Trempealeau County, Wisconsin Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Trempealeau County
U.S. county
Carnegie library in Arcadia, Wisconsin.
Location within the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location within the U.S.
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
Founded	1855
Named for	Trempealeau River
Seat	Whitehall
Largest city	Arcadia
Area
• Total	742 sq mi (1,920 km²)
• Land	733 sq mi (1,900 km²)
• Water	9.0 sq mi (23 km²) 1.2%%
Population (2020)
• Total	30,760
• Estimate (2023)	30,899
• Density	41.46/sq mi (16.006/km²)
Time zone	UTC−6 (Central)
• Summer (DST)	UTC−5 (CDT)
Congressional district	3rd

Trempealeau County (/ˈtrɛmpəloʊ/ trem-PƏ-loh) is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,760. Its county seat is Whitehall.

History
Geography
Demographics
- 2020 census
Gallery
Communities
See also

History

Patches of woodland are all that remain of the brush and light forest that once covered the county. In ancient times, the woodlands contained a great deal of timber, but Native Americans burned them periodically to encourage the growth of berries. They did little cultivation and had been almost completely removed from the area by 1837. The area was ceded by the Dakota in the 1837 Treaty of Washington (7 Stat. 538).

French fur traders were the first Europeans to enter this land, traveling by river across the county. At the mouth of the Trempealeau River at its confluence with the Mississippi River, they found a bluff surrounded by water and called it La Montagne qui trempe à l’eau ("mountain steeped in water"). It is now known as Trempealeau Mountain. The name was later shortened to Trempealeau. Created in 1854 and organized in 1855, the county is named after the river.

During the 19th and 20th century large numbers of Norwegian immigrants settled in the area in pursuit of cheap land, a better life and more opportunities. Much of the population is still of Norwegian descent and celebrate their ancestry by making foods native to Norway and participating in Norwegian Constitution Day events.

In the late 1850s, Trempealeau became a destination for Polish Prussian settlers from Upper Silesia seeking to escape German persecution and poverty in their homeland. They built churches, schools, and communities to develop what became the nation's second-largest Polish settlement. Their settlements were especially focused around Independence, Arcadia, Whitehall, and Pine Creek. Trempealeau has a large population of Silesian Polish descent to this day.

The county again became an immigrant destination in the first decades of the 21st century, gaining a significant Hispanic and Latino population.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of 742 square miles (1,920 km²), of which 733 square miles (1,900 km²) is land and 9.0 square miles (23 km²) (1.2%) is water. It is part of the Driftless Zone.

Adjacent counties

Major highways

Interstate 94
U.S. Highway 10
U.S. Highway 53
Highway 35 (Wisconsin)

Highway 54 (Wisconsin)
Highway 93 (Wisconsin)
Highway 95 (Wisconsin)
Highway 121 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

National protected areas

Demographics

Historical population
Census	Pop.	%±
1860	2,560	—
1870	10,732	319.2%
1880	17,189	60.2%
1890	18,920	10.1%
1900	23,114	22.2%
1910	22,928	−0.8%
1920	24,506	6.9%
1930	23,910	−2.4%
1940	24,381	2.0%
1950	23,730	−2.7%
1960	23,377	−1.5%
1970	23,344	−0.1%
1980	26,158	12.1%
1990	25,263	−3.4%
2000	27,010	6.9%
2010	28,816	6.7%
2020	30,760	6.7%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020 2020 census

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 30,760. The population density was 42.0 people per square mile (16.2 people/km²). There were 13,270 housing units at an average density of 18.1 units per square mile (7.0 units/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 85.5% White, 1.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% Black or African American, 7.9% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 12.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race.