Kenosha, Wisconsin
Encyclopedia
Kenosha is a city and the county seat of Kenosha County in the State of Wisconsin in United States
. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin
. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago
, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. Kenosha lies on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan
, 32 miles (51.5 km) south of Milwaukee and 50 miles north of Chicago
. Kenosha is part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is heavily tied to both the Milwaukee metropolitan area
and the Chicago metropolitan area. Many residents work in nearby cities of Waukegan, Illinois
and Racine, Wisconsin
.
. It is bordered by the Town of Somers
to the north, Bristol
to the west and the village of Pleasant Prairie
to the south. Kenosha's passenger train station
is the last stop on Chicago's Union Pacific North Metra Line
and is conveniently located almost halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago.
According to the United States Census Bureau
, the city has a total area of 24.0 square miles (62.1 km²), of which, 23.8 square miles (61.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.63%) is water.
of 2000, there were 90,352 people, 34,411 households, and 22,539 families residing in the city.
The population density
was 3,795.1 people per square mile (1,465.1/km²). There were 36,004 housing units at an average density of 1,512.3 per square mile (583.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.64% White, 7.68% African American
, 0.44% Native American, 0.99% Asia
n, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.83% from other races and 2.38% from two or more races. 9.96% of the population were Hispanic
or of any race. 25.5% were of German
, 11.5% Italian, 7.1% Irish
and 6.6% Polish
ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 34,411 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them: 47.1% were married couples
living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 34.5% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population included 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% 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 93.2 males.
On October 10, 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Administration
reported that Kenosha's population had grown by 6.2 percent since the 2000 census, and Kenosha County's population grew by 8.4 percent, a gain of 12,517 within that same period.
The state of Wisconsin passed legislation in 1999 that mandated each municipality to produce a comprehensive plan. Kenosha, however, has been creating comprehensive plans since 1925. The most recent Kenosha plan projects:
settlements were discovered in the greater Kenosha area in the late 20th century. These prehistoric settlements date approximately to the era of the Wisconsin glaciation
. Paleo Indians
first settled in the area at least 13,500 years ago.
The Potawatomi
originally named the area gnozhé ("place of the pike").
The early name by the Ojibwa
Indians is reported as Masu-kinoja. This describes the place of spawning trout as "Trout (Pike) come all at same time". There were thousands of fish entering the rivers from Lake Michigan. Harvesting these fish provided food for the coming months. There is also a town of Masu-kegan in Michigan.
The first white settlers were part of the Western Emigration Company. They arrived in the early 1830s from Hannibal
and Troy, New York
, led by John Bullen, Jr., who sought to purchase enough land for a town. Thwarted in Milwaukee and Racine, the group arrived at Pike Creek on 6 June 1835, building log and later frame homes. The first school and churches followed by 1835, with platting completed in 1836. As more settlers arrived and the first post office was established, the community was first known as Pike in 1836. In the ensuing years the area became an important Great Lakes shipping port, and the village was once again renamed, this time to Southport. (This is still the name of a southeast-side neighborhood, park, and elementary school, as well as several businesses).
In 1850, another change brought the growing city (and later Kenosha County) its current title, an Anglicized version of the early name Kinoje. Kenoshans often refer affectionately to their city as "K-Town" and "Keno" (the latter adopted by some local businesses).
Between 1902 and 1988, Kenosha produced millions of automobiles and trucks under marques such as Jeffery
, Rambler
, Nash
, Hudson
, LaFayette
, and American Motors Corporation (AMC). A prototype
steam car
was built in Kenosha by the Sullivan-Becker engineering firm in 1900. Two years later the Thomas B. Jeffery Company
, builders of the Sterling bicycle, began production of the Rambler
runabout. In 1902 Rambler and Oldsmobile
were the first cars to employ mass-production techniques. The 1902 Rambler was also the first automobile to incorporate a steering wheel
, rather than use the then-common tiller
-controlled steering. In 1916 Jeffery was purchased by auto executive Charles W. Nash
and became Nash Motors
. In May 1954, Nash acquired Detroit-based Hudson
and the new firm was named American Motors Corporation. A 47 acres (190,202.4 m²) west side park and an elementary school are named after Nash.
In partnership with French automaker Renault
, AMC manufactured several models in Kenosha in the early 1980s, including the Alliance, which won the 1983 “Car of The Year” award from Motor Trend
magazine. Two decades earlier, AMC's 1963 Rambler Classic had also received the award. In 1987 Renault sold its controlling interest in AMC to Chrysler Corporation, who had already contracted with AMC for the production of its M-body mid-sized cars at the Kenosha plant. Chrysler continues to build some of its engines in the original AMC facility today. The AMC Lakefront plant (1960–88), a smaller facility, was demolished in 1990 (a chimney-demolition ceremony that June drew 10,000 spectators) and was redeveloped into upscale HarborPark, with its rambling lakeside condominiums, large recreational marina, water park and promenades, artworks, sculptures, fountains (including the 2007 Christopher Columbus fountain), the Kenosha Public Museum, which opened in 2000, and the Civil War Museum, which opened in 2008, all connected by the Kenosha Electric Railway streetcar system.
From the turn of the century
through the 1930s many Italian, Irish, Polish and German immigrants, many of them skilled craftsmen, made their way to the city and contributed to the city's construction, culture, architecture, music and literature.
Kenosha has 21 locations and three districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places
including the Library Park, Third Avenue, and the Civic Center historic districts. The city has a Kenosha Landmarks Commission, and among the many local city-designated landmarks are the 1929 YMCA at 711 59th Place, the Manor House at 6536 Third Avenue, the John McCaffary House at 5732 13th Court, the St. Matthew Episcopal Church at 5900 Seventh Avenue, the Washington Park Clubhouse at 2205 Washington Road, and the Justin Weed House at 3509 Washington Road.
In June 1993, the city installed reproductions of the historic Sheridan LeGrande street light
s that were specially designed for Kenosha by Westinghouse
Electric in 1928; these can be seen on Sixth Avenue between 54th and 59th Streets. A classic two-mile (3 km) downtown electric streetcar system was opened on June 17, 2000.
The mayor of Kenosha for four terms beginning in April 1992 was John Martin Antaramian
, the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. In late 2006, Antaramian was awarded the Robert B. Bell, Sr. Best Public Partner Award for his advocacy towards quality real estate development. He was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston
Mayor Thomas Menino
and New York City
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
.
