Sauk County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. It is named after a large village of the

Sauk people The Sauk or Sac (Sauk language, Sauk: ''Thâkîwaki'') are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical territory was near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Today they have t ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 65,763. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

and largest city is Baraboo. The county was created in 1840 from

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

and organized in 1844. Sauk County comprises the Baraboo, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area and is included in the Greater Madison area.

History

Sauk County was a

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

settlement. The original founders of Sauk County consisted entirely of settlers from New England as well as some from

upstate New York Upstate New York is a geographic region of New York (state), New York that lies north and northwest of the New York metropolitan area, New York City metropolitan area of downstate New York. Upstate includes the middle and upper Hudson Valley, ...

who had parents who moved to that region from New England shortly after the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. These people were "

Yankee The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...

" settlers, that is to say they were descended from the English

Puritans The Puritans were English Protestants in the 16th and 17th centuries who sought to rid the Church of England of what they considered to be Roman Catholic practices, maintaining that the Church of England had not been fully reformed and should b ...

who settled New England in the 1600s. While most of them came to Wisconsin directly from New England, there were many who came from upstate New York. These were people whose parents had moved from New England to upstate New York in the immediate aftermath of the American Revolution. They were part of a wave of New England farmers who headed west into what was then the wilds of the

Northwest Territory The Northwest Territory, also known as the Old Northwest and formally known as the Territory Northwest of the River Ohio, was formed from part of the unorganized western territory of the United States after the American Revolution. Established ...

during the early 1800s. In the case of Wisconsin this migration primarily occurred in the 1830s. Due to the prevalence of New Englanders and New England transplants from upstate New York,

was very culturally continuous with early New England culture for much of its early history.The Yankee Exodus: An Account of Migration from New England by Stewart Hall Holbrook University of Washington Press, 1968 The Yankee migration to Wisconsin in the 1830s was a result of several factors, one of which was the overpopulation of New England. The old stock Yankee population had large families, often bearing up to ten children in one household. Most people were expected to have their own piece of land to farm, and due to the massive and nonstop population boom, land in New England became scarce as every son claimed his own farmstead. As a result, there was not enough land for every family to have a self-sustaining farm, and Yankee settlers began leaving New England for the

Midwestern United States The Midwestern United States (also referred to as the Midwest, the Heartland or the American Midwest) is one of the four census regions defined by the United States Census Bureau. It occupies the northern central part of the United States. It ...

. They were aided in this effort by the construction and completion of the

Erie Canal The Erie Canal is a historic canal in upstate New York that runs east–west between the Hudson River and Lake Erie. Completed in 1825, the canal was the first navigability, navigable waterway connecting the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes, ...

which made traveling to the region much easier, causing an additional surge in migrants coming from New England. Added to this was the end of the

Black Hawk War The Black Hawk War was a conflict between the United States and Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans led by Black Hawk (Sauk leader), Black Hawk, a Sauk people, Sauk leader. The war erupted after Black Hawk and a group of ...

, which made the region much safer to travel through and settle in for white settlers. They got to what is now Sauk County in the 1830s by sailing up the

Wisconsin River The Wisconsin River is the longest river in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, at approximately 430 miles (692 km) long. As a tributary of the Mississippi River, it is part of the Mississippi River System. The river's name was first recorded in 1673 b ...

from the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

on small barges which they constructed themselves out of materials obtained from the surrounding woodlands. When they arrived in what is now Sauk County there was nothing but dense virgin forest, the "

New Englanders New Englanders, also called Yankees, are the inhabitants of the New England region in the Northeastern United States. Beginning with the New England Colonies, the name "New Englander" refers to those who live in the six New England states or thos ...

laid out farms, constructed roads, erected government buildings and established post routes. They brought with them many of their

values, such as a passion for education, establishing many schools as well as staunch support for abolitionism. They were mostly members of the

Congregationalist Church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

though some were

Episcopalian Anglicanism, also known as Episcopalianism in some countries, is a Western Christian tradition which developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protes ...

