06/17/2026
❗️ ❗️ Today officially marks 1 month until Sovereign State Days ❗️ ❗️
Over the next few weeks we're going to be celebrating by holding a countdown with some highlights and info about our town's historic celebration.
To start our countdown, we're going back to our roots. What is Sovereign State Days? 🤔
In January 1967, a Milwaukee salesman came to town complaining about the hard time he had finding Winneconne during his travels. He even questioned if Winneconne still existed because it couldn't be found on a map. 🗺️ At this moment it was realized Winneconne's name had been left off the official Wisconsin highway maps. This was troubling news because over the years there had been extensive efforts to promote the virtues of Winneconne on the Wolf for potential visitors. This prompted Vera Kitchen, president of the Chamber of Commerce, to send a letter of protest to the State Highway Commission about the mistake. ✉️ The explanation was that the name tag for Winneconne must have fallen off the map before the engraving process and therefore absent from the 1.1 million copies of Wisconsin maps made. 📍 A commission official stated that unless another printing is needed that the error could not be rectified and vowed to include Winneconne's name on future copies of the map. The response was less than satisfactory so the it was decided to have a little fun with the circumstance.
A secret committee was formed and a competition was held to help put Winneconne back on the map. 🧠 The most legitimate, yet comical, idea proposed a Sovereign State of Winneconne. Become an independent authority, governing its own people and affairs without external interference, and possessing the power to conduct foreign relations as a self-governing entity. This went on to include toll gates on the highway and bridge, annexation of Oshkosh to the Sovereign state of Winneconne, even establishing their own flag compiled of other "undesirable" imagery; a dodo, skunk, poison ivy, and sheepshead. 🦤🦨🌿🐟 The village government was in full support.
Plans were made for Winneconne to secede from the state on July 21, 1967. The drastic action caught the attention of Governor Knowles, who sent an urgent telegram asking the village to reconsider. After some negotiating the governor agreed to have signs placed at highways 41 & 110 to direct motorists to the community and assured official review of the of 1968 maps before going to print. 🛣️ It was then Winneconne rejoined the state of Wisconsin.
The Sovereign State of Winneconne was born and died that day, but the history lives on in the celebration of Sovereign State Days every July to remind ourselves that you're never too small to make a big difference. 💪