Antaramian announced during 2007 that he would not seek reelection in 2008. Former alderman Keith Bosman was elected mayor for a four-year term in the April 2008 spring elections.
, often attracting new residents from Illinois, which leads to Kenosha's frequent appellation as Chicago's northernmost suburb. With several area transportation options, many residents commute to their places of employment. According to county statistics, 49% of Kenosha's workforce commutes outside of Kenosha County to their positions. Many travel northward towards Milwaukee or south into the Chicago area. Kenosha does have some of its own employment, and is not a "typical" suburb; in fact, many locals consider neighboring communities Pleasant Prairie and Somers to be suburbs of Kenosha.
A June 2009 study by the Milken Institute
("North America's High-Tech Economy: The Geography of Knowledge-Based Industries") reported that Kenosha placed in the national top-50 high-tech economies. The Public Policy Forum
reported that Kenosha's personal-income levels have been sharply rising; the latest local gain stands at $30.3 million, in contrast to a personal-income drop of $434 million within other adjoining southeastern-Wisconsin communities (except for neighboring Walworth County
, which had a $3.3 million gain in the latest statistics.) The Kenosha Board of Realtors reported on March 24, 2010 that Kenosha-area home sales were outpacing the national home-sales trends for most of 2009 and into the new decade.
Today, Kenosha's employment demographics are mainly white-collar
. The city's largest employer is the multi-level educational system (this includes Kenosha Public Schools as well as UW-Parkside), and Kenosha's largest private employer is Abbott Laboratories
in Abbott Park, Illinois which has recently purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) within Kenosha County at Highways C at Interstate 94
.
, and Carthage College
) and a number of other several college and university branch campuses. Since 1992 it has hosted the Michael E. DeBakey
Heart Institute of the Kenosha Hospital & Medical Center, established in tribute to DeBakey’s pioneering efforts in cardiovascular surgery. Kenosha is also a busy retail and commercial center with a number of light industrial and distribution companies, nearly all located in business park
s outside the city. Recently Abbott Laboratories
, Kenosha's largest private employer, began to land-bank property near the southwest edge of the city, which may be the site of a new major campus of the large pharmaceutical firm.
In decades past, Kenosha also hosted a number of manufacturing firms, among them American Brass (later Outokumpu Copper/Outokumpu American Brass Company), Simmons Bedding Company
, the Samuel Lowe publishing firm, Kenosha Full Fashioned Mills, Solar Lamp Company, Jockey International
(originally "Cooper's Union Suit Company" until the 'Jockey' brief was developed in 1934), Snap-on
, the MacWhyte Wire Rope Company, Dynamatic, Frost Company, G. LeBlanc, and American Motors Corporation. Most of these facilities have long since been cleared and the real-estate converted into parklands, high-end residential developments, commercial shopping districts, a school campus, or held in land-banking.
A study released in January 2010, by the Dickman Company, Inc. of Milwaukee found that corporate vacancies within available Kenosha-area business spaces had decreased during 2009, making Greater Kenosha the only southeastern Wisconsin community with such an improvement.
Snap-On Tools Inc. has located its headquarters in Kenosha, although the manufacturing plant behind the main building was shut down.
has a significant and growing impact on Kenosha's economy. According to the Kenosha Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2006 Kenosha-area tourism expenditures reached a record $222.5 million, which translated into approximately 5,220 full-time-job equivalents. During 2007, the Kenosha-area revenue from tourism rose to a record $224.6 million (or a 5,267 full-time-job equivalency) despite a 1.4% statewide tourism slowdown. Kenosha's tourism activity and revenue is now within the top 20% of all of Wisconsin's 72 counties. Surveys show that most visitors to Kenosha shop at nearby Pleasant Prairie's Prime Outlets strip mall, which contains factory outlets for a diverse mix of retailers, and stay at local hotels and motels, while the city's extensive Lake Michigan
beaches and HarborPark facilities attract 36% of all tourists, and 34.1% use the municipal streetcar line.
Kenosha-area tourism saw growth in 2008 despite the national economic downturn, bringing in a record $225.2 million, an increase of $600,000 over 2007 and a 147% increase since 1994. This placed Greater Kenosha in 14th place for tourism among Wisconsin's 72 counties in 2008. This is thought to be because of an increase in nearby, short vacations, or staycation
s, due to the economic downturn, with Kenosha attracting residents of the nearby Milwaukee and Chicago
areas.
The main 2008 tourism-related event was the opening of Kenosha's $15 million Civil War Museum in June. Other attractions include the Dinosaur Discovery Museum
, the Kenosha Public Museum, the Longaberger Basket Fest and the opening of a holiday-season Jelly Belly
retail outlet.
2009 brought a number of new events to Kenosha, including the inaugural Wisconsin Marathon, which saw nearly 2,000 runners at the Lake Michigan shoreline on May 2. The second annual "A Salute to Freedom" from June 12 to June 14 celebrated the completion of the Civil War Museum, and the TREK Women’s Triathlon Series made its debut on July 12 at Prairie Springs Park.
Number of households:
2005 housing statistics:
In March 2008, the Public Policy Forum reported that Kenosha's real-estate valuations rose by 7.6%, most likely as a result of heavy migration by Chicago professionals who have resettled in Kenosha.
since May 19, 1855, when the predecessors to the Chicago and North Western Railway
, the Milwaukee and Chicago Railway Company (originally the Illinois Parallel Railroad
) and the original "Lake Shore Railroad" (later the Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago Railway) were officially joined with great ceremony just south of today's 52nd Street. Passenger service began on May 28, 1866, and it continues to the present day.
Kenosha has the only Metra
station
in Wisconsin, with nine inbound and nine outbound trains each weekday. Passenger ridership on the Kenosha line was up by a slight 0.06% in 2009, while elsewhere on the 11-route Metra system, passenger counts dropped by 5.2 percent. Not all Union Pacific/North Line
trains terminate and originate in Kenosha. Most of them terminate at Waukegan, Illinois
, to the south of Kenosha. Plans are underway to establish a passenger service northwards from the Kenosha Metra Station through Racine County and into Milwaukee via the proposed "KRM Line".
Since June 2000, a two-mile (3 km) streetcar line has served the downtown area and HarborPark, connecting the Metra station with downtown and several area parks. Kenosha is one of the smallest cities in America with any type of streetcar system today. In December 2005 the city council authorized a study on the expansion of streetcar service in order to connect the city's downtown with the uptown business districts flanking 63rd Street and 22nd Avenue.
