Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the area, Native American mounds were constructed near the present location of Burlington.

For example, around 1830, a small Potawatomi village stood in what is now the Town of Burlington,[6] though it wasn't larger than the present-day city.

The earliest certain European presence in what is now Burlington was in the fall of 1799, when a group of French explorers and missionaries led by Francis Morgan de Vereceones made a portage from the Root River to the Fox River, reaching the Fox at approximately Burlington's present location.

[7] The first European settlers in Burlington were Moses Smith (the son of a Revolutionary War veteran) and William Whiting.

[8][9] Smith and Whiting had been in the area previously, making a so-called "jackknife claim" to the land (carving their names and the date on trees in the vicinity) on December 15, 1835.

[10] The men then left the encampment and returned with Lemuel Smith (Moses' brother) as well as Benjamin Perce, another member of the group.

The four men searched for arable land and built a cabin on the east side of the Fox River (on what is now Wehmhoff-Jucker Park.)

On July 3, 1836, however, an act of Congress organizing the Wisconsin Territory went into effect, and Foxville fell within the borders of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Territory, which at that time included the present-day county of Racine.

The first post office in Foxville was created on March 21, 1837, with Moses Smith, one of the four founders of the city, as the first postmaster.

[13] On January 2, 1838, Rochester township, which included Foxville as well as all of Racine County west of Mount Pleasant, was established.

On March 9, 1839, Burlington township (including at the time what is now the Town of Dover) and much of Brighton were separated from Rochester.

[14] They were part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the Northwest Territory during the early 1800s.

The settlers laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes.

They brought with them many of their "Yankee" New England values, such as staunch support for abolitionism as well as a passion for education and the subsequent construction of many schools.

[15][16][17][18][19][20] From 1844 to 1850, the town of Voree, just to the west of Burlington, was the headquarters of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), one of many sects founded during the LDS succession crisis following the death of Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith.

Although James Strang's group relocated to Beaver Island, Michigan in 1850, his parents remained in Voree.

Strang's church still maintains a congregation in Voree to this day, and the local historical society has erected a monument to the Mormon settlement there.

[31] An act of the Wisconsin Legislature in 1857 incorporated the Burlington Union School District of Racine County.

Private and parochial schools in Burlington include: Burlington is the home of the Sacred Heart Retreat Center of Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest, formerly the site of the novitiate for the U.S. Order of Friars Minor.

[37] The city is the home of the Burlington Barons, a semi-pro baseball team that is part of the Land O'Lakes League Southwest Division.

[38] The community of Voree, home to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), is located just outside the city.

Its primary purpose was to inform his congregation about events in the wider Latter Day Saint movement.

The paper was renamed the Gospel Herald in September 1847, and continued to be published until 1850, when most of the church relocated to Beaver Island in Lake Michigan.

The newspaper was strongly Republican[42] and continued until December 11, 1860, when its owner moved to Houston, Texas.

Around 1989 Win-TV (now WIN Media, Inc. - [1]) was created by current owner and President Shad Branen.

Lakes States did not achieve the cost savings that the Soo Line had envisioned and was sold to the new Wisconsin Central Transportation, which commenced operations on October 11, 1987.