Sun Prairie is one of the fastest growing cities in Wisconsin

Sun Prairie was settled in 1837. The origin of the name "Sun Prairie" came from a group of pioneers led by A.A. Bird in 1837. The party, traveling from Milwaukee toward Madison, had spent nine days tramping through the rain. They reportedly arrived at the borders of the prairie just as the sun finally emerged, providing the inspiration to christen the spot "Sun Prairie." The township and village later took this name. Georgia O'Keeffe's grandfather, Pierce O'Keeffe purchased land in Sun Prairie Township in 1848. None of the original buildings on the O'Keeffe homestead exist. A historical marker was placed in front of the home location in 1971 by the Sun Prairie Historical Museum. The open, gently rolling land of Georgia's childhood and the isolation of the farmstead can still be perceived. The O'Keeffe farm stretched south along Town Hall Rd., east of Sun Prairie. This accounts for Georgia's claim of her father's land stretching for a great distance. Sun Prairie township had a total population of 912 in 1890. The population of the village was 704. The village gained over 200 residents in the next ten years. It is now a city with a population of almost 40,000.