. Due to the

second Great Awakening The Second Great Awakening was a Protestant religious revival during the late 18th to early 19th century in the United States. It spread religion through revivals and emotional preaching and sparked a number of reform movements. Revivals were a k ...

some of them had converted to

Methodism Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a Protestant Christianity, Christian Christian tradition, tradition whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's brother ...

and some became

Baptist Baptists are a Christian denomination, denomination within Protestant Christianity distinguished by baptizing only professing Christian believers (believer's baptism) and doing so by complete Immersion baptism, immersion. Baptist churches ge ...

before moving to what is now Sauk County. Sauk County, like much of

, would be culturally very continuous with early New England culture for most of its early history. In the late 1890s, German immigrants began to settle in Sauk County, making up less than one out of thirty settlers in the county before this date. Generally there was little conflict between them and the "

" settlers, however when conflict did arise it focused around the issue of prohibition of alcohol. On this issue the Yankees were divided and the Germans almost unanimously were opposed to it, tipping the balance in favor of opposition to prohibition. Later the two communities would be divided on the issue of World War I in which, once again, the Yankee community would be divided and the Germans were unanimously opposed to American entry into the war. The Yankee community was generally pro-British, however many of the Yankees also did not want America to enter the war themselves. The Germans were sympathetic to Germany and did not want the United States to enter into a war against Germany, but the Germans were not anti-British. Prior to World War I, many German community leaders in Wisconsin spoke openly and enthusiastically about how much better America was than Germany, due primarily (in their eyes) to the presence of English law and the English political culture the Americans had inherited from the colonial era, which they contrasted with the turmoil and oppression in Germany which they had so recently fled. In the early 1900s immigrants from

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

and

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

also arrived in Sauk County. The area around Baraboo was first settled by Abe Wood in 1838, and was originally known as the village of Adams. In 1846 it became the county seat of Sauk County after a fierce fight with the nearby village of Reedsburg. In 1852, the village was renamed "Baraboo", after the nearby river. It was incorporated as a city in 1882."Term: Baraboo [brief history]"
in ''Dictionary of Wisconsin History''. New England settlers set up several sawmills early in the history of what is now Baraboo because of its location near the Baraboo and

Rivers. The city was the home of the Ringling brothers. From 1884 to 1917 it was the headquarters of their circus and several others, leading to the nickname "Circus City". Today Circus World Museum is located in Baraboo. A living history museum, it has a collection of circus wagons and other circus artifacts. It also has the largest library of circus information in the United States. The museum previously hosted the Great Circus Parade, which carried circus wagons and performers through the streets of Baraboo, across the state by train, and then through downtown Milwaukee. The Al. Ringling Theatre is a grand scale movie palace in downtown Baraboo, made possible through the financial assistance of the Ringling family. The Al Ringling home still exists. Located near Baraboo is the Badger Army Ammunition Plant, which was the largest munitions factory in the world during World War II, when it was known as "Badger Ordnance Works". The plant is no longer in use. The Culver's restaurant franchise has its headquarters in Prairie du Sac, and was first opened in Sauk City in 1984 by Craig Culver and his family. That same year,

Cirrus Aircraft The Cirrus Design Corporation, doing business as Cirrus Aircraft (formally Cirrus Design), is an aircraft design, manufacturing, maintenance and management company, as well as a provider of flight training services, that was founded in 1984 by ...

, now of

Duluth, Minnesota Duluth ( ) is a Port, port city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of St. Louis County, Minnesota, St. Louis County. Located on Lake Superior in Minnesota's Arrowhead Region, the city is a hub for cargo shipping. The population ...

, was founded in a rural Baraboo barn by brothers Alan and Dale Klapmeier to produce the VK-30

kit aircraft Homebuilt aircraft, also known as amateur-built aircraft or kit planes, are constructed by persons for whom this is not a professional activity. These aircraft may be constructed from "scratch", from plans, or from assembly kits.Armstrong, Kenn ...

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has a total area of , of which is land and (2.1%) is water. Pewits Nest is located in Sauk County. Sauk Point is the county's highest point. The summit is nestled in the Baraboo bluffs and stands to above sea level.

Major highways

Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain states, Mountain West, Great Pla ...

Interstate 94 Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...

