Best Web Design in Janesville, WI (2026)

Web Design for Janesville, Wisconsin

Janesville is the seat of Rock County in southern Wisconsin, straddling the Rock River about 40 miles southeast of Madison. For nearly a century it was a company town anchored by the oldest General Motors assembly plant in North America and the Parker Pen Company, and its 2008 GM closure became a national symbol of Rust Belt decline. Today it leans on its nickname 'Wisconsin's Park Place,' with one of the highest park-acreage-per-capita counts in the state and the 20-acre Rotary Botanical Gardens.

AppWT works with Janesville, WI businesses from Livonia, Michigan, mostly online and travelling as needed.

About Janesville

Also known as. Wisconsin's Park Place. Bower City. City of Parks. Wisconsin's Great Outside.

History. Founded in 1835 by Henry F. Janes, a Virginia-born woodsman who first proposed naming the settlement 'Blackhawk' after the Sauk leader Black Hawk; postal officials rejected it and the town was named for Janes himself. Became the county seat of Rock County and grew as a milling and tobacco-trading town along the Rock River. Hosted the first Wisconsin State Fair in 1851, drawing roughly 10,000 attendees. Abraham Lincoln visited in 1859 and stayed at the residence of William Tallman (the Lincoln-Tallman House). General Motors established a plant in 1919, first building Samson tractors and then automobiles, growing into GM's oldest North American assembly plant. The Janesville Assembly Plant closed in December 2008 after 89 years, an event chronicled in Amy Goldstein's award-winning 2017 book 'Janesville: An American Story.'

Local economy. Historic economy built on the GM Assembly Plant (1919-2008) and the Parker Pen Company, a top-area employer for over 70 years. Earlier industries included flour mills, tobacco farming and farm-equipment manufacturing. Current major employers include Mercy Health System, the Janesville school district, Rock County government and Blackhawk Technical College. Home to headquarters of Blain's Farm & Fleet, Woodman's Markets and Impact Confections (maker of Warheads candy).

Culture and community. The Janesville Jets play junior hockey in the North American Hockey League (NAHL), operating since 2009. Rotary Botanical Gardens hosts seasonal events including the 'Holiday Light Show.' Downtown Janesville Restaurant Week runs in January and a Saturday Farmers Market runs May through October. A park-centered identity: 64-plus improved parks and internationally themed gardens reflect John Nolen-influenced park planning.

What makes Janesville distinct. Parker Pens made in Janesville were used to sign both the German WWII armistice and the Japanese surrender documents in 1945. The Gideons International (the Bible-in-hotels organization) was organized at a meeting in the Janesville YMCA on July 1, 1899, by John Nicholson, Samuel Hill and Will Knights. 'Bessie the Cow,' a giant fiberglass cow from the defunct Janesville Oasis roadside stop, was preserved by popular demand during 2007 redevelopment. Former U.S. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan was born in and represents Janesville as his hometown.

Janesville Landmarks and Local Life

• Lincoln-Tallman House - an 1857 Italian Villa-style mansion where Abraham Lincoln stayed, one of the few Wisconsin homes Lincoln is documented to have slept in
• Rotary Botanical Gardens - a 20-acre nonprofit garden built in 1988 on a former sand-and-gravel quarry, with themed Japanese, Scottish, Rose, Italian and English cottage gardens
• Hedberg Public Library.
• The city's extensive Rock River park system - with more than 60 parks