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St. Croix County, Wisconsin facts for kids

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Saint Croix County
Old St. Croix County Courthouse
Old St. Croix County Courthouse
Map of Wisconsin highlighting Saint Croix County
Location within the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Map of the United States highlighting Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location within the U.S.
Country  United States
State  Wisconsin
Founded 1849
Named for St. Croix River
Seat Hudson
Largest city Hudson
Area
 • Total 736 sq mi (1,910 km2)
 • Land 722 sq mi (1,870 km2)
 • Water 13 sq mi (30 km2)  1.8%%
Population
 (2020)
 • Total 93,596
 • Density 127.17/sq mi (49.10/km2)
Time zone UTC−6 (Central)
 • Summer (DST) UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district 7th

St. Croix County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2010 census, the population was 84,345. Its county seat is Hudson. The county was created in 1840 (then in the Wisconsin Territory) and organized in 1849. St. Croix County is part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul-Bloomington, MN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. Between 2000 and 2010, it was the fastest-growing county in Wisconsin.

Willow River State Park Soils
Soils of Willow River State Park area

History

StCroixCoWI-Hist
St. Croix County of 1840 and today

St. Croix County was created on August 3, 1840 by the legislature of the Wisconsin Territory. It was named after the river on its western border. Sources vary on the origin of the name; the St. Croix River may have been named after Monsieur St. Croix, an explorer who drowned at the mouth of the river late in the seventeenth century. Another account credits Father Hennepin with giving this region the French name Ste Croix (Holy Cross) because of the burial markers located at the mouth of the river.

La Pointe County (now extinct, see Bayfield County) was created from the northern portions of Wisconsin Territory's St. Croix County on February 19, 1845. When Wisconsin was admitted into the union as a state on May 29, 1848, the territorial St. Croix County was further divided, with the territory from the Mississippi River to the current border of Minnesota continuing as de facto Wisconsin Territory until on March 3, 1849, it and unorganized federal territory lying north of Iowa were used in the creation of the Minnesota Territory. Itasca, Washington, Ramsey and Benton Counties were created by the Minnesota Territory on October 27, 1849 from the de facto Wisconsin Territory that had been separated from the Wisconsin Territory's La Pointe County.

The part of St. Croix County allocated to 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 400 yards (370 m) wide and 46 miles (74 km) long. The tornado formed on the banks of the St. Croix River, south of Hudson. Moving to the northeast across St. Croix County, the tornado passed through the villages of Burkhardt and Boardman before striking New Richmond head on leveling the entire business district and half the town's residences. The storm continued on towards the northeast, narrowly missing the town of Deer Park before crossing into Polk County, where it again narrowly missed the towns of Clear Lake, Richardson and Clayton. Once the tornado passed into Barron County, it struck the village of Arland (No reported fatalities or serious injuries) before breaking up southwest of Barron. The tornado killed 117 people (Four at Boardman, two in Polk County and the rest at New Richmond), including at least 20 people who died from their injuries in the days after the storm. Largely in thanks to state aid and donations, most of the town was rebuilt by the following winter. Today, the tornado stands as the deadliest ever recorded in Wisconsin and the 9th deadliest tornado in U.S. history.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 736 square miles (1,910 km2), of which 722 square miles (1,870 km2) is land and 13 square miles (34 km2) (1.8%) is water.

Major highways

  • I-94.svg Interstate 94
  • US 12.svg US Highway 12
  • US 63.svg US Highway 63
  • WIS 29.svg Wisconsin Highway 29
  • WIS 35.svg Wisconsin Highway 35
  • WIS 46.svg Wisconsin Highway 46
  • WIS 64.svg Wisconsin Highway 64
  • WIS 65.svg Wisconsin Highway 65
  • WIS 128.svg Wisconsin Highway 128
  • WIS 170.svg Wisconsin Highway 170
  • List of county roads

Railroads

Buses

  • List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin

Airport

New Richmond Regional Airport (KRNH) serves the county and surrounding communities.

National protected area

Adjacent counties

Demographics

Historical population
Census Pop.
1840 809
1850 624 −22.9%
1860 5,392 764.1%
1870 11,035 104.7%
1880 18,956 71.8%
1890 23,139 22.1%
1900 26,830 16.0%
1910 25,910 −3.4%
1920 26,106 0.8%
1930 25,455 −2.5%
1940 24,842 −2.4%
1950 25,905 4.3%
1960 29,164 12.6%
1970 34,354 17.8%
1980 43,262 25.9%
1990 50,251 16.2%
2000 63,155 25.7%
2010 84,345 33.6%
2020 93,596 11.0%
U.S. Decennial Census
1790–1960 1900–1990
1990–2000 2010–2020
USA St. Croix County, Wisconsin age pyramid
2000 Census Age Pyramid for St. Croix County.

As of the census 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, 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.

In 2017, there were 988 births, giving a general fertility rate of 59.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 25th lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. [https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publications/p45360-17.pdf, Office of Health Informatics, Division of Public Health, Wisconsin Department of Health Services. Section: Trend Information, 2013–2017, Table 18, pages 17-18</ref>

Communities

St. Croix County Wisconsin Sign US63
The sign for St. Croix County on US63

Cities

Villages

Towns

Census-designated places

Unincorporated communities

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Condado de St. Croix para niños

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