* U.S. Highway 12 * U.S. Highway 14 *

Highway 13 The following roads may be referred to as Route 13 or Highway 13. For a list of roads named A13, see List of A13 roads. International * AH13, Asian Highway 13 * European route E13 * European route E013 Afghanistan *The Kabul–Behsud Highwa ...

* Highway 16 * Highway 23 * Highway 33 * Highway 58 *

Highway 60 The following highways are numbered 60: International * Asian Highway 60 * European route E60 Australia * Bruxner Highway * Dawson Highway (Rolleston to Gladstone) – Queensland State Route 60 Brazil * BR-060 Canada * Alberta Highway 60 ...

* Highway 78 * Highway 113 * Highway 130 * Highway 136 * Highway 154

Railroads

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and ...

Buses

* Baraboo Transit

Airports

* Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airport (KDLL) serves the county and surrounding communities. *

Tri-County Regional Airport Tri-County Regional Airport is a public use airport in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. It is located two nautical miles (4 kilometre, km) north of the central business district of Lone Rock, Wisconsin, Lone Rock, a village in Ri ...

(KLNR) *

Sauk–Prairie Airport Sauk–Prairie Airport is a privately owned public use airport located 2 miles (3 km) west of the central business district of Prairie du Sac and 3 miles (5 km) northwest of the central business district of Sauk City, two ...

(91C) *

Reedsburg Municipal Airport Reedsburg Municipal Airport, is a city-owned, public use airport located one mile (two km) east of the central business district of Reedsburg, Wisconsin, a city in Sauk County, Wisconsin. The airport was opened in March 1928 and has ...

(C35)

Adjacent counties

* Juneau County - north * Adams County - northeast * Columbia County - east *

Dane County Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...

- southeast * Iowa County - south * Richland County - west * Vernon County - northwest

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 65,763. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 30,784 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 89.1%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.3% Native American, 0.9%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.6% Asian, 3.1% from other races, and 4.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 6.2%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race.

2000 census

As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2000, there were 55,225 people, 21,644 households, and 14,869 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 24,297 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 97.37%

, 0.26%

, 0.87% Native American, 0.26% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 0.59% from other races, and 0.64% from two or more races. 1.70% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 50.7% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 8.5% Irish, 6.5% Norwegian, 6.2%

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and 5.9% English ancestry. 95.5% spoke English, 1.9%

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

and 1.4%

as their first language. There were 21,644 households, out of which 32.60% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.80% were married couples living together, 8.10% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.30% were non-families. 25.20% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.60% 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 26.00% under the age of 18, 7.40% from 18 to 24, 29.30% from 25 to 44, 22.80% from 45 to 64, and 14.50% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.20 males.

Communities

Cities

* Baraboo (county seat) * Reedsburg * Wisconsin Dells (mostly in Columbia County, Adams County and Juneau County)

Villages

* Cazenovia (partly in Richland County) * Ironton * La Valle * Lake Delton * Lime Ridge * Loganville * Merrimac * North Freedom *

Plain In geography, a plain, commonly known as flatland, is a flat expanse of land that generally does not change much in elevation, and is primarily treeless. Plains occur as lowlands along valleys or at the base of mountains, as coastal plains, and ...

* Prairie du Sac * Rock Springs * Sauk City *

Spring Green Spring Green or spring green may refer to: Colors * Spring green ** Spring bud, formerly known as spring green Plants * Spring greens, edible young leaves of certain plants * Spring greens (Brassica oleracea), vegetables Places in the United S ...

* West Baraboo

Towns

* Baraboo * Bear Creek * Dellona * Delton *

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

* Fairfield *

Franklin Franklin may refer to: People and characters * Franklin (given name), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (surname), including list of people and characters with the name * Franklin (class), a member of a historic ...

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

* Greenfield * Honey Creek * Ironton * La Valle * Merrimac * Prairie du Sac * Reedsburg *

* Sumpter *

Troy Troy (/; ; ) or Ilion (; ) was an ancient city located in present-day Hisarlik, Turkey. It is best known as the setting for the Greek mythology, Greek myth of the Trojan War. The archaeological site is open to the public as a tourist destina ...

