Waupun is a city in Dodge and Fond du Lac counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 11,340 at the 2010 census. Of this, 7,864 were in Dodge County, and 3,476 were in Fond du Lac County. In Fond du Lac County, the Town of Waupun abuts the city of Waupun.HistoryWaupun comes from the Ojibwe word "Waubun" which means "dawn of day." In fact Waupun was originally supposed to be named "Waubun" but the State of Wisconsin made a spelling error, and Waupun never bothered to change it.Waupun was founded in 1839 by Seymour Wilcox, the first settler along the Rock River in what was then deciduous forested land. The territorial Census in 1847 showed Waupun Township to have a population of 956. In 1851, the city was chosen for the State Penitentiary, owing to the abundance of limestone for construction. The main building, constructed in 1854, is still in use. The population in 1940 was 6,725.The Milwaukee & Horicon Railroad reached Waupun in 1855. It was sold to the Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway June 23, 1863. This company eventually became the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad, known as "The Milwaukee Road", which served Waupun until 1980, when the line was sold to the state of Wisconsin and became the Wisconsin & Southern Railroad.GeographyWaupun is located at .According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 4.44sqmi, of which, 4.39sqmi is land and 0.05sqmi is water.
