The area that became known as the City of Oconto Falls is nestled on the banks of the Oconto River at the falls of the river, about 15 miles upstream from the bay of Green Bay. The City takes its name from the river which has the meaning in the Menominee dialect place of the Pickerel. It is reported that the river was referred to by early settlers as the Pickerel River.

The river divides the community with the eastern half constructed on a low bluff overlooking the rivers waters and the western side at a lower elevation on more level terrain.

The power afforded by the falls is what first attracted settlers in the area. In October, 1846, John and Almira Volk and their family, reached falls of the river by traveling by boat upstream from its mouth at a bay of Lake Michigan (Green Bay), the present day location of the City of Oconto. The Volks landed on the west more hospitable side of the river just below the falls. Along with two Chicago families, the Volks started the construction of the first permanent structures in the community.

In her biography, Almira Volk described the land as being:

"Extremely beautiful and picturesque with tall, stately pines stretching far up into the heavens upon all sides, while the River, clear as crystal, unmolested, glided along with the utmost complacency, then plunged over a rocky abyss, and went foaming away below.

The falls were very beautiful, and travelers would go out of their way to stop and see them. However, the beauty found by the Volks would not remain, for the falls were an impediment to log drives and the water power of the river was needed for industry. The falls were eventually dynamited and dammed