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Waukesha ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Waukesha Countymarker, Wisconsinmarker, in the Upper Midwest region of the United Statesmarker. As of the 2008 population estimate, Waukesha had a total population of 68,008, and was the largest community in the county. The city is located adjacent to the Town of Waukeshamarker. Milwaukee County is due east of Waukesha County.

In 2006, Money magazine ranked Waukesha 36th on its list of the "100 Best Places to Live", in the United States.In 2007 America's Promise ranked Waukesha one of the "100 Best Communities for Young People" in the United States.

Waukesha is home to the Episcopal monastery of the Order of Julian of Norwich.

History

The area that Waukesha now encompasses was first inhabited in 1834. Its first non-American-Indian settler was Morris D. Cutler.

By 1846, the area was incorporated as the village of Prairieville. On February 8, 1847, the village changed its name to, "Waukesha," and in 1896, incorporated as a city.

Waukesha's name

Over the years, many believed, incorrectly, that the origin of the name of the city was an Algonquin word meaning "fox" or "little foxes," though it is actually an Anglicization of the Ojibwe proper name Waagoshag or the Potawatomi name Wau-tsha. Wau-tsha (sometimes written as Wauk-tsha or Wauke-tsha) was the leader of the local tribe at the time of the first European settlement of the area. This is confirmed by accounts of Increase Lapham, an early settler and historian of the region. According to Lapham, the word for "fox" was pishtaka. Cutler also told visitors about Wau-tsha, who was described as "tall and athletic, proud in his bearing, dignified and friendly."

"Spring City"

Waukesha was once known for its extremely clean and good-tasting spring water and was called a "spa town." This earned the city the nicknames, "Spring City," and "Saratoga of the West."

According to author Kristine Adams Wendt, in 1868, Colonel Richard Dunbar, a sufferer of diabetes, chanced upon the medicinal properties of what he later named the Bethesda Spring while viewing a parcel of land recently purchased by his sister. Testimonials found in a Dunbar brochure of 1873 proclaimed the miraculous benefits of Bethesda Mineral Water for persons suffering from all manner of urinary tract and bladder problems, diabetes, Bright's disease, torpid liver, indigestion, chronic diarrhea, dropsy and "female weakness," among others.

Wendt reports that by 1872, "area newspapers carried accounts of a community ill equipped to handle its new popularity among the suffering multitudes. The semi-weekly Wisconsin (Milwaukee) of July 31, 1872, reported 'that fully 500 visitors are quartered in hotels and scattered in private families here, seeking benefit from the marvelous waters...'"

Among those visitors was Abraham Lincoln's widow, Mary Todd Lincoln. She spent several weeks in Waukesha during the summer of 1872, still mourning the death of her son Tad the previous year. The former first lady stayed at the Hubbard boarding house and according to one contemporary account, "was all in black, with a full skirt to the dress which was very long." One newspaper opined, "Poor Mrs. Lincoln carries a heavy heart, and she is much of the time in tears."

The "healing waters" were so valued that a controversial attempt was made to build a pipeline between the city and Chicagomarker so that they could be enjoyed by visitors to the 1893 Columbian Expositionmarker. According to Time magazine, "[t]he scheme had been conceived by one Charles Welsh who had been given the springs by his uncle, but after several miles of pipe were laid, it was discovered that the cost was too great."

Richard W. Sears, founder of Sears and Roebuck, may have been attracted to Waukesha by the waters. In failing health, Sears retired from business in 1908 and, according to The New York Times, "spent his time on his great farm near Waukesha." In 1914, Sears died in Waukesha of Bright's disease leaving an estate estimated at $20 million.

Over the years, the natural springs have been spoiled by pollution and a number have gone dry.

Football history

One of the most important "firsts" in American sports history occurred in Waukesha on September 5, 1906, when Carroll Collegemarker (now Carroll University) hosted the football team from St. Louis Universitymarker. SLU halfback Bradbury Robinson threw the first legal forward pass in football history in that game. The Carroll players and local fans were stunned. The visitors went on to win 22-0 and the sport was changed forever.

Project Nike

During the Cold War Waukesha County was the site of three Nike Missile batteries, located in the city of Waukesha and nearby Muskegomarker and Lannonmarker. In the city of Waukesha the U.S. Army and later the Wisconsin National Guard operated the command and control center from 1956 to 1970 at what is now Hillcrest Park on Davidson Road. The missile pits existed near the corner of Cleveland Avenue and Hwy 164 - first holding Ajax missiles with conventional warheads and later the nuclear equipped Hercules warhead. The Hercules provided a similar nuclear capability as that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in World War II. The Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum has promoted the preservation of the Hillcrest Park site as a local Cold War museum, honoring Cold War veterans and commemorating America's longest and costliest conflict.