In addition to a streetcar line, Kenosha has a city bus network
that includes eight routes. Kenosha was the first city to color-code transit routes (with the Blue, Green, Red, and Orange Lines), and also the first city to use electric trolley buses in full transit service, both occurring on February 14, 1932.
Kenosha is served by two intercity bus systems. Wisconsin Coach Lines
buses stop in front of the city's Metra station, connecting riders to Racine, Milwaukee, and the O'Hare International Airport
in western Chicago, and difficult to get to by train. The Western Kenosha County Transit
Route 1 stops at Southport Plaza, connecting riders to Twin Lakes
.
By highway, Kenosha is served mainly by Interstate 94
which connects Chicago with Milwaukee, and thence west to the state captal city, Madison, Wisconsin
.
By passenger train, Kenosha is also served by Amtrak
's Hiawatha Line
service (from the Sturtevant station
in Racine County), with trains between Chicago and Milwaukee seven times daily. The Hiawatha serves commuters from Kenosha who work in either one of these two large cities.
In Kenosha County, numbered streets run east-west and numbered avenues north-south, with street numbering commencing with First Street on Kenosha County's northern border (County Trunk Highway
KR) rather than at the city's center. ("Roads" are diagonal thoroughfares, "Courts" are short north-south avenues, and "Places" are short east-west streets.) The downtown area of Kenosha is located between 50th and 60th Streets. Avenue numbers increase as one heads west from the lakefront. This numbering system continues through all of Kenosha County, ending at 408th Avenue to the west at the Kenosha-Walworth County line, while north-south roads end at the Illinois
state line at 128th Street.
with over 5,000 students, Carthage College
with over 2,000 students, and Gateway Technical College
.
Concordia University Wisconsin
, Cardinal Stritch University
, and National-Louis University
all maintain Kenosha branch campuses.
In 2009, Herzing University opened its new Kenosha campus.
operates 24 public elementary schools, six middle schools, seven charter schools, and six major high schools: Mary D. Bradford High School
, George Nelson Tremper High School
, Indian Trail High School and Academy, Lakeview Tech Academy
, Reuther Central High School and Harborside Academy, the latter a research school that uses the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model; it was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 80% of Kenosha's fourth-graders score 'proficient' and 'advanced' gradings on reading tests, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress
tests. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Kenosha's 2008 public-school graduation rate of 84.1% was ahead of the national average.
, the Brompton Academy, the Christian Life School
, and the LakeView Advanced Technology Center. At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, St. Mary's and Holy Rosary became the two campuses of All Saints Catholic School. There will be two campuses but it will operate as one school. A number of professional schools are located within the city.
, a broadsheet with circulation of around 23,000 copies. The Happenings Magazine is an ad supported publication distributed at local businesses. A new media outlet has emerged that coveres Kenosha, Wisconsin Internet News.
Kenosha is within the Chicago and Milwaukee broadcast market and is considered as part of the Milwaukee television market by A.C. Nielsen. Arbitron
classifies Kenosha within the Chicago market. Five major radio stations broadcast from Kenosha: News/Talk/Oldies WLIP
(1050 AM), Gateway Technical College
's WGTD
(91.1 FM), a member station of the Wisconsin Public Radio
News & Classical Music Network, rock WIIL
(95.1 FM) and classic hits WWDV
(96.9 FM), which simulcast
s Chicago-based WDRV
(97.1 FM). The Kenosha Convention and Visitors Bureau operates WPUR937 (1180 AM), a low-power tourist information station. Most of the AM and FM radio stations from Milwaukee and Chicago can be heard clearly in Kenosha.
WPXE
(Channel 55), owned by ION Television, is Kenosha's only locally licensed
television station. Its analog transmitter was based in northern Racine County, while the digital tower is in Milwaukee's tower farm site on the north side and the station's studios are just south of suburban Glendale
, so it serves the entire Milwaukee television market.
Navy Club of the U.S.A.,
Free and Accepted Masons - Lodge 47,
Rotary Club International,
The Exchange Club,
Local VFW and American Legion Posts,
Kenosha Women's Club,
Kenosha Streetcar Society,
Danish Brotherhood Lodge #14.
, the Civil War Museum and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum, are Smithsonian Institution
affiliates.
Completed in 2001, the Kenosha Public Museum is located on the Lake Michigan
shoreline. Its main exhibit is a prehistoric Woolly Mammoth
skeleton uncovered in western Kenosha in 1992. The bones revealed new clues about ancient American history; cut-marks on the bones indicated that the animals were butchered by humans using stone tools. Carbon dating indicated their age to be 12,500 radiocarbon years years old or 14,500 calendar years old, one thousand radiocarbon years earlier than the previously-accepted presence of humans in the Americas. The museum also displays other Ice Age and fine-art exhibits.
The Kenosha History Center is within the 1917 City water treatment plant on Simmons Island adjoining the 1866 Kenosha Southport Light station, and showcases the history of Kenosha from the Indians and the first settlements to the present day. The 1906 Kenosha North Pier Light is also nearby.
Kenosha's 59000 square feet (5,481.3 m²) Civil War Museum opened on June 13, 2008. The main exhibit, "The Fiery Trial", opened September 15, 2008. It is a 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) exhibit offering an interactive experience of the role of six Midwestern states before, during and after the American Civil War
.
The Dinosaur Discovery Museum, designated a federal repository, opened in August, 2006 in the historic Old Post Office adjoining the 56th Street streetcar line at Tenth Avenue, and includes an on-site paleontology
laboratory operated through the Carthage College
Institute of Paleontology.
The Kenosha Transit Carhouse at 724 54th Street, which houses Kenosha's historic fleet of PCC streetcars, is occasionally open for guided tours.
A Maritime Museum is being developed within the restored 1866 Southport Light and Lighthouse Keeper's cottage on Simmons Island. A Children's Museum is also planned for the upper two floors of the Orpheum Building on Sixth Avenue at 59th Street, currently occupied by the Heim's Downtown Toy Store and Scoop's Ice Cream. No formal timetable has been provided.
The Kenosha Lakeshore Youth Philharmonic offers an intensive orchestral experience to middle school and high school musicians.
