Grant County, Wisconsin

Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 51,208.[1] Its county seat is Lancaster.[2]

Grant County
U.S. county
Grant County Courthouse, Armand D. Koch, architect, 1902
Location within the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location within the U.S.
Coordinates: 42°52′N 90°43′W
Country United States
State Wisconsin
Founded1837
Named for Ulysses S. Grant
SeatLancaster
Largest cityPlatteville
Area
 • Total1,183 sq mi (3,060 km2)
 • Land1,147 sq mi (2,970 km2)
 • Water36 sq mi (90 km2)  3.1%
Population
 (2010)
 • Total51,208
 • Estimate 
(2019)
51,439
 • Density43/sq mi (17/km2)
Time zoneUTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district3rd
Websitewww.co.grant.wi.gov

Grant County comprises the Platteville, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is in the tri-state area of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and is crossed by travelers commuting to Madison from a number of eastern Iowan cities, and by residents of northern Illinois traveling to the Twin Cities or La Crosse, Wisconsin.

History

Indian presence

What is now Grant County was largely uninhabited prior to contact with Europeans, as it was a border region between the territories of the Kickapoo, Menominee, and Illinois tribes. The only Indians to have a permanent settlement in the area were the Fox tribe, who had a temporary village in what is now the extreme northeast of the county during the mid-1700s.

Colonial period

Between 1520 and 1620 this area was nominally ruled by Spain, although the lack of explorers left the region completely untouched by Spanish authority. The first Frenchmen to reach what is now Grant County were Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, who explored the region in the spring of 1673, after setting out from what would later become Green Bay. No permanent settlement was made. In 1680 Louis Hennepin also passed through the region that would later become Grant County, also making no permanent settlement. In 1689 Nicholas Perrot passed through the territory and claimed it for the King of France. The first settlement was a temporary trading post that Pierre Marin founded in 1725.

The British technically ruled the region during the period between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, though no effort was made to settle or administer the region. After the abandonment of Marin's trading post, the region went unvisited until the expedition of Jonathan Carver, a Connecticut Yankee who passed through what is now Grant County in 1766 during an attempt to discover the Pacific Ocean.

American period

In 1783, the British government acknowledged the jurisdiction of the United States over the land east of the Mississippi River, including what is now Grant County. American and European traders visiting the region over the next decades were yet as nomadic as the Indians, and no records survive. Grant County was created as part of Wisconsin Territory in 1837.[3] It was named after an Indian trader; his first name, origins, and eventual fate are all unknown.[4]

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,183 square miles (3,060 km2), of which 1,147 square miles (2,970 km2) is land and 36 square miles (93 km2) (3.1%) is water.[5]

Major highways
  • U.S. Highway 18
  • U.S. Highway 61
  • U.S. Highway 151
  • Highway 11 (Wisconsin)
  • Highway 35 (Wisconsin)
  • Highway 80 (Wisconsin)
  • Highway 81 (Wisconsin)
  • Highway 133 (Wisconsin)

Airports

Adjacent counties

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18403,926—
185016,169311.8%
186031,18992.9%
187037,97921.8%
188037,852−0.3%
189036,651−3.2%
190038,8816.1%
191039,0070.3%
192039,0440.1%
193038,469−1.5%
194040,6395.6%
195041,4602.0%
196044,4197.1%
197048,3989.0%
198051,7366.9%
199049,264−4.8%
200049,5970.7%
201051,2083.2%
Est. 201951,439[6]0.5%
U.S. Decennial Census[7]
1790–1960[8] 1900–1990[9]
1990–2000[10] 2010–2019[1]
2000 Census Age Pyramid for Grant County.

As of the census[11] of 2000, there were 49,597 people, 18,465 households, and 12,390 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 19,940 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.23% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. 0.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 52.0% were of German, 9.2% English, 8.8% Irish, 6.6% American and 6.4% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 18,465 households out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.10% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county, the population was spread out with 23.70% under the age of 18, 14.60% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 103.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.00 males.

Government and infrastructure

The Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (WSPF), a Wisconsin Department of Corrections prison for men, is located in Boscobel in Grant County.[12][13]

Politics

Grant County had a 20 year democratic voting streak up until 2016. That was when GOP Candidate Donald Trump flipped many counties in the rust belt, including this particular one.

