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The Village of Maple Bluff, population 1,357, is a small, residential suburb of Madison, the capital of Wisconsin. Maple Bluff occupies a narrow band on the northeast shoreline of Lake Mendota where Winnebago Indians once had their summer encampments. The Winnebagos were especially attracted to the northeast side of the lake because of the dense forest of mature maple trees, a protected area excellent for both hunting and fishing. Lake Mendota shielded this forest home from the prairie fires that swept northward-thus the dense maple grove on McBride's Point (the "bluff") from which our village gets its name.
While at the University of Wisconsin in 1882, Thomas E. Coleman wrote about the Winnebago encampments on McBride's Point-the Upper Bluff-where mounds were still present when cottages began to be built there in the 1890's.
Maple Bluff is made up of five separate real estate developments that date from 1892 to1926. Many residences occupy commanding views along one of the most scenic parts of Lake Mendota.
Maple Bluff's village limits are defined by Lake Mendota on the west, Sherman Avenue and the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad on the east, the Yahara River on the south, and Warner Beach on the north.
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