Agoston Haraszthy - Wisconsin

Wisconsin

In Wisconsin, Haraszthy and his cousin attempted to settle on some land at Lake Koshkonong. This effort was unsuccessful, however, so they went on to the Sauk Prairie, on the Wisconsin River west of Madison. There Haraszthy purchased a large tract of property facing the river and laid out a town. First called Széptaj (Hungarian for "beautiful place"), later Haraszthy (or Haraszthyville or Haraszthopolis), the town was renamed Westfield and finally Sauk City after Haraszthy left for California in 1849. In 1842, Haraszthy returned to Hungary to bring his parents, wife and children to Wisconsin as permanent American residents. The Haraszthys became United States citizens and never returned to Hungary.

Haraszthy formed a partnership with an Englishman named Robert Bryant and threw himself into a myriad of ambitious projects. Besides the town that he laid out, he built mills, raised corn and other grains, and kept sheep, pigs, and horses. He opened a brickyard, kept a store, operated a ferry across the Wisconsin River, and obtained the approval of the Wisconsin Legislature to build a bridge across the Wisconsin River. Many of the oldest houses still standing in Sauk City were built with bricks from Haraszthy’s brickyard, although the bridge was not built, for before he could get the project under way he left Wisconsin for California.

Haraszthy was a legendary hunter. He donated land on which the first Roman Catholic church and school in Sauk City were built; owned and operated a steamboat, which carried passengers and freight on the Wisconsin and Mississippi Rivers; planted grapes; and dug wine cellars into hillside slopes above the town. The cellars and slopes are today home to the Wollersheim Winery, one of Wisconsin's best-known wine producers.