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

* Westfield * Winfield *

Woodland A woodland () is, in the broad sense, land covered with woody plants (trees and shrubs), or in a narrow sense, synonymous with wood (or in the U.S., the '' plurale tantum'' woods), a low-density forest forming open habitats with plenty of sunli ...

Census-designated places

* Bluffview *

Lake Wisconsin Lake Wisconsin is a reservoir on the Wisconsin River in southern Wisconsin in the United States. It is located in Columbia and Sauk counties, approximately southeast of Baraboo and NNW of Madison. The area around the lake is home to the Wis ...

(partial)

Other unincorporated communities

* Black Hawk * Cassell * Crawford Crossing * Dellwood * Denzer * Greens Corners * Hill Point * La Rue * Leland * Loddes Mill * Loreta * Moon Valley * Sandusky * Valton * Witwen

Politics

Sauk County voted for Republicans in all but five elections prior to 1992, thereafter trending Democratic. In 2016

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who is the 47th president of the United States. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, he served as the 45 ...

won the county by 109 votes, in 2020 it flipped Democratic to Joe Biden, and in 2024 Trump flipped it back. Since 1992 the county has voted for the statewide winner in every election, and is thus considered a

bellwether A bellwether is a leader or an indicator of trends.bellwether
" ''Cambridge Dictionary''. Re ...

politically.

Economy

The county's largest employer is the

Ho-Chunk Nation The Ho-Chunk Nation ( Ho-Chunk language: ) is a federally recognized tribe of the Ho-Chunk with traditional territory across five states in the United States: Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, and Missouri. The other federally recognized tri ...

, which employs roughly 3100 people combined in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson South, Queensland, a locality in the Maranoa Region * Jackson oil field in Durham, ...

and Sauk counties. Tourism is a major contributor to Sauk County's economy. Although it is Wisconsin's 25th largest county in population, it is the third largest in terms of economic impact from tourism (nearly $2 billion in 2023).

Education

School districts

School districts include: * Baraboo School District (

Baraboo High School Baraboo High School is a State school, public Secondary school, high school in Baraboo, Wisconsin, United States, part of the Baraboo School District. It serves 917 students in grades 9–12 from Baraboo, West Baraboo, Wisconsin, West Baraboo, No ...

) *

School District of Reedsburg A school is the educational institution (and, in the case of in-person learning, the building) designed to provide learning environments for the teaching of students, usually under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of fo ...

(

Reedsburg Area High School Reedsburg Area High School is a public high school located in Reedsburg, Wisconsin, and is a part of the School District of Reedsburg. The high school was built in 1998 by Kraemer Brothers. It serves more than 900 students in grades 9-12 from Ree ...

) * River Valley School District ( River Valley High School) * Sauk Prairie School District ( Sauk Prairie High School) * Weston School District ( Weston High School) *

School District of Wisconsin Dells School District of Wisconsin Dells is a school district headquartered in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin. Its territory includes sections of the counties of Adams, Columbia, Juneau, Marquette, and Sauk.Wisconsin Dells High School Wisconsin Dells High School is a public high school located in Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, and is a part of the Wisconsin Dells School District. It serves more than 600 students from the municipalities of Wisconsin Dells, Dell Prairie, Dellon ...

)

Tertiary education

The University of Wisconsin Platteville-Baraboo/Sauk County is a freshman-sophomore branch campus of UW–Platteville located in Baraboo. The campus also offers a 4 year

Bachelor of Business Administration A Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) is an undergraduate degree in business administration awarded by colleges and universities after completion of four years and typically 120 credits of undergraduate study in the fundamentals of busine ...

degree.

Madison Area Technical College Madison Area Technical College, or simply Madison College or MATC, is a public technical college in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It serves students in south-central Wisconsin and is part of the Wisconsin Technical College System. The co ...

serves Sauk County, with a branch campus in Reedsburg.

References

External links

Sauk County website

Sauk County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
Sauk County Health and Demographic Data
* Old county maps
185918611877189319061922
https://content.wisconsinhistory.org/digital/collection/maps/id/1489/rec/21 1939
1990?
{{Coord, 43.43, -89.94, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990 Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan statistical area 1844 establishments in Wisconsin Territory Populated places established in 1844