Sinnipee

Sinnipee is a vanished settlement in Grant County, Wisconsin, situated along the Mississippi River where Sinnipee Creek meets the river. Its origins trace to before 1832, when Payton Vaughan of North Carolina became its first settler, and the Sinnipee Company formally established the community in 1835. The town grew as a Mississippi River port and played a meaningful role in the lead trade of the era.

At its peak the community supported notable travelers — both U.S. president Zachary Taylor and Confederate president Jefferson Davis lodged at the Old Stone House, a hotel that opened in 1839, lending the site an outsized historical footprint for a settlement of its size.

Today Sinnipee exists as a ghost town. Visitors drawn to the confluence of the creek and the Mississippi will find a quiet riverside setting with deep historical resonance, though the active community is long gone. Those interested in early Mississippi River commerce and lead-trade history will find the location worth seeking out, best explored in the warmer months when access along the river corridor is most practical.