St. Croix County, Wisconsin

Infobox U.S. County
county = Saint Croix County
state = Wisconsin




map size = 300
founded = 1840
seat = Hudson, Wisconsin | area_total_sq_mi =736
area_land_sq_mi =722
area_water_sq_mi =14
area percentage = 1.90%
census yr = 2000
pop = 63155
density =
web = co.saint-croix.wi.us
|St. Croix County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of 2000, the population was 63,155. Its county seat is HudsonGR|6. St. Croix County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 736 square miles (1,906 km²), of which, 722 square miles (1,870 km²) of it is land and 14 square miles (36 km²) of it (1.90%) is water.

Major highways

National protected area

* Saint Croix National Scenic Riverway (part)

Adjacent counties

*Polk County - north
*Barron County - northeast
*Dunn County - east
*Pierce County - south
*Washington County, Minnesota - west

History

St. Croix County was established in 1840 by the Territorial Legislature of the Wisconsin Territory by cleaving off portion of Crawford County north of the line formed from where Rush River empties into Lake Pepin, up the Rush River to its first major branch (Lost Creek), then northeasterly to where Wilson Creek empties into the Red Cedar River (in Menomonie), up the Red Cedar River to Brill River (near Rice Lake), up the Brill River, Long Lake, Slim Creek and Slim Lake, through the Long Lake-Sissabagama (pronEng|ˌsɪsəˈbæɡəmɑː [ [http://www.misspronouncer.com/ Miss Pronouncer: Hear how to pronounce; The Wisconsin pronunciation guide for cities, counties, Indians & lawmakers ] ] ) Lake Portage, down Sissabagama Creek, Sand Lake, Sand Creek, Whitefish Lake and into Lac Courte Oreilles, to the eastern most point of Lac Courte Oreilles, then northeast to the western branch of the Montreal River. St. Croix County is named after the river on its western border. Depending on the source, St. Croix River was either named from Monsieur St. Croix, an explorer who drowned at the mouth of the river late in the seventeenth century or from the account that said Father Hennepin gave this region the French name "St^e Croix" (which means "Holy Cross") due to the all the burial markers located at the mouth of the river. [http://hudsonwi.org/images/pdfs/History%20of%20St%20Croix%20County.pdf History of St. Croix County]

La Pointe County was formed from the northern portions of St. Croix County in 1845. When Wisconsin was admitted into union as a State on May 29, 1848, St. Croix County was divided into two. The portion of St. Croix County of the residual Wisconsin Territory was re-organized a year later as part of Minnesota Territory, forming Washington, Ramsey and Benton Counties.

St. Croix County that became part of Wisconsin became the parental county to Pierce and Polk Counties, and formed significant portions of Dunn, Barron, Washburn and Burnett Counties.

On June 12, 1899, a deadly F5 tornado struck New Richmond. The tornado's damage path was convert|300|yd wide and convert|30|mi|km long. It killed 117 people and injured 200 others, making it the 8th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

Demographics

USCensusPop
1900= 26830
1910= 25910
1920= 26106
1930= 25455
1940= 24842
1950= 25905
1960= 29164
1970= 34354
1980= 43262
1990= 50251
2000= 63155
footnote= [http://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/wi190090.txt WI Counties 1900-1990] As of the censusGR|2 of 2000, there were 63,155 people, 23,410 households, and 16,948 families residing in the county. The population density was 88 people per square mile (34/km²). There were 24,265 housing units at an average density of 34 per square mile (13/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 97.85% White, 0.28% Black or African American, 0.25% Native American, 0.62% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.22% from other races, and 0.76% from two or more races. 0.76% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 34.4% were of German, 19.3% Norwegian, 8.2% Irish and 5.4% Swedish ancestry.

There were 23,410 households out of which 38.00% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.60% were married couples living together, 7.00% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.60% were non-families. 21.20% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.30% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.66 and the average family size was 3.12.

In the county, the population was spread out with 27.90% under the age of 18, 8.20% from 18 to 24, 32.20% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 9.90% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 100.20 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.50 males.

Cities, villages, and towns

*Baldwin (town)
*Baldwin
*Cady
*Cylon
*Deer Park
*Eau Galle
*Emerald
*Erin Prairie
*Forest
*Glenwood City
*Glenwood
*Hammond (town)
*Hammond
*Hudson (town)
*Hudson
*Kinnickinnic
*New Richmond
*North Hudson
*Pleasant Valley
*Richmond
*River Falls (partial)
*Roberts
*Rush River
*Somerset (town)
*Somerset
*Springfield
*St. Joseph
*Stanton
*Star Prairie
*Star Prairie (town)
*Troy
*Warren
*Wilson
*Woodville

References

External links

* [http://www.co.saint-croix.wi.us St. Croix County]