Antigo is the county seat of Langlade County. It was a planned community, founded in 1878 by Francis A. Deleglise, who initially named his town Springbrook. Later, he changed the name to Antigo, which comes from the Chippewa Indian name for the river that flows through the area, "Nequi-Antigo-sebi" meaning "spring river" or "evergreen".

As early as 1876, Deleglise had begun mapping out his town and laying out roads, Deleglise purchased the land which was to become Antigo from the U.S. government, then set about recruiting settlers, industries, churches, and business interests to come to Antigo.

In 1881, Deleglise convinced the Milwaukee Lakeshore and Western Railroad to come thru Antigo in its northward expansion by offering free land along the proposed tracks to rail officials. The railroad laid 23 miles of track, stretching from Aniwa to Summit Lake. The first train rolled in to Antigo on August 15, 1881. This proved to be the boon that his fledgling community needed. The Chicago and Northwestern Railroad took over the Milwaukee Lakeshore and Western in 1893, and from then on, the growth of Antigo and the railroad were intertwined.

Antigo gained its charter in 1883, and was incorporated as a city in 1885. By 1886, it had grown into a full-fledged town with a population of 2,500. It was around this time that the Jankowski's began immigrating to the United States and to the Antigo area. We know that Constantin and seven family members arrived in the US at the port of Baltimore on September 12, 1889. It is assumed they traveled immediately overland to Langlade County and the Antigo area.

According to Lena, Mike (Constantin's son) had arrived in America prior to this, possibly as early as 1886. The family eventually purchased land in the Rolling Township of Langlade County. In the early part of the 1900s, Antigo was best known for its sawmills. At the turn of the century, the city's economy had a good balance of industry and agriculture. High on the list were potatoes, dairy farms, fur, shoes, fertilizer, steel and aluminum products, along with the lumber and wood product industries established in the earlier years.

creating 5th Ave westbound 1882	Weeds Mill 1883	farmer making soap 1884	Langlade County Courthouse 1900
downtown drugstore 1902	hauling logs thru Antigo 1907	Chicago & Northwest Railroad depot - 1908	Antigo High School Football Team - 1909
Antigo High school 1909	Antigo High School Girls Basketball Team - 1909	St. Hyacinth's Catholic Church - around 1910	Langlade County Courthouse date unknown
5th Ave. looking east from Clermont St. - approx 1910	Catholic School date unknown	another view from the Courthouse - approx 1910	4th of July celebration downtown - 1911
Antigo Depot 1913	looking east on 5th Avenue 1922	German POWs unloading freight cars - 1945