Kenosha Unified School District
offers a touring summer marching band program for students at all school-band-age levels. Continental Band and Rambler Band offer opportunities for novice and intermediate musicians whereas the Band of the Black Watch is the jewel of the high school bands program, bringing together musicians from all of Kenosha's high schools. These bands perform in various parades and concert events throughout the summer locally within Southern Wisconsin and North Eastern Illinois and the Band of the Black Watch performs on an annual trip to varying locations which have included Disney World and Toronto.
Southeast Wisconsin Performing Arts (SEWPA) sponsors the Opera à la Carte evening concert series featuring middle school, high school and college singers.
The Kenosha Symphony Orchestra presents concerts in the acoustically correct Reuther Central Auditorium (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) at Walter Reuther Central High School
in downtown Kenosha. Film composer and orchestrator Lucien Cailliet
, orchestrator for The Ten Commandments
, was the KSO conductor until 1960.
Since 2002, the outdoor Peanut Butter and Jam Concert Series has been held every Wednesday in August at Veterans Memorial Park.
Lincoln Park Live! concerts began in 2005 on the Lincoln Park lawns near the Warren Taylor Memorial Gardens.
A number of outdoor jazz events are offered throughout the summer months, most often at Veterans Memorial Park and the historic Kemper Center.
The CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Emerald Knights Band of Kenosha, which includes students from all schools and backgrounds, was formed on Thursday, March 23, 1939 and since 2008 has sponsored the Great Lakes Band Championships, an offshoot of the former Kenosha Music Round-Up, with its origins in the early years of World War II. By the end of summer 2008, the Emerald Knights had competed with countless talented bands all over the midwest through the Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA)
.
The Electric Hellfire Club
, an industrial metal band, originated in Kenosha in the early 1990s.
Korey Cooper
—keys, rhythm guitar, and background vocals for the rock band Skillet
—is originally from Kenosha.
Lazarus A.D.
, a thrash metal
band on Metal Blade Records
, is from Kenosha and frequently plays shows when in town.
Jungle Rot, a death metal
band on Victory Records
, formed in Kenosha.
Jeff Waluch, Audio Mixer, Tour Manager for Eddie Money
, Geoff Tyson
, and scores of recording artists from the 1970s to present.
Kenosha's Washington Park includes the oldest operating velodrome
in the United States (1927) at Washington Bowl. The Kenosha Velodrome Association sponsors American Track Cycling
sanctioned races as well as training sessions at the "bowl" throughout the summer. Races are held on Tuesday evenings beginning in mid-May and continuing through August. Free seating is available on the inside of the track, and on important race days concessions are available.
Petrifying Springs Park flanks the Pike River and was developed in the 1930s on the northwestern edge of the city, and is named for its artesian mineral water. Over ten miles (16 km) of trails wind through the wooded park, which also features an 18-hole golf course.
Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum has three historic buildings and several trails for hiking.
Library Park is home to a statue of Abraham Lincoln
by Charles Henry Niehaus
as well as a statue called Winged Victory by Daniel Burnham
.
Kenosha has been a Tree City USA
since 1982.
feature article ("The Kenosha Connection") marveled at the large number of Kenoshans in the arts and sciences.
, The Last Great Ride, Dead Air
, Fever Lake
, Time-Men, The Smokers
, For Keeps?
, RKO 281
(the film’s subject, Orson Welles
was born in Kenosha), The Paint Job, and in a lighthouse scene in Scary Movie 3
.
Was mentioned in Stephen King's book Carrie (pg. 15), 3 letters were from Kenosha that Mrs White received.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. With a population of 99,218 as of May 2011, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in 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...
. Kenosha is also the fourth-largest city on the western shore of Lake Michigan, following Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. Kenosha lies on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
, 32 miles (51.5 km) south of Milwaukee and 50 miles north of Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
. Kenosha is part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is heavily tied to both the Milwaukee metropolitan area
Milwaukee metropolitan area
The Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha metropolitan area is an urban area identified by the U.S. Census Bureau containing five counties in southeastern Wisconsin: Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Washington and Ozaukee...
and the Chicago metropolitan area. Many residents work in nearby cities of Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
and Racine, Wisconsin
Racine, Wisconsin
Racine is a city in and the county seat of Racine County, Wisconsin, United States. According to 2008 U.S. Census Bureau estimates, the city had a population of 82,196...
.
Geography
Kenosha is located in the southeastern corner of Wisconsin at 42°34′56"N 87°50′44"W (42.582220, -87.845624).. Kenosha's eastern boundary is Lake MichiganLake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
. It is bordered by the Town of Somers
Somers, Wisconsin
Somers is a town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 9,059 at the 2000 census.The unincorporated community of Somers is located within the town at Kenosha County Highway E at the former Milwaukee Road .-Geography:According to the United States Census Bureau, the town...
to the north, Bristol
Bristol, Kenosha County, Wisconsin
Bristol was a former town in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,538 at the 2000 census—before a large portion of the town was incorporated as the Village of Bristol...
to the west and the village of Pleasant Prairie
Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin
Pleasant Prairie is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin located between Milwaukee and Chicago. The population was 16,136 at the 2000 census. The neighborhoods of Carol Beach, Dexter's Corner, Ranney, and Tobin are located within the village.-Geography:...
to the south. Kenosha's passenger train station
Kenosha (Metra)
Kenosha is a railroad station in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States served by Metra's Union Pacific/North Line. It is the northern terminus of the line, which runs south to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago, Illinois. Kenosha is the only Metra station in Wisconsin...
is the last stop on Chicago's Union Pacific North Metra Line
Union Pacific/North Line
The Union Pacific/North is a commuter rail line in the Chicago metropolitan area that runs between Chicago and Waukegan, Illinois, with some trains continuing to Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is part of the Metra system, but it is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad...
and is conveniently located almost halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago.
According to the United States Census Bureau
United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau is the government agency that is responsible for the United States Census. It also gathers other national demographic and economic data...
, the city has a total area of 24.0 square miles (62.1 km²), of which, 23.8 square miles (61.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.63%) is water.
Demographics
Kenosha's population grew by 117 percent between 1940 and 2000. 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 90,352 people, 34,411 households, and 22,539 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 3,795.1 people per square mile (1,465.1/km²). There were 36,004 housing units at an average density of 1,512.3 per square mile (583.8/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 83.64% White, 7.68% 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...
