WILLIAMS BAY

The population has nearly doubled in the last 30 years as more people are finding its slow-paced, relaxed style, yet convince to great family fun the best of both worlds. In the summer, we enjoy swimming, boating, (public boat launch) kayaking, paddle boarding, fishing, local restaurants and walking on the lake path. Winters in Williams Bay offer ice skating, ice fishing, ice boating and snowmobiling.

FAMOUS WILLIAMS Williams Bay is named for Captain Isreal Williams of Connecticut, a War of 1812 Sea Captain, who with several of his sons, settled in the area in 1835. Another famous Williams (not related) is George Williams, the founder of the YMCA, whose officials and students of Chicago-based George Williams College frequently met just west of the town of Williams Bay. He later established a camp in the village on the shores of Lake Geneva. George Williams College changed hands in the 1970's and today is part of the Aurora University, which offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral degree programs. The famous Music by the Lake summer festival series are held at Aurora University.

Yerkes Observatory which houses the world's largest refracting telescope ever constructed and used for astronomical observations is often called "the birthplace of modern astrophysics" is in Williams Bay.