Presidential elections results
Presidential elections results[14]
Year Republican Democratic Third parties
2016 50.7% 12,350 41.3% 10,051 8.1% 1,967
2012 42.3% 10,255 56.1% 13,594 1.7% 399
2008 37.3% 9,068 61.2% 14,875 1.6% 377
2004 48.3% 12,208 50.9% 12,864 0.8% 192
2000 46.6% 10,240 48.7% 10,691 4.7% 1,025
1996 36.5% 7,021 47.9% 9,203 15.6% 2,991
1992 33.2% 7,678 38.5% 8,914 28.4% 6,565
1988 51.3% 10,049 48.1% 9,421 0.6% 110
1984 62.6% 13,430 36.8% 7,892 0.6% 138
1980 55.8% 13,298 35.3% 8,406 8.9% 2,120
1976 54.1% 12,016 43.4% 9,639 2.5% 552
1972 62.3% 11,873 36.3% 6,915 1.4% 273
1968 62.5% 10,789 31.4% 5,414 6.2% 1,061
1964 45.7% 7,872 54.1% 9,309 0.2% 30
1960 60.1% 11,564 39.9% 7,678 0.1% 16
1956 68.7% 11,648 30.7% 5,208 0.6% 102
1952 77.2% 14,327 22.6% 4,197 0.2% 32
1948 55.0% 8,299 43.6% 6,575 1.4% 215
1944 62.6% 10,226 37.3% 6,091 0.2% 28
1940 59.4% 11,143 39.8% 7,458 0.8% 158
1936 41.1% 7,196 52.4% 9,170 6.5% 1,137
1932 37.6% 5,986 60.9% 9,701 1.5% 232
1928 59.9% 10,052 39.5% 6,630 0.7% 112
1924 40.3% 5,714 10.7% 1,518 49.0% 6,937
1920 80.9% 9,638 16.6% 1,971 2.5% 302
1916 56.3% 4,718 41.3% 3,459 2.5% 205
1912 41.6% 3,283 45.8% 3,615 12.5% 988
1908 55.1% 4,989 40.8% 3,696 4.1% 371
1904 64.5% 5,804 32.1% 2,886 3.4% 305
1900 61.2% 5,609 35.5% 3,254 3.4% 309
1896 57.4% 5,315 39.8% 3,683 2.8% 262
1892 50.2% 4,217 43.9% 3,685 5.9% 494

Communities

Cities

Villages

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

Ghost town/neighborhood

Notable people

Pop culture

Music

"Prayer for Bagley John" is a song written by Wisconsin singer / songwriter Tom Thiel. The song is based on the story of a hermit who had lived near Bagley in Grant county, WI. The story was that John Bagley (Bagley John) would pass notes to the townspeople of bagley and no one had ever heard him speak in all the years he lived nearby on the banks of the Mississippi river. John Bagley would often pay in gold pieces and so it was rumoured he had a large inheritance or had been involved in a robbery. John Bagley mysteriously disappeared without a trace. The song was included on Tom Thiel's 2017 album "Old Shadows" and the following year Thiel was named singer / songwriter of the year by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI).

See also

Footnotes
  1. "State & County QuickFacts". United States Census Bureau. Archived from the original on June 6, 2011. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  2. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on May 31, 2011. Retrieved June 7, 2011.
  3. "Wisconsin: Individual County Chronologies". Wisconsin Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. The Newberry Library. 2007. Retrieved August 13, 2015.
  4. Castello N. Holford History of Grant County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881, pp. 7-9.
  5. "2010 Census Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. August 22, 2012. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  6. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved March 26, 2020.
  7. "U.S. Decennial Census". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  8. "Historical Census Browser". University of Virginia Library. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  9. Forstall, Richard L., ed. (March 27, 1995). "Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  10. "Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000" (PDF). United States Census Bureau. April 2, 2001. Retrieved August 4, 2015.
  11. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  12. "Boscobel city, Wisconsin." U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on October 10, 2010.
  13. "Wisconsin Secure Program Facility Archived September 14, 2010, at the Wayback Machine." Wisconsin Department of Corrections. Retrieved on October 10, 2010.
  14. Leip, David. "Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections". uselectionatlas.org. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  15. "Willard H. Burney (1857-1943)". The Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 6, 2012.
  16. "B. W. Countryman (b. 1867)". Political Graveyard. Retrieved October 10, 2013.
  17. "Jim Fagan, Snowshoes, Saloons, and Salvation: The Life And Times Of a 19th Century Colorado Pioneer Preacher, December 20, 2004". snowshoemag.com. Retrieved January 18, 2014.
  18. "William Garner Waddel". Political Graveyard. Retrieved November 23, 2013.

Further reading

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