Welcome to Ottawa ...
Ottawa is located in Waukesha County<1>.
We aren't confident of the location of Ottawa, so consider the above location as an estimate.<2>
While we don't have a date for the founding of Ottawa, you might consider that their post office opened in 1848.
When the people of Ottawa refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Ottawan<3>
Ottawa is 930 feet [283 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Ottawa lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
Websites for Ottawa ...
Official Website: www.townofottawa.com/
Communities Also Named Ottawa ...
Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 17 communities that are also named Ottawa - they are located in Illinois, Iowa (2), Kansas (2), Kentucky, Michigan (2), Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Ontario (3), Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Ottawa.
Communities near Ottawa ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Ottawa.
- Waukesha
(11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Waukesha
- Waukesha is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 72,376 people
- New Berlin
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for New Berlin
- New Berlin is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,812 people
- Brookfield
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Brookfield have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Brookfield
- Brookfield is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 39,164 people
- Muskego
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Oconomowoc
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Oconomowoc have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Oconomowoc
- Oconomowoc is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 17,160 people
- Whitewater
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the southwest)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Whitewater
- Whitewater is located in Walworth County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 14,993 people
- Pewaukee
(12 miles [19.3 km] to the northeast) - Sussex
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sussex
- Sussex is located in Waukesha County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 11,086 people
- Hartland
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the northeast) - Mukwonago
(9 miles [14.5 km] to the southeast)
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Ottawa. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Ottawa.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Ottawa. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Ottawa.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Ottawa. See our Newspapers Page for Ottawa.
Adding Ottawa to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Ottawa in the GNIS. For more information, see the Referenced GNIS Codes section on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Ottawa was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Ottawa post office opened in 1848.
We also found Ottawa in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Ottawa.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Ottawa: www.townofottawa.com/
The official website for Waukesha County: www.waukeshacounty.gov/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Waukesha, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | An 'estimated' location is one where we have been given GPS coordinates, but are unable to verify the accuracy of those coordinates. That said, we have some confidence that we have placed the marker near the actual location. A typical reason for being unable to verify a location is that it might be on private property or maybe historic and gone without an obvious trace. |
| <3> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Ottawa refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a community's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Ottawa may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Ottawa - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |