Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin
|
|
|---|---|
Downtown Sturgeon Bay
|
|
| Nickname(s):
Shipbuilding Capital of the Midwest
|
|
Location of Sturgeon Bay in Door County, Wisconsin.
|
|
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Wisconsin |
| County | Door |
| Area | |
| • Total | 11.49 sq mi (29.77 km2) |
| • Land | 9.83 sq mi (25.46 km2) |
| • Water | 1.66 sq mi (4.31 km2) |
| Population
(2020)
|
|
| • Total | 9,646 |
| • Density | 908.85/sq mi (350.92/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (CDT) |
| Zip Code |
54235
|
| Area code(s) | 920 |
| FIPS code | 55-77875 |
| Website | www.sturgeonbaywi.org |
Sturgeon Bay is a city in and the county seat of Door County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,646 at the 2020 census. Located at the bay of Sturgeon Bay for which it is named, it is the most-populous city on the Door Peninsula, a popular Upper Midwest vacation destination.
Contents
History
The area was originally inhabited by the Ho-Chunk and Menominee. The town is known in the Menominee language as Namāēw-Wīhkit, or "bay of the sturgeon". The Menominee ceded this territory to the United States in the 1831 Treaty of Washington. After that, the area was available for white settlement.
The community was first recorded as Graham in 1855 but, in 1857, the state legislature organized it as the town of Ottumba. Subsequently, the name was reverted to Graham and, in 1860, a petition was submitted to the county board to change the community's name to that of the adjacent bay. A company of volunteer firefighters was established in 1869. In 1874, Sturgeon Bay was incorporated as a village. It became a city in 1883, and the police department was founded that year. In 1891, Charles Mitchell Whiteside, a member of the Wisconsin Assembly, sponsored a bill that merged the community of Sawyer with Sturgeon Bay.
The city is locally known for the Sturgeon Bay Bridge at Michigan Street, which at the time of its 1931 opening was the second across the bay and carried the former route of WIS 17 (now WIS 42 and WIS 57/78).
Sturgeon Bay was one of a number of cities in the Midwest to assist with production during World War II. In 1943, many streets received new names. The former names of some streets are stenciled into older sidewalks.
Geography
Sturgeon Bay is located at 44°49′56″N 87°22′19″W / 44.83222°N 87.37194°W (44.813376, -87.372076). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 11.66 square miles (30.20 km2), of which, 9.82 square miles (25.43 km2) is land and 1.84 square miles (4.77 km2) is water.
Climate
Sturgeon Bay has a humid continental climate (Köppen: Dfb).
| Climate data for Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1905–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 55 (13) |
58 (14) |
76 (24) |
85 (29) |
91 (33) |
100 (38) |
105 (41) |
102 (39) |
96 (36) |
86 (30) |
74 (23) |
60 (16) |
105 (41) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 42.2 (5.7) |
45.0 (7.2) |
58.4 (14.7) |
70.6 (21.4) |
80.3 (26.8) |
87.3 (30.7) |
89.3 (31.8) |
88.3 (31.3) |
83.9 (28.8) |
74.6 (23.7) |
59.2 (15.1) |
46.7 (8.2) |
91.3 (32.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 25.2 (−3.8) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
37.9 (3.3) |
50.1 (10.1) |
62.4 (16.9) |
72.6 (22.6) |
78.0 (25.6) |
76.8 (24.9) |
69.4 (20.8) |
55.9 (13.3) |
42.4 (5.8) |
31.1 (−0.5) |
52.5 (11.4) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 17.8 (−7.9) |
20.0 (−6.7) |
29.6 (−1.3) |
41.0 (5.0) |
52.5 (11.4) |
62.8 (17.1) |
68.4 (20.2) |
67.5 (19.7) |
59.9 (15.5) |
47.7 (8.7) |
35.6 (2.0) |
24.8 (−4.0) |
44.0 (6.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 10.4 (−12.0) |
11.9 (−11.2) |
21.3 (−5.9) |
32.0 (0.0) |
42.5 (5.8) |
52.9 (11.6) |
58.8 (14.9) |
58.2 (14.6) |
50.7 (10.4) |
39.4 (4.1) |
28.9 (−1.7) |
18.5 (−7.5) |
35.5 (1.9) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −7.9 (−22.2) |
−6.4 (−21.3) |
