History

Founded in 1855 and incorporated as a city in 1883, Tomah residents boast of a proud history. In the spring of 1856, two men climbed to a knoll in the Lemonweir River Valley and looked out over the area around them. These men--Robert E. Gillett and his son, Robert A. Gillett--considered a name for the town they envisioned.

Since there was no local history to consider for a name, the two men pondered a Native American legend about a great Native American Chief named Thomas Carron who built a council house where the Menomonee and Winnebago met. The Indian pronunciation for Thomas is Tomah.

The two men heard of chief Tomah's strong character and high ideals, which appealed to them and convinced them to name a city in his honor. Settlers and visitors to Tomah soon found out that the name suited the area, and planted the seeds for a community that continues to uphold the high ideals of Chief Tomah today!

When you are driving down Tomah's City Center on Superior Avenue, you are driving on "Gasoline Alley", a constant reminder of Comic Strip originator Frank King and the characters: Uncle Walt, Phyllis, Skeezix and all of the rest published in over 300 daily newspapers with a daily combined readership of over 27,000,000.

King's pictures began to arouse a lot of interest. Ideas for a progressive comic strip and Gasoline Alley came to him many years later when he was employed by the Chicago Tribune. Prior to that he worked for a newspaper in Minneapolis as an illustrator. During World War I he was overseas sketching scenes of the war for publication in United States newspapers. He also worked for the Chicago Examiner in his early days.

King has been praised widely for his natural, wholesome credible characters. His drawings have been exhibited as "Distinctive American Art" in many places. He had a one-man show in Springfield, Illinois and Buffalo, New York. In 1959, the National Cartoonist Society named him cartoonist of the year, and the same group judged "Gasoline Alley" best of the year. King saw the plot of the feature as developing progressively further. Skeezix, as Dad Walt, will change from father to grandfather.

Frank King Died in 1969 at the age of 89 years and was buried beside his wife in Oak Grove Cemetery in Tomah. Frank King was and continues to be one of Tomah, Wisconsin's true keepsakes.

For more information on area history visit the Monroe County Local History Room website at www.monroecountyhistory.org.