Fond du Lac, city, seat of Fond du Lac County, eastern Wisconsin, at the southern tip of Lake Winnebago; incorporated 1852. It is a processing and distributing hub of a dairy-farming area. Manufactures include dairy products, mechanical engines, machine tools, motor-vehicle parts, dairy equipment, and aluminum items. Marian College of Fond du Lac (1936) is in the city. A French trading post was established here in the late 18th century. Permanent settlement began about 1835, and the community grew as a lumbering center. The city's name is French for “end of the lake.” Population 35,863 (1980); 37,757 (1990); 42,203 (2000).