, 0.44% Native American, 0.99% 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, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.83% from other races and 2.38% from two or more races. 9.96% 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 of any race. 25.5% were of German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
, 11.5% Italian, 7.1% Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
and 6.6% Polish
Poles
thumb|right|180px|The state flag of [[Poland]] as used by Polish government and diplomatic authoritiesThe Polish people, or Poles , are a nation indigenous to Poland. They are united by the Polish language, which belongs to the historical Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages of Central Europe...
ancestry according to Census 2000.
There were 34,411 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them: 47.1% 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, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 34.5% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.13.
In the city the population included 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% 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 93.2 males.
On October 10, 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Administration
Wisconsin Department of Administration
The Wisconsin Department of Administration provides the governor with information for preparing the state's budget and analyzing solutions to other fiscal problems. The Department is headquartered in Madison, Wisconsin. Michael Huebsch is the current Secretary of Administration.- References :* -...
reported that Kenosha's population had grown by 6.2 percent since the 2000 census, and Kenosha County's population grew by 8.4 percent, a gain of 12,517 within that same period.
The state of Wisconsin passed legislation in 1999 that mandated each municipality to produce a comprehensive plan. Kenosha, however, has been creating comprehensive plans since 1925. The most recent Kenosha plan projects:
- an increase in industrial land by 268 percent, from 673 acres (2.7 km²) to 1804 acres (7.3 km²), from 2000 to 2035.
- an additional 11,586 housing units by 2035.
- 14,830 jobs, up 34 percent from 2000.
History
Pre-Clovis cultureClovis culture
The Clovis culture is a prehistoric Paleo-Indian culture that first appears 11,500 RCYBP , at the end of the last glacial period, characterized by the manufacture of "Clovis points" and distinctive bone and ivory tools...
settlements were discovered in the greater Kenosha area in the late 20th century. These prehistoric settlements date approximately to the era of the Wisconsin glaciation
Wisconsin glaciation
The last glacial period was the most recent glacial period within the current ice age occurring during the last years of the Pleistocene, from approximately 110,000 to 10,000 years ago....
. Paleo Indians
Paleo Indians
Paleo-Indians or Paleoamericans is a classification term given to the first peoples who entered, and subsequently inhabited, the American continent during the final glacial episodes of the late Pleistocene period...
first settled in the area at least 13,500 years ago.
The Potawatomi
Potawatomi
The Potawatomi are a Native American people of the upper Mississippi River region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a member of the Algonquian family. In the Potawatomi language, they generally call themselves Bodéwadmi, a name that means "keepers of the fire" and that was applied...
originally named the area gnozhé ("place of the pike").
The early name by the Ojibwa
Ojibwa
The Ojibwe or Chippewa are among the largest groups of Native Americans–First Nations north of Mexico. They are divided between Canada and the United States. In Canada, they are the third-largest population among First Nations, surpassed only by Cree and Inuit...
Indians is reported as Masu-kinoja. This describes the place of spawning trout as "Trout (Pike) come all at same time". There were thousands of fish entering the rivers from Lake Michigan. Harvesting these fish provided food for the coming months. There is also a town of Masu-kegan in Michigan.
The first white settlers were part of the Western Emigration Company. They arrived in the early 1830s from Hannibal
Hannibal (town), New York
Hannibal is a town in Oswego County, New York, USA. The population was 4,957 at the 2000 census. The name is derived from the hero of ancient Carthage, Hannibal....
and Troy, New York
Troy, New York
Troy is a city in the US State of New York and the seat of Rensselaer County. Troy is located on the western edge of Rensselaer County and on the eastern bank of the Hudson River. Troy has close ties to the nearby cities of Albany and Schenectady, forming a region popularly called the Capital...
, led by John Bullen, Jr., who sought to purchase enough land for a town. Thwarted in Milwaukee and Racine, the group arrived at Pike Creek on 6 June 1835, building log and later frame homes. The first school and churches followed by 1835, with platting completed in 1836. As more settlers arrived and the first post office was established, the community was first known as Pike in 1836. In the ensuing years the area became an important Great Lakes shipping port, and the village was once again renamed, this time to Southport. (This is still the name of a southeast-side neighborhood, park, and elementary school, as well as several businesses).
In 1850, another change brought the growing city (and later Kenosha County) its current title, an Anglicized version of the early name Kinoje. Kenoshans often refer affectionately to their city as "K-Town" and "Keno" (the latter adopted by some local businesses).
Between 1902 and 1988, Kenosha produced millions of automobiles and trucks under marques such as Jeffery
Jeffery (automobile)
The Jeffery brand of automobiles were manufactured by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company in Kenosha, Wisconsin.-History:The company was founded by Charles T. Jeffery and Thomas B. Jeffery, and sold under the brand name Rambler between 1902 and 1913. On the death of the founder, Thomas Jeffery in 1910,...
, Rambler
Rambler (automobile)
Rambler was an automobile brand name used by the Thomas B. Jeffery Company between 1900 and 1914, then by its successor, Nash Motors from 1950 to 1954, and finally by Nash's successor, American Motors Corporation from 1954 to 1969...
, Nash
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
, Hudson
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
, LaFayette
LaFayette Motors
The LaFayette Motors Corporation was a United States-based automobile manufacturer. Founded in 1919, LaFayette Motors was named in honor of the Marquis de la Fayette, and LaFayette autos had a cameo of the Marquis as their logo.-History:...
, and American Motors Corporation (AMC). A prototype
Prototype
A prototype is an early sample or model built to test a concept or process or to act as a thing to be replicated or learned from.The word prototype derives from the Greek πρωτότυπον , "primitive form", neutral of πρωτότυπος , "original, primitive", from πρῶτος , "first" and τύπος ,...
steam car
Steam car
A steam car is a light car powered by a steam engine.Steam locomotives, steam engines capable of propelling themselves along either road or rails, developed around one hundred years earlier than internal combustion engine cars although their weight restricted them to agricultural and heavy haulage...
was built in Kenosha by the Sullivan-Becker engineering firm in 1900. Two years later the Thomas B. Jeffery Company
Thomas B. Jeffery Company
The Thomas B. Jeffery Company was an American automobile manufacturer in Kenosha, Wisconsin from 1902 until 1916. The company manufactured the Rambler and Jeffery brand motorcars. It was preceded by the Gormully & Jeffery Manufacturing Company and it was the parent company to Nash Motors, thus one...
