Delavan, Wisconsin
city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States
Delavan is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 8,505 at the 2020 census. It is located 45 miles (72 km) southwest of Milwaukee. The city is located partially within the Town of Delavan, but the two entities are politically independent. Delavan is home to Delavan Lake which brings in a large number of tourists each year, and is also close to Lake Geneva, another popular tourist destination.
History
Origins
Delavan sits in the middle of what was once an inland sea. During the last ice age, the final glaciation, named the Michigan tongue, covered this region. The Michigan tongue descended along the area of Lake Michigan. The "Delavan lobe" of this glacier broke off, pushing southwest into the area of Walworth County.
The first humans known to inhabit the Delavan area were Native Americans around 1000 BCE. Later, between 500 and 1000 CE, Mound Builders lived in what is now the Delavan Lake area.
“Delavan, Wisconsin” enters the record as city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Delavan, Wisconsin and city can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“Delavan, Wisconsin” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Delavan, Wisconsin and city provides the most credible route into that argument.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 20, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1570241. VIAF identifies the subject as 123183547. The Library of Congress control number is n82157459. Authority coordinates are 42.633, -88.644. 2 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020 and 1000.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Delavan, Wisconsin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Delavan, Wisconsin primary sources, Delavan, Wisconsin archive and Delavan research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Delavan, Wisconsin”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Delavan, Wisconsin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.