Kaukauna, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
Kaukauna kəˈkɔːnə is a city in Outagamie County
, Wisconsin
, United States
, on the Fox River
, approximately 100 miles (161 km) north of Milwaukee, with a population of 12,983. It is a part 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 considered the easternmost of the Fox Cities
.
. When the city was incorporated in 1885, it was separated from the adjacent, and still rural, parts of the town
. The first land deed in Wisconsin was given to Charles A. Grignon, who built a mansion on the river on Kaukauna's north side. The home, which bears Grignon's name, is operated as a museum by the Outagamie County Historical Society.
The city is divided into the North Side and South Side by the Fox River
, which is spanned by five bridges.
schools for children through the eighth grade exist in Kaukauna: Kaukauna's Catholic parishes have created the Kaukauna Catholic School System, and Trinity Lutheran School operated by Trinity Lutheran Church. There is no parochial
high school in the city, but religious high schools in the area include Catholic Xavier High School
and Fox Valley Lutheran High School
.
Kaukauna has one public high school, named for the city, with an enrollment of approximately 1,350. The current school was constructed in 1999 to replace the first Kaukauna High School (see above), which the district had outgrown despite expanding the building twice since its construction in the late 19th century. The school's mascot is the Galloping Ghost, supposedly named after a football game sometime in the early days of the school. On a foggy night, the announcer was heard to describe the running back as a Galloping Ghost - possibly a reference to Red Grange
, a professional football player whose nickname was "The Galloping Ghost".
Kaukauna athletics participate in the Fox Valley Association
Conference with nine other Fox Valley schools. Intense rivalry throughout the conference is present, but most historically with the neighboring Kimberly
Papermakers.
region's transit network. It runs along the northern edge of the city and intersects Wisconsin Highway 55, Wisconsin Highway 96, and two busy county roads that serve as important streets in the city. US 10
is just to the south of Kaukauna, and Wisconsin Highway 441 is just to the west.
Kaukauna is a member of Valley Transit
, which provides bus
service.
in 1986. In 2005, New York
-based equity firm
Kohlberg & Company
bought the mill, changed the name back to Thilmany
, and created a company of the same name. It is this paper mill that is the cause of a less than desirable odor that can be detected at times throughout the Fox Valley. Kaukauna club cheese, once made in the city, is now manufactured by the Bel/Kaukauna corporation in the neighboring village of Little Chute
.
of 2000, there were 12,983 people, 4,971 households, and 3,365 families residing in the city. The population density
was 2,092.5 people per square mile (808.5/km²). There were 5,142 housing units at an average density of 320.2 persons/km² (828.8 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city was 95.48% White, 0.27% African American
, 0.75% Native American, 2.22% Asia
n, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races
, and 0.91% from two or more races. 0.79% of the population were Hispanic
or Latino
of any race.
There were 4,971 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples
living together, 8.7% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.
The median income
for a household in the city was $43,980, and the median income for a family was $50,187. Males had a median income of $38,880 versus $22,830 for females. The per capita income
for the city was $18,748. 4.8% of the population and 2.6% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 4.6% are under the age of 18 and 10.4% are 65 or older.
Outagamie County, Wisconsin
Outagamie is a county in the northeast region of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Its county seat is Appleton. As of the 2009 census estimate, its population was 177,155....
, Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, on the Fox River
Fox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
, approximately 100 miles (161 km) north of Milwaukee, with a population of 12,983. It is a part of the Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton, Wisconsin
Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census...
Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area
Combined Statistical Area
The United States Office of Management and Budget defines micropolitan and metropolitan statistical areas. Metropolitan and micropolitan statistical areas consist of one or more counties...
with a combined population of around 350,000. It is considered the easternmost of the Fox Cities
Fox Cities
The Fox Cities of northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. Together they form the core of the third largest metropolitan area of Wisconsin, with a population exceeding 360,000...
.
History
Prior to 1880, and shortly afterwards, Kaukauna was known as "The Lion on the Fox." This nickname was changed to "The Electric City" upon the completion of the hydroelectric plantHydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
. When the city was incorporated in 1885, it was separated from the adjacent, and still rural, parts of the town
Kaukauna (town), Wisconsin
Kaukauna is a town in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,238 at the 2010 census.-History:In 1885, the adjacent City of Kaukauna was removed from the town when it incorporated...
. The first land deed in Wisconsin was given to Charles A. Grignon, who built a mansion on the river on Kaukauna's north side. The home, which bears Grignon's name, is operated as a museum by the Outagamie County Historical Society.