, builders of the Sterling bicycle, began production of the Rambler
Rambler
Rambler may refer to:* Rambler Rose a species of rose native to eastern Asia, in China, Japan and Korea.* Rambler and Nash Rambler, American automobile brands made by Thomas B...
runabout. In 1902 Rambler and Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile
Oldsmobile was a brand of American automobile produced for most of its existence by General Motors. It was founded by Ransom E. Olds in 1897. In its 107-year history, it produced 35.2 million cars, including at least 14 million built at its Lansing, Michigan factory...
were the first cars to employ mass-production techniques. The 1902 Rambler was also the first automobile to incorporate a steering wheel
Steering wheel
A steering wheel is a type of steering control in vehicles and vessels ....
, rather than use the then-common tiller
Tiller
A tiller or till is a lever attached to a rudder post or rudder stock of a boat that provides leverage for the helmsman to turn the rudder...
-controlled steering. In 1916 Jeffery was purchased by auto executive Charles W. Nash
Charles W. Nash
Charles Warren Nash was a United States automobile entrepreneur and served as an executive in the automotive industry.- Early life :...
and became Nash Motors
Nash Motors
Also see: Kelvinator and American Motors CorporationNash Motors was an automobile manufacturer based in Kenosha, Wisconsin, in the United States from 1916 to 1938. From 1938 to 1954, Nash was the automotive division of the Nash-Kelvinator Corporation...
. In May 1954, Nash acquired Detroit-based Hudson
Hudson Motor Car Company
The Hudson Motor Car Company made Hudson and other brand automobiles in Detroit, Michigan, from 1909 to 1954. In 1954, Hudson merged with Nash-Kelvinator Corporation to form American Motors. The Hudson name was continued through the 1957 model year, after which it was dropped.- Company strategy...
and the new firm was named American Motors Corporation. A 47 acres (190,202.4 m²) west side park and an elementary school are named after Nash.
In partnership with French automaker Renault
Renault
Renault S.A. is a French automaker producing cars, vans, and in the past, autorail vehicles, trucks, tractors, vans and also buses/coaches. Its alliance with Nissan makes it the world's third largest automaker...
, AMC manufactured several models in Kenosha in the early 1980s, including the Alliance, which won the 1983 “Car of The Year” award from Motor Trend
Motor Trend
Motor Trend is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, issued by Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles, and bearing the tag line "The Magazine for a Motoring World". Petersen Publishing was sold to British publisher EMAP in 1998, who sold the former Petersen...
magazine. Two decades earlier, AMC's 1963 Rambler Classic had also received the award. In 1987 Renault sold its controlling interest in AMC to Chrysler Corporation, who had already contracted with AMC for the production of its M-body mid-sized cars at the Kenosha plant. Chrysler continues to build some of its engines in the original AMC facility today. The AMC Lakefront plant (1960–88), a smaller facility, was demolished in 1990 (a chimney-demolition ceremony that June drew 10,000 spectators) and was redeveloped into upscale HarborPark, with its rambling lakeside condominiums, large recreational marina, water park and promenades, artworks, sculptures, fountains (including the 2007 Christopher Columbus fountain), the Kenosha Public Museum, which opened in 2000, and the Civil War Museum, which opened in 2008, all connected by the Kenosha Electric Railway streetcar system.
From the turn of the century
Turn of the century
Turn of the century, in its broadest sense, refers to the transition from one century to another. The term is most often used to indicate a non-specific time period either before or after the beginning of a century....
through the 1930s many Italian, Irish, Polish and German immigrants, many of them skilled craftsmen, made their way to the city and contributed to the city's construction, culture, architecture, music and literature.
Kenosha has 21 locations and three districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
including the Library Park, Third Avenue, and the Civic Center historic districts. The city has a Kenosha Landmarks Commission, and among the many local city-designated landmarks are the 1929 YMCA at 711 59th Place, the Manor House at 6536 Third Avenue, the John McCaffary House at 5732 13th Court, the St. Matthew Episcopal Church at 5900 Seventh Avenue, the Washington Park Clubhouse at 2205 Washington Road, and the Justin Weed House at 3509 Washington Road.
In June 1993, the city installed reproductions of the historic Sheridan LeGrande street light
Street light
A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...
s that were specially designed for Kenosha by Westinghouse
Westinghouse Electric (1886)
Westinghouse Electric was an American manufacturing company. It was founded in 1886 as Westinghouse Electric Company and later renamed Westinghouse Electric Corporation by George Westinghouse. The company purchased CBS in 1995 and became CBS Corporation in 1997...
Electric in 1928; these can be seen on Sixth Avenue between 54th and 59th Streets. A classic two-mile (3 km) downtown electric streetcar system was opened on June 17, 2000.
Law and government
Kenosha has a mayor, who is the chief executive, and a city administrator, who is the chief operating officer. The mayor is elected every four years. The city's Common Council consists of 17 aldermen from Kenosha's 17 districts (each district having two wards), elected for two-year terms in even-numbered years.The mayor of Kenosha for four terms beginning in April 1992 was John Martin Antaramian
John Martin Antaramian
John Martin Antaramian is a Wisconsin politician and Mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin.Born in Kenosha, Antaramian graduated from the University of Wisconsin–Parkside and served in the Wisconsin State Assembly for ten years. In 1992, Antaramian was elected Mayor of Kenosha, Wisconsin and served...
, the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. In late 2006, Antaramian was awarded the Robert B. Bell, Sr. Best Public Partner Award for his advocacy towards quality real estate development. He was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition
Mayors Against Illegal Guns is a coalition of over 600 mayors who support a number of gun control initiatives that the group calls "commonsense reforms" to fight illegal gun trafficking and gun violence in the United States...
, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
Mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael "Tom" Menino is the mayor of Boston, Massachusetts, United States and the city's first Italian-American mayor...
and New York City
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...
Mayor Michael Bloomberg
Michael Bloomberg
Michael Rubens Bloomberg is the current Mayor of New York City. With a net worth of $19.5 billion in 2011, he is also the 12th-richest person in the United States...
.
Antaramian announced during 2007 that he would not seek reelection in 2008. Former alderman Keith Bosman was elected mayor for a four-year term in the April 2008 spring elections.
Economy
Years ago a busy center of manufacturing, Kenosha is today often thought of as a "bedroom community" within the Chicago-Milwaukee megalopolisMegalopolis (city type)
A megalopolis is typically defined as a chain of roughly adjacent metropolitan areas. The term was used by Oswald Spengler in his 1918 book, The Decline of the West, and Lewis Mumford in his 1938 book, The Culture of Cities, which described it as the first stage in urban overdevelopment and...