Contemporary politics

In 2006, Waukesha's mayoral election featured Ann Nischke as the Republican candidate and Larry Nelson, a former middle school English teacher, as the Democratic candidate. Nelson won the election, an anomaly in Waukesha County, which is one of the most conservative counties in the United States. Nelson is a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Bostonmarker Mayor Thomas Menino and New York Citymarker Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Geography and climate

Waukesha is located near the center of Waukesha County in southeastern Wisconsin, 18 miles west of Milwaukeemarker. Waukesha is also located 59 miles east of Madisonmarker. The city shares borders with City of Brookfieldmarker, Town of Brookfieldmarker, Geneseemarker, New Berlinmarker, City of Pewaukeemarker, Village of Pewaukee, Town of Delafield and Town of Waukeshamarker.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 21.7 square miles (56.2 km²).About 21.6 square miles (55.9 km²) of it is land and 0.1 square miles (0.2 km²) of it (0.32%) is water.

The city is located on both sides of the Fox River, which starts near Menomonee Fallsmarker and flows into the Illinois River.

Monthly Normal and Record High and Low Temperatures
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec
Rec High °F 58 66 82 91 93 100 109 101 101 88 77 68
Norm High °F 27 33 44 57 70 80 84 82 73 61 45 33
Norm Low °F 11 17 27 38 49 58 63 62 53 42 30 18
Rec Low °F -27 -28 -14 7 26 34 42 39 28 17 -9 -23
Precip (in) 1.48 1.31 2.28 3.53 3.02 3.78 3.83 4.77 3.52 2.62 2.63 1.87
Source: Weather.com


Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 64,825 people, 25,663 households, and 16,296 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,000.5 people per square mile (1,158.8/km²). There were 26,856 housing units at an average density of 1,243.1/sq mi (480.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.22 percent White, 1.28 percent African American, 0.33 percent Native American, 2.17 percent Asian, 0.04 percent Pacific Islander, 3.31 percent from other races, and 1.65 percent from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 8.58 percent of the population.

Approximately 32.5 percent of households had children under age 18 living with them, 50.2 percent were married couples living together, 9.8 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.5 percent were non-families. Some 29.0 percent of all households were made up of individuals and 9.2 percent had someone living alone who was 65-years-old or older. The average household size was 2.43 people and the average family size was 3.04 people.

In the city, the population was spread out with 24.7 percent under age 18, 10.8 percent from 18-years-old to 24-years-old, 33.6 percent from 25-years-old to 44-years-old, 20.2 percent from 45-years-old to 64-years-old, and 10.6 percent who were 65-years-old or older. The median age was 33 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $50,084, and the median income for a family was $60,841. Males had a median income of $40,743 versus $29,279 for females. The per capita income for the city was $23,242. About 3.0 percent of families and 5.4 percent of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.0 percent of those under age 18 and 5.9 percent of those age 65 or over.

Education

Waukesha is home to Carroll Universitymarker, formerly known as Carroll College, a private Presbyterian university. Opened in 1846, it is the oldest college in the state (a title also claimed by Beloit College). As a liberal arts school, Carroll offers more than 50 areas of study, primarily at the undergraduate level. Carroll University's enrollment is roughly 2,500 students.

Located on the city's northwest side, the University of Wisconsin–Waukesha, part of the UW system, offers two-year associate degrees. Students have the option of transferring to four-year institutions to complete their undergraduate education.

One of the two New Tribes Bible Institute campuses within the United States is located on a large hill in central Waukesha. Operated by New Tribes Mission, the school doubles as the first part of a four-year missionary training program, which includes field training in the U.S.

The School District of Waukesha serves the city and portions of surrounding municipalities. It operates four high schools in the city: Waukesha South High School, Waukesha West High School, Waukesha North High School, and Harvey Phillip High School, an alternative school. It also runs three middle schools and 17 elementary schools.

The city is home to Waukesha County's only Catholic high school, Catholic Memorial High Schoolmarker. There are also two small, independent evangelical Christian schools in Waukesha: West Suburban Christian Academy, with two campuses, and Waukesha Christian Academy, a small K through 12 school located on the city's west side.

City technology

Cellnet Technology Inc (based in Alpharetta, Georgiamarker) plans to make Waukesha the second community in Wisconsin outfitted with a city-wide Wi-Fi network blanket. (Midwest Fiber Networks is scheduled to make Milwaukee the state's first wi-fi municipality by summer 2006.)

Cellnet, which began working on a similar "blanket" for Madison, Wisconsinmarker in early 2006, had planned to present their idea to Waukesha's Information Technology Advisory Committee in February 2006. If the proposed installation of the network goes through, city residents would only have to buy a wireless card (typically $50 USD) to gain access to the internet from any area in Waukesha.

Sports and recreation

Downtown Waukesha is the site of one of the stages of the Tour of America's Dairyland cycling event, which features a criterium race, started in 1993.

Notable people



Sister cities



References

  1. name="slahs-land"
  2. Wisconsin Archeological Society, The Wisconsin Archeologist, 1922, p. 71.
  3. Langill, Ellen D. & Jean Penn Loerke, From Farmlands to Freeways: A History of Waukesha County Wisconsin, Waukesha County Historical Society, 1984.
  4. A geographical and topographical description of Wisconsin..., p. 136.
  5. Larson, Eric, The Devil in the White City, p.139,175-76
  6. "Business: Mixings Mixture?", Time, January 20, 1930
  7. Coldwar.org
  8. GM Today, April 6, 2006
  9. Esptein, Reid J. "Waukesha could be next city to go Wi-Fi" Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, February 3, 2006.


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