Lake Geneva is a city in
Walworth
County
, Wisconsin
, United
States
. The population was 7,148 at the 2000
census.
A
resort city located on Geneva Lake
, it is southwest of Milwaukee
, and popular with tourists from metropolitan
Chicago
and Milwaukee
.
History
Originally
called "Muck-Suck" (Big Foot) for a Potawatomi chief, the city was later named Geneva
after the town of Geneva, New York
, located on Seneca Lake
, to which early settler John Brink saw a
resemblance. Geneva, to avoid confusion with the nearby town
Geneva, Illinois, was renamed
Lake Geneva; later the lake was renamed
Geneva
Lake. In practice both forms are used for the lake, but never
for the city.
Railroad access from Chicago made the area a popular summer retreat
for the barons of wealth in lumber, cattle, oil, steel, cement,
manufacturing, and durable goods (Morton Salt, Wrigley Chewing Gum,
etc.), with mansions and large homes such as Stone Manor and
Black Point built on the lake
during the heyday of the roaring 20s.
The city was then
known as "The Newport
of the West". The city is also known
today as "The Hamptons
of the Midwest". In
the
automobile era the city's fortunes at
first declined and it became a haven for
Al
Capone and other mobsters.
In 1954,
Lake Geneva was named as one of the three finalists for the
location of the new United States Air Force
Academy, but ultimately lost out to Colorado
Springs, Colorado
.
Hugh Hefner built a
Playboy Club in Lake Geneva.
Guns N' Roses lead singer,
Axl Rose, also owned property on the southwest side
of the lake from 1988 until 1998. The popular song
"Paradise City" was written about the
Playboy Club. The club was closed in 1981 and
converted into the Americana Resort, and later to the present Grand
Geneva Resort. Lake Geneva was also home to
Dungeons and Dragons creator
Gary Gygax until his death in 2008.
The city operates under a
mayor-council form of government. Lake Geneva
recently annexed a large tract of land that will expand the city
around the south shore of Geneva Lake.
Geography
Lake Geneva is located at (42.592380, -88.434424) .
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of
5.8
square miles
(15.0
km²), of which, 5.0 square
miles (13.0 km²) of it is land and 0.8 square miles
(2.1 km²) of it (13.77%) is water.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 7,148
people, 3,053 households, and 1,801 families residing in the city.
The
population density was
1,425.1 people per square mile (549.8/km²). There were 3,757
housing units at an average density of 749.0/sq mi
(289.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 90.81%
White, 0.90%
African American, 0.11%
Native American, 1.08%
Asian, 0.06%
Pacific Islander, 5.16% from
other races, and 1.89%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 14.75% of the
population.
There were 3,053 households out of which 27.8% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were
married couples living together, 9.8% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 41.0% were non-families.
33.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.8% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 3.01.
In the city the population was spread out with 23.0% under the age
of 18, 9.8% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 22.4% from 45 to
64, and 15.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
36 years. For every 100 females there were 94.8 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.6 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $40,924, and the
median income for a family was $54,543. Males had a median income
of $38,930 versus $25,671 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$21,536. About 4.7% of families and 7.2% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 9.0%
of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
Notable people
Images
File:LakeGenevaWisconsinSign.jpg|Entrance sign on
U.S. Highway
12
References
- The Encylcopedia of Wisconsin, 1990, ISBN 0403099071
- Steven A. Simon, "A Half-Century of History," Fifty Years
of Excellence: Building Leaders of Character for the Nation,
2004.
-
http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/15808339/guns_n_roses_outta_control_the_rolling_stone_cover_story/3
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