, often attracting new residents from Illinois, which leads to Kenosha's frequent appellation as Chicago's northernmost suburb. With several area transportation options, many residents commute to their places of employment. According to county statistics, 49% of Kenosha's workforce commutes outside of Kenosha County to their positions. Many travel northward towards Milwaukee or south into the Chicago area. Kenosha does have some of its own employment, and is not a "typical" suburb; in fact, many locals consider neighboring communities Pleasant Prairie and Somers to be suburbs of Kenosha.
A June 2009 study by the Milken Institute
Milken Institute
The Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California that publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based principles and financial innovations to a variety of societal issues in the US and internationally.The mission of the Institute, founded...
("North America's High-Tech Economy: The Geography of Knowledge-Based Industries") reported that Kenosha placed in the national top-50 high-tech economies. The Public Policy Forum
Public Policy Forum
The Public Policy Forum , is an independent, non-profit Canadian think-tank for public-private dialogue . The organization's stated aim is "to serve as a neutral, independent forum for open dialogue on public policy"...
reported that Kenosha's personal-income levels have been sharply rising; the latest local gain stands at $30.3 million, in contrast to a personal-income drop of $434 million within other adjoining southeastern-Wisconsin communities (except for neighboring Walworth County
Walworth County
-Places:*The name of two counties in the United States:** Walworth County, South Dakota** Walworth County, Wisconsin-Ships:*USS Walworth County , a United States Navy tank landing ship in commission from 1953 to 1971, which then saw non-commissioned Military Sealift Command service as USNS Walworth...
, which had a $3.3 million gain in the latest statistics.) The Kenosha Board of Realtors reported on March 24, 2010 that Kenosha-area home sales were outpacing the national home-sales trends for most of 2009 and into the new decade.
Today, Kenosha's employment demographics are mainly white-collar
White-collar worker
The term white-collar worker refers to a person who performs professional, managerial, or administrative work, in contrast with a blue-collar worker, whose job requires manual labor...
. The city's largest employer is the multi-level educational system (this includes Kenosha Public Schools as well as UW-Parkside), and Kenosha's largest private employer is Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
in Abbott Park, Illinois which has recently purchased 400 acres (1.6 km²) within Kenosha County at Highways C at Interstate 94
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...
.
Business and industry
Kenosha is the home city of three colleges: (UW–Parkside, Gateway Technical CollegeGateway Technical College
Gateway Technical College is a technical college serving Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties in Wisconsin. It has major campuses in the Kenosha, Racine and Elkhorn communities. There is a campus center in Burlington, and Advanced Technology Centers in Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, and Sturtevant...
, and Carthage College
Carthage College
Carthage College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Situated in Kenosha, Wisconsin midway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the campus is on the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time...
) and a number of other several college and university branch campuses. Since 1992 it has hosted the Michael E. DeBakey
Michael E. DeBakey
Michael Elias DeBakey was a world-renowned Lebanese-American cardiac surgeon, innovator, scientist, medical educator, and international medical statesman...
Heart Institute of the Kenosha Hospital & Medical Center, established in tribute to DeBakey’s pioneering efforts in cardiovascular surgery. Kenosha is also a busy retail and commercial center with a number of light industrial and distribution companies, nearly all located in business park
Business park
A business park or office park is an area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. All of the work that goes on is commercial, not industrial or residential....
s outside the city. Recently Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories
Abbott Laboratories is an American-based global, diversified pharmaceuticals and health care products company. It has 90,000 employees and operates in over 130 countries. The company headquarters are in Abbott Park, North Chicago, Illinois. The company was founded by Chicago physician, Dr....
, Kenosha's largest private employer, began to land-bank property near the southwest edge of the city, which may be the site of a new major campus of the large pharmaceutical firm.
In decades past, Kenosha also hosted a number of manufacturing firms, among them American Brass (later Outokumpu Copper/Outokumpu American Brass Company), Simmons Bedding Company
Simmons Bedding Company
Simmons Bedding Company is a major manufacturer of mattresses and related bedding products. The company is founded in 1870. Simmons' flagship brand is Beautyrest, and it is one of the oldest companies of this type in the USA. According to a Simmons press release, net sales for 2005 were $855...
, the Samuel Lowe publishing firm, Kenosha Full Fashioned Mills, Solar Lamp Company, Jockey International
Jockey International
Jockey International, Inc. is a manufacturer, distributor and retailer of underwear, sleepwear for men, women, and children. The company is based in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Jockey is known for having invented the first men's Y-Front brief in 1934. Jockey is a recognized trademark in 120...
(originally "Cooper's Union Suit Company" until the 'Jockey' brief was developed in 1934), Snap-on
Snap-on
Snap-on is a leading US designer, manufacturer and marketer of tools and equipment to professional tool users. It was founded in 1920. Snap-on is located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and employs approximately 11,500 people worldwide...
, the MacWhyte Wire Rope Company, Dynamatic, Frost Company, G. LeBlanc, and American Motors Corporation. Most of these facilities have long since been cleared and the real-estate converted into parklands, high-end residential developments, commercial shopping districts, a school campus, or held in land-banking.
A study released in January 2010, by the Dickman Company, Inc. of Milwaukee found that corporate vacancies within available Kenosha-area business spaces had decreased during 2009, making Greater Kenosha the only southeastern Wisconsin community with such an improvement.
Snap-On Tools Inc. has located its headquarters in Kenosha, although the manufacturing plant behind the main building was shut down.
Tourism
TourismTourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
has a significant and growing impact on Kenosha's economy. According to the Kenosha Convention and Visitors Bureau, 2006 Kenosha-area tourism expenditures reached a record $222.5 million, which translated into approximately 5,220 full-time-job equivalents. During 2007, the Kenosha-area revenue from tourism rose to a record $224.6 million (or a 5,267 full-time-job equivalency) despite a 1.4% statewide tourism slowdown. Kenosha's tourism activity and revenue is now within the top 20% of all of Wisconsin's 72 counties. Surveys show that most visitors to Kenosha shop at nearby Pleasant Prairie's Prime Outlets strip mall, which contains factory outlets for a diverse mix of retailers, and stay at local hotels and motels, while the city's extensive Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
beaches and HarborPark facilities attract 36% of all tourists, and 34.1% use the municipal streetcar line.
