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EspañolEAU CLAIRE, WISCONSIN
'Eau Claire' is a city located in west-central Wisconsin. The population was 61,704 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Eau Claire County, although a small portion of the city lies in neighboring Chippewa County. Eau Claire is the principal city of and included in the Eau Claire, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Eau-Claire-Menomonie, Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area.
America's Promise named the city as one of the 100 Best Communities for Young People in 2007.[1] Eau Claire was among the first Tree Cities in Wisconsin, having been recognized as such since 1980.[2]
Name
"Eau Claire" is the singularized form of the original French name, "Eaux Claires", meaning "Clear Waters", for the Eau Claire River. According to local legend, the river was so named because early French explorers journeying down the rain-muddied Chippewa River, happened upon the Eau Claire River, excitedly exclaiming "Voici l'eau claire!" ("Here [is] clear water!")
Because of the difficulty non-residents have in correctly pronouncing the name of the city (it is properly pronounced as "O'Clare"; "You Clare" is a common mistake), it has been suggested by some residents that the city should be renamed "Clearwater". This recommendation has never been serious enough to make it to referendum, although a number of businesses and organizations have taken the name. (Prior to 1856, Eau Claire County was Chippewa County's "Town of Clearwater". The name "Eau Claire" was taken when the county was separated from Chippewa County.)
Government
Since switching from a mayoral system in 1948, Eau Claire has had a city manager-city council form of government. Discussion of changing the government back to a mayoral form has been ongoing since 1948, resulting in six unsuccessful referendums thus far. Most recently, a petition to this effect, with 3,126 signatures, was to have been presented to the City Council by February 21, 2006, in order for it to have appeared on the April 4, 2006 ballot. Since the petition was not presented in time, the issue is officially "dead" at least until fall 2006.
The Eau Claire City Council currently consists of five members elected from districts, five at-large from the entire city plus an elected city council president, who is also elected at-large from among all of the city's voters. City manager Don Norrell recently resigned (effective December 22, 2005), and was recently replaced by Mike Huggins, Norrell's former top assistant.[1] Regarding the failure of the aforementioned petition, city council member Dave Duax has reportedly said that, "[t]his really clears the air. It removes this issue as a potential uncertainty," possibly implying that "uncertainty" over the future of the council-manager form of government has been slowing the selection process.[2] The city council president is David Adler.
Economy
The lumber industry drove Eau Claire's growth in the late 19th century. At one time, there were 22 sawmills operating in the city. Today retail, health care and education are the primary employment sectors in Eau Claire.
Since the loss of several thousand manufacturing jobs in the early 1990s (due to the closure of the local Uniroyal tire plant—Uniroyal has itself since become a part of the Michelin corporation), the city's economy was reshaped by the opening of a number of plants engaged in the construction of computer hardware, such as Hutchinson Technology's largest plant (the company is based in Hutchinson, Minnesota), 3M, based in the Twin Cities, and is home to IDEXX Computer Systems, a division of IDEXX Laboratories.
Eau Claire is home to a few national/regional companies including Menards, National Presto Industries, Inc., Silver Spring Gardens (world's largest grower and producer of horseradish products [3]) and Erbert & Gerberts (a midwestern sandwich chain[4]).
Geography
 Barstow St. |
 Graham-Riverside Building |
 Water St. |
| Views of Eau Claire |
Eau Claire is located at (44.814627, -91.492677), approximately 90 miles (145 km) east of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. The city is located on the northern fringes of the Driftless Zone.
The city was founded near the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa rivers, as three separate settlements. The main section of the downtown is on the site of the original village of Eau Claire. Across the river was West Eau Claire, founded in 1856, near the site of the present day county courthouse. The city was incorporated in 1872. Between a mile and a half and two miles downstream, the Daniel Shaw & Co. lumber company founded a town, Shawtown, which was annexed to the city by the 1930s. By the 1950s, the unified city had spread far enough to the east to adjoin Altoona.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 83.8 km² (32.4 mi²). 78.4 km² (30.3 mi²) of it is land and 5.4 km² (2.1 mi²) of it (6.46%) is water.
The terrain of the city is characterized by the river valleys, with steep slopes leading from the center to the eastern and southern sections of the city. The lands into which the urban area is currently expanding are increasingly hilly.
There are two lakes in the city, Dells Pond, and Half Moon Lake. Dells Pond is a reservoir created by a hydroelectric dam, and was formerly used as a holding pool for logs. Half Moon Lake is an oxbow lake created as part of the former course of the Chippewa River.
