city in Dodge County, Wisconsin, United States
Beaver Dam is a city of 17,000 people (2020) in Dodge County of Southwest Wisconsin. The city was named for an old beaver dam located in a stream flowing into Beaver Dam River.
Beaver Dam hosted a World War II prisoner of war camp called Camp Beaver Dam in the summer of 1944. The camp held 300 German prisoners in a tent city encampment where the Wayland Academy field house now stands.
Not only will you find a historical Society that was formed in 1938, for the preservation of articles pertaining to pioneer days and the early history of Beaver Dam, but you will also find an Academy established in 1855. The Academy has seen a Wisconsin congressman, Wisconsin State Representative, Baseball Hall of Fame member, member of the U.S. Track and Field Team at the 1908 Summer Olympics (London), and former General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks and Houston Rockets, graduate from its halls.
Beaver Dam has 21 city parks, which include almost 300 acres of parklands and are home to the largest freshwater cattail marsh in the United States.