County and 2,209 were in Calumet County. The city's name comes from the Menominee language, in which it is known as Menāēhsaeh, meaning "little island". At the time of European contact, a Ho-Chunk village known as "Menashay" stood on what is now Doty Island, led by Chief Hootschope (Four Legs). It is part of the Fox Cities region of Wisconsin. Doty Island is located partially in Menasha, which it shares with Neenah.

The Menominee people inhabited the Fox River Valley for over 10,000 years. In the Treaty of the Cedars (1836), the Menominee ceded approximately 4,000,000 acres of land, including present-day Menasha, to the United States for $700,000 (approximately 17 cents per acre). This cession opened the region to logging and European-American settlement. Menasha's location on the Fox River and Lake Winnebago subsequently led to its development as a transportation hub and later a center for paper production and wooden ware products.