Demographics
Population
As of the 2000 census, there were 61,704 people, 24,016 households, and 13,569 families residing in the city. The population density was 786.8/km² (2,037.8/mi²). There were 24,895 housing units at an average density of 317.4/km² (822.2/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.44% White, 0.70% African American, 0.55% American Indian, 3.66% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 0.34% from other races, and 1.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.00% of the population.
There were 24,016 households out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.4% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 43.5% were non-families. 30.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 2.99.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.6% under the age of 18, 22.1% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 18.2% from 45 to 64, and 11.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females there were 90.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.8 males.
Income
The median income for a household in the city was $36,399, and the median income for a family was $49,320. Males had a median income of $32,503 versus $23,418 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,230. About 5.5% of families and 13.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 10.4% of those under age 18 and 7.4% of those age 65 or over.
Metropolitan area
Together with surrounding communities, the Eau Claire metropolitan area was, according to the 2000 census, home to 114,483 people. The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Eau Claire Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties (composite 2000 population: 148,337). Together with the Menomonie Micropolitan Statistical Area (which includes all of Dunn County) to the west, the Eau Claire metropolitan area, forms the Census Bureau's Eau Claire-Menomonie Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area, which had a consolidated 2000 population of 188,195. 2004 population estimates place the two-county Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls metropolitan population at 155,680, and the expanded Eau Claire-Menomonie CMSA population at 197,417.[4]
Crime
It was ranked in 1996 as the safest city in America. It has since lost that title, although it remains in the top ten.
Religion
Temple Sholom synagogue in Eau Claire
Christ Church Cathedral in Eau Claire
According to the Eau Claire telephone book and the Leader-Telegram Religious Directory, in addition to a single synagogue [5], the city is home to a large number of churches, representing a number of Christian bodies. (There is a mosque located in nearby Altoona.) Among Eau Claire's over 70 churches are:
★ Apostolic Faith - 1 congregation
★ Assemblies of God - 2 congregations
★ Baptist - 8 churches variously unaffiliated (including 1 SBC congregation)
★ Catholic - 5 parishes in the Diocese of La Crosse' & Eau Claire Deanery, which has 3 other parishes, one each in Altoona, Elk Mound and Brackett [6]
★ Church of Christ, Scientist (Christian Science) - 1 congregation
★ Church of Christ - 2 congregations
★ Episcopalian - 1 congregation
★
★ The Episcopal Diocese of Eau Claire has its see in Eau Claire.
★ Hmong Christian Alliance - 1 congregation
★ Jehovah's Witness - 1 congregation
★ Lutheran - about 20 churches representing 6 synods
★
★ Evangelical Lutheran Synod (ELS)
★
★ Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA)
★
★ Church of the Lutheran Brethren of America
★
★ Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS)
★
★ Church of the Lutheran Confession
★
★ Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS)
★ Methodist - 4 congregations (one of which is located in nearby Altoona)
★ Mennonite Church USA - 1 congregation meeting two Sundays per month
★ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - 1 congregation
★ Nazarene - 1 congregation
★ Pentecostal - about 10 variously affiliated congregations
★ Presbyterianism - 2 congregations
★ Society of Friends (Quakers) - 1 congregation
★ Salvation Army - 1 congregation
★ Seventh-day Adventist - 0 congregations, although neighboring Altoona and Chippewa Falls each have 1 congregation
★ Unitarian Universalist - 1 congregation
★ United Church of Christ - 3 congregations
★ Unity School of Christianity - 1 congregation
★ Wesleyan Church - 1 congregation
Education
Eau Claire is home to several universities and colleges, including the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire (UWEC), the private (Church of the Lutheran Confession Synod) Immanuel Lutheran College, and three campuses of the Chippewa Valley Technical College (CVTC).
There are two private high schools in Eau Claire:
★ Regis High School is affiliated with the Roman Catholic Church.
★ Immanuel Lutheran High School is affiliated with Immanuel Lutheran College.
There are two public high schools in the Eau Claire Area School District[7]:
★ Memorial High School (Old Abes)
★ North High School (Huskies)
There are also two charter high schools in Eau Claire:
★ McKinley Charter School, a non-traditional school serving 120 students. Student/teacher ratio: 20
★ Technology Charter School, a non-traditional school serving 193 students. Student/teacher ratio: 62.3
There are three public middle schools in the Eau Claire Area School District[8]:
★ Delong Middle School (Knights)
★ Northstar Middle School (Polar Bears)
★ South Middle School (Falcons)
Transportation
Airports
Eau Claire is served by Chippewa Valley Regional Airport.