1.9 (−16.7) |
20.3 (−6.5) |
30.8 (−0.7) |
40.2 (4.6) |
47.7 (8.7) |
46.6 (8.1) |
37.4 (3.0) |
28.1 (−2.2) |
15.8 (−9.0) |
1.2 (−17.1) |
−11.3 (−24.1) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −29 (−34) |
−29 (−34) |
−23 (−31) |
2 (−17) |
20 (−7) |
29 (−2) |
36 (2) |
32 (0) |
26 (−3) |
12 (−11) |
−6 (−21) |
−22 (−30) |
−29 (−34) |
| Average precipitation inches (mm) | 1.71 (43) |
1.34 (34) |
1.90 (48) |
3.07 (78) |
3.32 (84) |
4.12 (105) |
3.57 (91) |
3.32 (84) |
3.10 (79) |
3.24 (82) |
2.20 (56) |
1.97 (50) |
32.86 (834) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 15.6 (40) |
12.9 (33) |
8.6 (22) |
4.0 (10) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.0 (0.0) |
0.2 (0.51) |
2.4 (6.1) |
13.7 (35) |
57.4 (146.61) |
| Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 11.0 | 8.3 | 8.6 | 10.3 | 12.3 | 11.0 | 11.2 | 9.6 | 10.1 | 11.3 | 9.5 | 10.4 | 123.6 |
| Average snowy days (≥ 0.1 in) | 7.3 | 6.0 | 4.0 | 1.7 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.1 | 1.7 | 5.8 | 26.6 |
| Source 1: NOAA | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service | |||||||||||||
Demographics
| Historical population | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Census | Pop. | %± | |
| 1880 | 1,199 | — | |
| 1890 | 2,195 | 83.1% | |
| 1900 | 3,372 | 53.6% | |
| 1910 | 4,262 | 26.4% | |
| 1920 | 4,553 | 6.8% | |
| 1930 | 4,983 | 9.4% | |
| 1940 | 5,439 | 9.2% | |
| 1950 | 7,054 | 29.7% | |
| 1960 | 7,353 | 4.2% | |
| 1970 | 6,776 | −7.8% | |
| 1980 | 8,847 | 30.6% | |
| 1990 | 9,176 | 3.7% | |
| 2000 | 9,437 | 2.8% | |
| 2010 | 9,144 | −3.1% | |
| 2020 | 9,646 | 5.5% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census | |||
2010 census
At the 2010 census, there were 9,144 people, 4,288 households and 2,385 families. The population density was 931.2 per square mile (359.5/km2). There were 4,903 housing units at an average density of 499.3 per square mile (192.8/km2). The racial make-up was 95.1% White, 1.0% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.6% Asian, 1.0% from other races, and 1.4% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.7% of the population.
There were 4,288 households, of which 24.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.5% were married couples living together, 9.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 44.4% were non-families. 38.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 17.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.07 and the average family size was 2.74.
The median age was 45.2 years. 19.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.4% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 22.5% were from 25 to 44; 31% were from 45 to 64; and 19.2% were 65 years of age or older. 48.1% of residents were male and 51.9% female.
Entertainment and recreation
The community has one movie theater, Sturgeon Bay Cinema 6, and a professional regional theatre, the Third Avenue Playhouse. Every year the town hosts Steel Bridge Songfest, where nationally known musicians and songwriters perform. Past performers include Jackson Browne, Jane Wiedlin of The Go-Go's and Pat MacDonald of Timbuk3.
The city owns 20 parks totaling 121.7 acres (49.3 ha), with Sunset Park as the largest at 44 acres (18 ha). The county owns 56 acres (23 ha) of fairgrounds (John Miles County Park) and maintains 2.5 miles (4.0 km) of the Ahnapee Trail extending into the city limits. The Ice Age Trail diverges from the Ahnapee trail and passes through city limits for 5 miles (8.0 km) (mostly through city streets). It exits the city to reach its northern terminus at Potawatomi State Park. The Wisconsin DNR owns or maintains easements on two public properties in the city; 20 acres along Big Creek and 80 acres south of Strawberry Lane. Additionally, four private organizations maintain a total of 723.1 acres (292.6 ha) of parks and other areas preserved for natural and historical purposes within and adjacent to the city.
