'Appleton' is a city in the
U.S. state of
Wisconsin, on the
Fox River, 100
miles (161 km) north of
Milwaukee. As of the 2005 census estimate, the city had a total population of 70,217. Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton, Wisconsin
Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-
Oshkosh-
Neenah, Wisconsin
Combined Statistical Area with a combined population of around 350,000. It is the
county seat of
Outagamie County, but extends into both
Calumet County and
Winnebago County.
History
Appleton was settled in 1847 by Sean Oeding and incorporated as a village in 1853 and as a city in 1857. Early in the 20th century, it adopted the commission form of government, however that type of government has been abandoned in many cities. In 1890, 11,869 people lived in Appleton; in 1900, there were 15,085; in 1910, 16,773; in 1920, 19,571; and in 1940, 28,436.
Home to
Lawrence University, the City of Appleton grew along with the school. With the financial backing of
Amos A. Lawrence, the Lawrence Institute was chartered in 1847.
Samuel Appleton donated $10,000 to the newly founded college library, and in appreciation, his name was given to the community
[1]. Appleton is also the present headquarters of the
John Birch Society.
Appleton also had the first
telephone in all Wisconsin, and the first incandescent light in any city beyond the
East Coast. The first hydroelectric power was generated in Appleton, at the
Vulcan Street Plant on the
Fox River, which lit the first house, the
Hearthstone House.
Appleton's
Valley Fair Shopping Center, built in 1954, lays claim to being the first enclosed shopping mall in the
United States (note-Seattle's
Northgate Mall, built in 1950, claims to be the country's first mall). As of early 2007, the mall is completely vacant except for a budget movie theater, pending the sale from the previous (now bankrupt) mall owners, Youthfutures, Inc.
Appleton was also the childhood home of
Harry Houdini, who claimed in interviews to have been born in Appleton on
April 6,
1874. Actually, Houdini was born in Budapest, Hungary.
Transportation
The city is a member of
Valley Transit, a network of bus lines crisscrossing the Fox Valley.
Commercial air service is provided at
Outagamie County Regional Airport.
Roads
The primary roads into the metro Appleton area are
US-41 and
US-10. US-41 runs north-south on the west side of the city, and turns east-west across the north side of the city. US-41 connects to
Green Bay to the northeast and
Oshkosh,
Fond du Lac, and
Milwaukee to the south.
W-441 loops off US-41 across the south and east sides of the metro Appleton area. US-10 is an east-west highway that connects to
Manitowoc to the east, and
Stevens Point/
Wausau to the west.
W-125 provides access from US-41 to downtown Appleton. Other secondary state highway into the Appleton metro area include
W-47,
W-96,
W-15. Roads that route exclusively through suburbs of Appleton include
US-45,
W-55,
W-114, and
W-76.
Education
Appleton is served by the
Appleton Area School District. The district has three high schools,
Appleton East,
Appleton North and
Appleton West.
Xavier High School is the city's
Roman Catholic high school and
Fox Valley Lutheran High School is its
Lutheran high school. It is also home to several charter schools, a complete list of which can be found
here.
Appleton is home to
Lawrence University, a private
liberal arts college on the shores of the
Fox River. The university was formed before the city was founded, and Appleton is named for a wealthy donor to the institution. The
University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley, a two-year collegiate campus of the
University of Wisconsin System is located in nearby Menasha, Wisconsin, and the
Fox Valley Technical College are also located in Appleton.
The city and surrounding area are served by the Appleton Public Library
[2]. The library was chartered by the city in 1897 and in 2007 has a collection of nearly 400,000 volumes.
Religion
Appleton has a fairly diverse religious community, though
Catholicism and
Lutheranism are probably the most common religious affiliations. Almost every Christian denomination is represented, as well as a
synagogue and an Islamic society.
Catholic
★
St.Joseph's Parish
★
St. Mary's Parish, Appleton
★
Sacred Heart Parish, Appleton
Healthcare
★
Appleton Medical Center
★
St. Elizabeth Hospital (Appleton, Wisconsin)
Demographics
As of the
census of 2005, there were 70,217 people, 26,864 households, and 17,676 families residing in the city. The
population density was 1,296.0/km² (3,355.9/mi²). There were 27,736 housing units at an average density of 512.9/km² (1,328.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 91.48%
White, 0.99%
African American, 0.57%
Native American, 4.61%
Asian, 0.03%
Pacific Islander, 1.05% from
other races, and 1.27% from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 2.53% of the population.
There were 26,864 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 53.9% were
married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 34.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18, 9.7% from 18 to 24, 31.8% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $47,285, and the median income for a family was $57,097. Males had a median income of $40,459 versus $25,890 for females. The
per capita income for the city was $22,478. About 3.3% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the
poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.
Notable residents
★
Judah Bauer, guitarist for
The Blues Explosion
★
Rocky Bleier, NFL football player
★
John Bradley,
Iwo Jima Navy flag-raiser
★
Brian Butch, UW-Madison basketball player, McDonald's All-American
★
Willem Dafoe, actor
★
Edna Ferber, author
★
William Norman Grigg, author
★
J.P. Hayes, golfer
★
Myron Paul Heitmann writer, comedian, performer of Dr Bhopal Settled And Unsettled In The USA
★
Harry Houdini, magician (childhood home)
★
Roger Jenkins, hockey player
★
Steve Kagen, Member of Congress
★
Ron Kostelnik, football player
★
Jeff Loomis, guitarist
★
Rob Mann, lacrosse player
★
Joseph McCarthy, senator
★
Steve Millar, lead singer/guitarist for The Rest, Musician
★
William Beverly Murphy, former CEO Campbell's Soup Co. and conceiver of Nielsen Food & Drug Index (childhood home)
★
Greta Van Susteren, FoxNews television anchor
★
Lise Van Susteren, psychiatrist
★
Walter B. Wriston, banker
Points of interest
★
Gardens of the Fox Cities
★
Fox Valley Technical College
★
Fox River Mall (in nearby
Grand Chute)
★
Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
★
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (in nearby
Grand Chute)
★
Hearthstone Historic House Museum
★
Goodland Field
★
Lawrence University
★
Appleton Art Center
External links
★
City of Appleton
★
Appleton Public Library
★
Fox Valley Memory - local history portal
★
Outagamie County Historical Society
★
Appleton Public Library Local History Collection