The city is divided into the North Side and South Side by the Fox River
Fox River (Wisconsin)
The Fox River is a river in eastern and central Wisconsin in the United States. Along the banks is a chain of cities, including Oshkosh, Neenah, Menasha, Appleton, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna. Except for Oshkosh, these cities refer to themselves as the Fox Cities...
, which is spanned by five bridges.
Education
Kaukauna is served by the Kaukauna Area School District, whose enrollment totals almost 4,000 students between kindergarten and 12th grade. The city has four elementary schools and one middle school, which is housed in the former high school. Two parochialParochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
schools for children through the eighth grade exist in Kaukauna: Kaukauna's Catholic parishes have created the Kaukauna Catholic School System, and Trinity Lutheran School operated by Trinity Lutheran Church. There is no parochial
Parochial school
A parochial school is a school that provides religious education in addition to conventional education. In a narrower sense, a parochial school is a Christian grammar school or high school which is part of, and run by, a parish.-United Kingdom:...
high school in the city, but religious high schools in the area include Catholic Xavier High School
Xavier High School (Appleton, Wisconsin)
Xavier High School is a private Catholic secondary school in Appleton, Wisconsin, in the Diocese of Green Bay. It was opened in 1959 by the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools . The school was named in honor of St...
and Fox Valley Lutheran High School
Fox Valley Lutheran High School
Fox Valley Lutheran High School is a Lutheran high school located in Appleton, Wisconsin. The school is owned and operated by a Federation of 40 Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod churches across the Fox River Valley area...
.
Kaukauna has one public high school, named for the city, with an enrollment of approximately 1,350. The current school was constructed in 1999 to replace the first Kaukauna High School (see above), which the district had outgrown despite expanding the building twice since its construction in the late 19th century. The school's mascot is the Galloping Ghost, supposedly named after a football game sometime in the early days of the school. On a foggy night, the announcer was heard to describe the running back as a Galloping Ghost - possibly a reference to Red Grange
Red Grange
Harold Edward "Red" Grange, nicknamed "The Galloping Ghost", was a college and professional American football halfback for the University of Illinois, the Chicago Bears, and for the short-lived New York Yankees. His signing with the Bears helped legitimize the National Football League...
, a professional football player whose nickname was "The Galloping Ghost".
Kaukauna athletics participate in the Fox Valley Association
Fox Valley Association
The Fox Valley Association Conference is an athletic conference comprising high schools in northeastern Wisconsin along the Fox Valley. The management of the conference is vested in the principals of the member schools, who determine the rules governing the eligibility of athletes and the schedules...
Conference with nine other Fox Valley schools. Intense rivalry throughout the conference is present, but most historically with the neighboring Kimberly
Kimberly, Wisconsin
Kimberly is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 6,146 at the 2000 census.-History:Kimberly was founded in 1889 and was named after John A...
Papermakers.
Lutheran
Roman Catholic
Transportation
Kaukauna is located at the intersections of several major roads. US 41 forms the backbone of the Fox CitiesFox Cities
The Fox Cities of northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. Together they form the core of the third largest metropolitan area of Wisconsin, with a population exceeding 360,000...
region's transit network. It runs along the northern edge of the city and intersects Wisconsin Highway 55, Wisconsin Highway 96, and two busy county roads that serve as important streets in the city. US 10
U.S. Route 10
U.S. Route 10 is an east–west United States highway formed in 1926. Though it never became the cross-country highway suggested by the "0" as the last digit of its route number, U.S...
is just to the south of Kaukauna, and Wisconsin Highway 441 is just to the west.
Kaukauna is a member of Valley Transit
Valley Transit
Valley Transit is a city bus and paratransit commission operated by the city government of Appleton, Wisconsin.The system operates across the Fox Cities and serves the cities of Appleton, Kaukauna, Menasha and Neenah, as well as the towns of Buchanan, Grand Chute and Menasha; and the villages of...
, which provides bus
Bus
A bus is a road vehicle designed to carry passengers. Buses can have a capacity as high as 300 passengers. The most common type of bus is the single-decker bus, with larger loads carried by double-decker buses and articulated buses, and smaller loads carried by midibuses and minibuses; coaches are...
service.
Business
The city includes diverse industrial and manufacturing businesses, including the Oscar Thilmany Paper Mill, constructed in 1883. The name dropped off the mill when it was purchased by HammerMill in 1969, which was in turn bought by International PaperInternational Paper
International Paper Company is an American pulp and paper company, the largest such company in the world. It has approximately 59,500 employees, and it is headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.-History:...
in 1986. In 2005, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
-based equity firm
Ownership equity
In accounting and finance, equity is the residual claim or interest of the most junior class of investors in assets, after all liabilities are paid. If liability exceeds assets, negative equity exists...
Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company
Kohlberg & Company is a private equity firm that focuses on leveraged buyout transactions founded by industry pioneer Jerome Kohlberg, Jr.Today, the firm invests in a variety of transactions including leveraged carveouts , take private transactions and acquisitions of privately held companies...
bought the mill, changed the name back to Thilmany
Thilmany
Thilmany Papers is a leading manufacturer of specialty lightweight packaging, pressure sensitive, and technical and industrial papers. Thilmany Papers paper mill operations are located in Kaukauna and De Pere, WI. Thilmany Papers is a division of Packaging Dynamics....
, and created a company of the same name. It is this paper mill that is the cause of a less than desirable odor that can be detected at times throughout the Fox Valley. Kaukauna club cheese, once made in the city, is now manufactured by the Bel/Kaukauna corporation in the neighboring village of Little Chute
Little Chute, Wisconsin
Little Chute is a village in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 10,476 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Little Chute is located at ....
.
Notable people
- Steve BadgerSteve BadgerSteve Badger is a former professional poker player and World Series of Poker bracelet winner. He also owned Playwinningpoker.com before he sold it to PokerStars in 2010.-Career:...
, professional poker player - Mark BellingMark BellingMark Belling is a conservative radio talk show host for 1130 WISN in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.Belling hosts a three-hour weekday radio program, The Mark Belling Late Afternoon Show, which is regularly rated No. 1 for the afternoon-drive time slot...
, conservative talk-show host - Thomas CaneThomas Cane-Biography:A graduate of Marquette University Law School, Cane served in the United States Air Force Judge Advocate General's Corps during the Vietnam War. He would achieve the rank of captain. Following his career in the military, Cane worked in a private practice in Kaukauna, Wisconsin...
, Chief Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals - Eugene DeBruinEugene DeBruinEugene Henry DeBruin was a US Air Force staff sergeant, and a member of Air America serving in Laos during the Second Indochina War. "Gene" DeBruin was working as a "kicker" for Air America in 1963 when his C-46 was shot down. He was a POW at a Pathet Lao prison camp in Laos until he and other...
, American pilot, MIA in the Vietnam WarVietnam WarThe Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of... - Carl GiordanaCarl GiordanaCarl F. Giordana gained recognition as a remarkable athlete and activist in his community.-Biography:Giordana was born and raised in Kaukauna, Wisconsin where he attended Kaukauna High School and was most notably remembered for playing American football and basketball for the Galloping Ghosts.He...
, athlete and activist - Norbert HayesNorbert HayesNorbert Hayes was a player in the National Football League for the Racine Legion and Green Bay Packers in 1922 and 1923. He played at the collegiate level at Marquette University.-References:...
, NFL player - Gordon MyseGordon Myse-Biography:Myse was born in Kaukauna, Wisconsin in 1935. He is a graduate of Beloit College and the University of Michigan Law School. Myse is married with three children.-Career:...
, Judge of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals
Demographics
As of the censusCensus
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
of 2000, there were 12,983 people, 4,971 households, and 3,365 families residing in the city. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...
was 2,092.5 people per square mile (808.5/km²). There were 5,142 housing units at an average density of 320.2 persons/km² (828.8 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city was 95.48% White, 0.27% African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
, 0.75% Native American, 2.22% Asia
Asia
Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...
n, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 0.30% from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...
, and 0.91% from two or more races. 0.79% of the population were Hispanic
Hispanic
Hispanic is a term that originally denoted a relationship to Hispania, which is to say the Iberian Peninsula: Andorra, Gibraltar, Portugal and Spain. During the Modern Era, Hispanic sometimes takes on a more limited meaning, particularly in the United States, where the term means a person of ...
or Latino
Latino
The demonyms Latino and Latina , are defined in English language dictionaries as:* "a person of Latin-American descent."* "A Latin American."* "A person of Hispanic, especially Latin-American, descent, often one living in the United States."...
of any race.
There were 4,971 households out of which 35.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.0% were married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
living together, 8.7% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 32.3% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.16.
In the city the population was spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 30.5% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 13.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.4 males.
The median income
Median household income
The median household income is commonly used to generate data about geographic areas and divides households into two equal segments with the first half of households earning less than the median household income and the other half earning more...
for a household in the city was $43,980, and the median income for a family was $50,187. Males had a median income of $38,880 versus $22,830 for females. The per capita income
Per capita income
Per capita income or income per person is a measure of mean income within an economic aggregate, such as a country or city. It is calculated by taking a measure of all sources of income in the aggregate and dividing it by the total population...
for the city was $18,748. 4.8% of the population and 2.6% of families were below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 4.6% are under the age of 18 and 10.4% are 65 or older.