Mass transit
★ Eau Claire Transit bus lines
Major highways
Sports
The Eau Claire Express is a baseball team that plays in the Northwoods League, an NCAA summer baseball league. Their home games are played at Carson Park in Eau Claire.
The Eau Claire Cavaliers, an amateur baseball team, also plays home games at Carson Park.
The Chippewa Valley Predators and the Eau Claire Crush, adult amateur football teams in the Great Plains Football League, play their home games at Carson Park.
Eau Claire also has a Figure Skating club at Hobbs Ice Arena.
Media and entertainment
Print media
The local daily newspaper is the ''Eau Claire Leader-Telegram'' [9], with a daily circulation of 26,901 during the week and a circulation rate of 38,824 for the Sunday paper. There is also a twice monthly entertainment magazine titled - ''Volume One'' [10] which raises awareness of city events, and a number of other smaller monthly or periodic publications created and distributed in the area.
Television
The TV stations in the Eau Claire area:
★ WEAU, Channel 13 (NBC)
★ WQOW, Channel 18 (ABC)
★ WHWC, Channel 28 (PBS; Menomonie)
★ WEUX, Channel 48 (FOX)
WEAU also serves the La Crosse area, and the Eau Claire area is served by La Crosse station WKBT (CBS).
Radio
There are two major radio groups in Eau Claire: Clear Channel Radio and Maverick Media.
Clear Channel Radio owns and operates seven stations: WQRB-FM (B-95) (Hot Country); WMEQ-FM (ROCK 92.1) (Classic Rock); WBIZ-FM (Z-100) (Contemporary Hits); WATQ-FM (MOOSE COUNTRY 106.7) (Classic Country); WISM-FM (MIX 98.1) (Soft Rock); WBIZ-AM (SPORTSRADIO 1400) (Sports Talk and play-by-play); and WMEQ-AM (NEWSTALK AM 880) (News/Talk)
Maverick Media owns six stations: WECL-FM; WAXX-FM; WIAL-FM; WDRK-FM; WEAQ-AM; and WAYY-AM.
Other commercial stations broadcasting in the area are: WCFW-FM 105.7; and WOGO-AM 680.
There also are two Wisconsin Public Radio affiliates that broadcast in the Eau Claire area: WHWC-FM 88.3 for the Ideas Network and WUEC-FM 89.7 for the NPR News & Classical Music network.
Three secular low-power FM stations broadcast in Eau Claire: 96.3 WHYS [11], (variety of music and social programming including Democracy Now!), 101.9 WRFP (local public access content), and 102.7 WIEC[12].
There are also several religious stations broadcasting from the Eau Claire area. These include: WVCF-FM 90.5; WHEM-FM 91.3; WJLM-LP-FM 96.9 (low-power); WWIB-FM 103.7; and WDVM-AM 1050.
Recreation
There are several large parks in the city, notably Putnam Park, which follows the course of Putnam Creek and Little Niagara Creek east from the UWEC campus, Phoenix Park, on the site of the old Phoenix Steel plant at the confluence of the Eau Claire and Chippewa River. Phoenix park is the host of the weekly farmers market during summer months. And Carson Park. Another important park is Owen Park, along the Chippewa River, home to a large bandshell where open air concerts are held throughout the summer. Lake Altoona has historically been a local swimming and water recreation site, however in recent years there have been issues regarding the high fecal content of the lake and swimming is no longer recommended. Riverview Park is also a common summer swimming desination, as well as one of the local boat landings. This park includes picnicing areas and grills, as well as public restrooms.
The City of Eau Claire also operates a public pool, Fairfax pool, during the summer months.
Eau Claire is at the head of the Chippewa River State Trail, a biking and recreation trail that follows the lower course of the Chippewa River. [13]
For more recreation information visit Wikitravel for Eau Claire.
Notable natives & residents
''See Also''
★ .
★ Notable UWEC Graduates.
General
★ Waldemar Ager, Norwegian-American newspaperman and author
★ Mary Brunner, girlfriend of Charles Manson
★ Alden Carter, ALA award winning author (website)
★ Steve Gunderson, CEO of the Council on Foundations and a former Republican Congressman from Wisconsin
★ Lars Hanson, rock musician (drums, guitar) best known for work with Bad Boy.
★ Ben Katz, movie producer (imdb entry), (corporate site)
★ Geoffrey Keezer, renowned jazz pianist -- the last to play with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers [14]
★ Michael Koehn, the only Eau Claire resident to appear on the game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire. He won $100,000.00
★ Sarah Krueger, 2007 contestant on American Idol who made it to Hollywood week (fan site).