Education
The community is served by Sturgeon Bay High School and has a satellite campus of Northeast Wisconsin Technical College. Sturgeon Bay has two elementary schools, Sawyer and Sunrise. The middle school, T.J. Walker Middle School, is connected to the high school. St. Peter's Lutheran School is a pre-K to 8th grade school of the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod. Three former schools, Saint Peter and Paul, Corpus Christi and Saint Joseph, have combined to form Saint John Bosco.
Media
Sturgeon Bay had the Door County Advocate (now a subsidiary of Green Bay Press-Gazette) and numerous radio stations in the Door County Radio Market. No television stations originate from Sturgeon Bay and WFRV's and WLUK's remote-operated weather cameras are the only full-time presence of Green Bay stations in the city.
Transportation
Highways
WIS 42 Northbound travels to Egg Harbor, Fish Creek, Sister Bay, Ellison Bay and Gills Rock. South it travels to Algoma, Kewaunee, Two Rivers, and Manitowoc, where it connects to I-43.
WIS 57 southbound connects to Green Bay and connects with Baileys Harbor and Jacksonport northbound.- CTH-S
Bridges in the city include the Michigan Street Bridge (built 1929-31), Bay View Bridge (built 1976-78) and Oregon Street Bridge (built 2006-08).
Water
Sturgeon Bay has a medium-sized port, and has received vessels as long as 307 feet and a deadweight tonnage carrying capacity of 64,457 metric tonnes. A major shipbuilding and repair facility and the Coast Guard Station Sturgeon Bay is located at the port. Most traffic comes from pleasure boats. The dock at Graham Park is able to accommodate cruise boats.
Airport
Sturgeon Bay is served by Door County Cherryland Airport (IATA: SUE, ICAO: KSUE), which is off of Wisconsin Highway 42 and 57 on County Highway PD.
Notable people
- Gideon Winans Allen, Wisconsin state representative
- Robert C. Bassett, U.S. presidential advisor
- Eddie Cochems (1877-1953), "father of the forward pass"
- Frank N. Graass, Wisconsin state representative
- Chris Greisen, Milwaukee Iron quarterback (AFL)
- Nick Greisen, Denver Broncos linebacker (NFL)
- Stuart Hagmann, film and television director
- Bernard Hahn, Wisconsin state representative
- Arthur G. Hansen (1925-2010), engineer, former president of Georgia Institute of Technology (1969–71) and Purdue University (1971-82), and chancellor of the Texas A&M University System (1982–85)
- Joseph Harris, Wisconsin state senator
- Lawrence Johnson, Wisconsin state representative
- Al C. Kalmbach, founder of Kalmbach Publishing
- Doug Larson, newspaper columnist and writer
- Pat MacDonald, former member of Timbuk 3
- Edward S. Minor, U.S. representative
- Conrad P. Olson, Oregon Supreme Court justice
- Henry J. Overbeck, Wisconsin state representative
- Casey Rabach, Washington Redskins center (NFL)
- Dennis A. Reed, Wisconsin state representative
- Marian E. Rottman (1882–1955), nursing educator and supervisor
- Hallie H. Rowe, Wisconsin state representative
- Marjorie Rusche, composer
- Paul J. Schlise, U.S. Navy admiral
- Anna Augusta Von Helmholtz-Phelan, professor, author
- Alexander B. Whitman, Wisconsin state senator
- Jarvis T. Wright, Wisconsin state representative
- Randy Wright, Green Bay Packers quarterback (NFL)
Gallery
-
Sturgeon Bay, 1881, depicting different kinds of vessels
-
Aerial view of Sturgeon Bay c. 1908
-
Sturgeon Bay, from a book published in 1930
-
Former Carnegie Free Library
-
St. Joseph's Catholic Church, part of the Louisiana Street/Seventh Avenue Historic District
-
Teweles and Brandeis Grain Elevator
See also
In Spanish: Sturgeon Bay (Wisconsin) para niños
