18,000 years ago, the last of many glaciers retreated to the North after having gorged-out and depressed a lake basin and created a moraine of rolling hills. This paved the way for the physical attributes that are today know as the city of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.

The ancient Oneota Tribes of the lost Hopewell Culture Indians lived here. These agricultural peoples enjoyed an advanced civilization on these shores as long ago as 1,000 BC. Their effigy mounds, a panther and a lizard, existed in what today is Library Park. The Potawatomi tribe, who were a hunter/gatherer society, would drive the Oneota out of the area and reside in "Lake Geneva" until 1836.

In 1835, John Brink, a government surveyor, laid claim to the waterfall power and adjacent land at the White River outlet to the lake. He named the lake after his home in Geneva, New York. Until that point, the Native Americans had called the lake Kish-Way-Kee-Tow meaning "clear water"

In 1836, Christopher Payne, a pioneer settler from Belvidere, Illinois, established a rival claim for the water power. He built the first log cabin, the site of which is marked by a boulder and a plaque on Center Street just North of the river.

In 1837, the town was surveyed and laid out. Early land sales were recorded at $1.25 per acre by immigrant settlers from New England and New York. These early settlers came to Milwaukee and Kenosha via the Erie Canal and across the Great Lakes and then migrated West to Lake Geneva. Other settlers came from Ohio, Michigan, and Indiana across swamplands and forests to Lake Geneva. By 1840, only three short years after its establishment, the city was home to two hotels, two general stores, three churches, and a distillery.

After the Civil War, the town became a resort for wealthy families from Chicago. This began an expansion of lakefront mansions that characterize the waters' edges still today. Visitors at this time included Mary Todd Lincoln, General Sherman, General Sheridan, along with many of Chicago's merchants and bankers. Following the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, many Chicagoans sought summer refuge in Lake Geneva while their city homes were being rebuilt. The construction and maintenance, as well as the household staffing, developed a separate industry in the town adding to the milling, furniture, wagon, and typewriter manufacturing enterprises.

Today, the city is home to over 7,400 residents. Lake Geneva covers over 5 square miles and forms the Eastern border of the 5200 acre, 135 foot deep, lake that shares the same name. Many summer mansions still exist on the lake's borders, however, many have been converted into resorts, condos, or rebuilt altogether. Locally, small shops, restaurants, and businesses all line the downtown streets of Lake Geneva and thrive as an integral part the city's recreational industry.