★ Beth Lacke, actress (imdb entry)
★ Ann Landers, advice columnist (during her time in Eau Claire she served as chair of the Eau Claire County Democratic Party).[15]
★ Howard Luedtke, also know as Howard "Guitar" Luedtke, the American blues guitarist and musician (official site).
★ John Menard, Jr., founder of Menards
★ John Myhers, actor (imdb entry)
★ Julie Nelson, TV News anchor
★ Arthur Peabody, former state architect of Wisconsin
★ L. E. Phillips, philanthropist
★ Abigail van Buren, advice columnist
Sports
★ Hank Aaron, baseball great, played in Eau Claire for the Eau Claire Bears during his first professional baseball season in 1952. Aaron has returned to the city several times since, including in 1994 for the dedication of his statue at Carson Park,[5][6][7][8] and again in 2006 as a campaign speaker for governor Jim Doyle's gubernatorial reëlection.[9][10]
★ Mickey Crowe, Wisconsin high school basketball legend who played for John F. Kennedy Preparatory High School in the mid-1970s.
★ Marv Harshman, former college men's basketball coach for Washington, Washington State, and Pacific Lutheran
★ Jeff Hazuga, defensive end for Minnesota Vikings (2001-2002) & Frankfurt Galaxy (2004), currently playing for the Eau Claire Crush, an adult amateur football team
★ Chandra Johnson, WNBA Center Los Angles Sparks (2003-2005)
★ Herm Johnson, former CART / Indy 500 race car driver
★ Paul Menard, NASCAR driver
★ Tom Poquette, MLB player for Kansas City Royals (1973, 1976-79, 1982), Boston Red Sox and Texas Rangers
★ Brad Radke, MLB pitcher for the Minnesota Twins born in Eau Claire on October 27, 1972.
★ Bill Schroeder, NFL wide receiver (1994-2004)
★ Joe Torre, current New York Yankees manager, played and coached baseball for the Eau Claire Bears and Braves.[16][17][18]
Fictional
★ Bernice, the protagonist of F. Scott Fitzgerald's short story ''Bernice Bobs Her Hair''.
== Sister Cities ==
Eau Claire is sistered with Lismore, New South Wales, a rural town in Australia.[19]
In July 2007, Eau Claire also sistered with Miramar, Costa Rica, a rural town in the Montes de Oro canton within the Puntarenas Province of Costa Rica.
External links
General
★ City of Eau Claire website
History
★ Eau Claire Historic Preservation Foundation
★ Eau Claire Landmarks Commission photo collection
★ Chippewa Valley Museum
★ Paul Bunyan Logging Camp
Metropolitan area
★ Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls Metropolitan Planning Organization website
Maps
Tourism and Entertainment
★
★ Chippewa Valley Convention & Visitors Bureau
★ Chippewa Guide - Chippewa Valley Web Portal
See also
★ Eau Claire-Chippewa Falls metropolitan area
★ List of municipalities in Wisconsin by population
★ Eau Claire, Calgary - a neighboorhood in Calgary, Alberta (Canada), whose name was derived from a relocated Eau Claire, WI sawmill.
★ List of Tree Cities USA
★ Water Street, Eau Claire, WI
Notes
1. Leader Telegram editorial July 7, 2006.
2. "Mayoral issue dead for now" Mar. 7, 2006 Leader-Telegram story.
3.
4. 2004 Wisconsin Bluebook data
5. Carson Park article, from the UW-Eau Claire Club Baseball website
6. 'Hank Aaron' tri-fold brochure from the Eau Claire Express website. (.pdf)
7. "Henry Aaron honored in city where he broke barriers in baseball - Eau Claire, WI" article from ''Jet'', 5 Sept. 1994. Retrieved via findarticles.com 13 Jan. 2007.
8. "Hammerin' Hank still stands tall" article from ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'' 3 April 2002. Retrieved from findarticles.com, 13 Jan. 2007.
9. "Welcome back, Hank" 20 October 2006 ''Eau Claire Leader-Telegram'' article. Two more stories referring to this visit, although both more germane to Hank Aaron's activities as a campaigner for Jim Doyle's gubernatorial reëlection: "Hank Aaron goes to bat for Doyle" 19 Oct. 2006"Aaron stumps for Doyle in city" 20 Oct. 2006
10. "Governor Doyle and Hank Aaron Visit Eau Claire" article on WEAU-TV website, viewed 13, Jan. 2007.
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