Kenosha-area tourism saw growth in 2008 despite the national economic downturn, bringing in a record $225.2 million, an increase of $600,000 over 2007 and a 147% increase since 1994. This placed Greater Kenosha in 14th place for tourism among Wisconsin's 72 counties in 2008. This is thought to be because of an increase in nearby, short vacations, or staycation
Staycation
A staycation is a neologism for a period of time in which an individual or family stays and relaxes at home, possibly taking day trips to area attractions. Staycations achieved popularity in the US during the financial crisis of 2007–2010...
s, due to the economic downturn, with Kenosha attracting residents of the nearby Milwaukee and Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
areas.
The main 2008 tourism-related event was the opening of Kenosha's $15 million Civil War Museum in June. Other attractions include the Dinosaur Discovery Museum
Dinosaur Discovery Museum
Dinosaur Discovery Museum in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA, is dedicated to the exploration and explication of the relationship between modern birds and ancient carnivorous biped dinosaurs, the theropods, which include Carnotaurus, Tyrannosaurus rex, and Velociraptor. This link is especially well...
, the Kenosha Public Museum, the Longaberger Basket Fest and the opening of a holiday-season Jelly Belly
Jelly Belly
The Jelly Belly Candy, or simply Jelly Belly, is the maker of The Jelly Belly and other candy, formerly known as The Herman Goelitz Candy Company...
retail outlet.
2009 brought a number of new events to Kenosha, including the inaugural Wisconsin Marathon, which saw nearly 2,000 runners at the Lake Michigan shoreline on May 2. The second annual "A Salute to Freedom" from June 12 to June 14 celebrated the completion of the Civil War Museum, and the TREK Women’s Triathlon Series made its debut on July 12 at Prairie Springs Park.
Real estate and housing
The number of households in Kenosha County increased by nearly 80% from 1990 to 2005, indicating the community is rapidly expanding to accommodate new businesses and employees in the Kenosha area.Number of households:
- 1990: 47,029
- 2000: 56,057
- 2005: 58,715
2005 housing statistics:
- Total housing units: 67,568
- Owner occupied: 42,197
- Median value of homes: $167,500
- Renter occupied: 16,518
- Median rent paid: $722
- Rental vacancy rate: 11.1%
In March 2008, the Public Policy Forum reported that Kenosha's real-estate valuations rose by 7.6%, most likely as a result of heavy migration by Chicago professionals who have resettled in Kenosha.
Transportation
Kenosha has been served by rail service to and from ChicagoChicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
since May 19, 1855, when the predecessors to the Chicago and North Western Railway
Chicago and North Western Railway
The Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
, the Milwaukee and Chicago Railway Company (originally the Illinois Parallel Railroad
Illinois Parallel Railroad
The Chicago and Milwaukee Railway was a predecessor of the Chicago and North Western Railway in the U.S. states of Illinois and Wisconsin.The Illinois portion was chartered on February 17, 1851 as the Illinois Parallel Railroad...
) and the original "Lake Shore Railroad" (later the Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago Railway) were officially joined with great ceremony just south of today's 52nd Street. Passenger service began on May 28, 1866, and it continues to the present day.
Kenosha has the only Metra
Metra
Metra is the commuter rail division of the Illinois Regional Transportation Authority. The system serves Chicago and its metropolitan area through 240 stations on 11 different rail lines. Throughout the 21st century, Metra has been the second busiest commuter rail system in the United States by...
station
Kenosha (Metra)
Kenosha is a railroad station in Kenosha, Wisconsin, United States served by Metra's Union Pacific/North Line. It is the northern terminus of the line, which runs south to the Ogilvie Transportation Center in Chicago, Illinois. Kenosha is the only Metra station in Wisconsin...
in Wisconsin, with nine inbound and nine outbound trains each weekday. Passenger ridership on the Kenosha line was up by a slight 0.06% in 2009, while elsewhere on the 11-route Metra system, passenger counts dropped by 5.2 percent. Not all Union Pacific/North Line
Union Pacific/North Line
The Union Pacific/North is a commuter rail line in the Chicago metropolitan area that runs between Chicago and Waukegan, Illinois, with some trains continuing to Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is part of the Metra system, but it is operated by the Union Pacific Railroad...
trains terminate and originate in Kenosha. Most of them terminate at Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan, Illinois
Waukegan is a city and county seat of Lake County, Illinois. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 87,901. The 2010 population was 89,078. It is the ninth-largest city in Illinois by population...
, to the south of Kenosha. Plans are underway to establish a passenger service northwards from the Kenosha Metra Station through Racine County and into Milwaukee via the proposed "KRM Line".
Since June 2000, a two-mile (3 km) streetcar line has served the downtown area and HarborPark, connecting the Metra station with downtown and several area parks. Kenosha is one of the smallest cities in America with any type of streetcar system today. In December 2005 the city council authorized a study on the expansion of streetcar service in order to connect the city's downtown with the uptown business districts flanking 63rd Street and 22nd Avenue.
In addition to a streetcar line, Kenosha has a city bus network
Kenosha Transit
Kenosha Area Transit is a city-owned public transportation agency based in Kenosha, Wisconsin.The system, which is part of the Southeast Wisconsin Transit System, maintains a fleet of 68 buses and five streetcars operating on 10 bus routes and one streetcar route throughout the city and outlying...
that includes eight routes. Kenosha was the first city to color-code transit routes (with the Blue, Green, Red, and Orange Lines), and also the first city to use electric trolley buses in full transit service, both occurring on February 14, 1932.
Kenosha is served by two intercity bus systems. Wisconsin Coach Lines
Wisconsin Coach Lines
Wisconsin Coach Lines is a commuter bus service, intercity carrier, and school bus company based in Waukesha, Wisconsin. WCL, founded in 1941 as Waukesha Transit Lines, is a subsidiary of Coach USA.- Overview :...
buses stop in front of the city's Metra station, connecting riders to Racine, Milwaukee, and the O'Hare International Airport
O'Hare International Airport
Chicago O'Hare International Airport , also known as O'Hare Airport, O'Hare Field, Chicago Airport, Chicago International Airport, or simply O'Hare, is a major airport located in the northwestern-most corner of Chicago, Illinois, United States, northwest of the Chicago Loop...
in western Chicago, and difficult to get to by train. The Western Kenosha County Transit
Western Kenosha County Transit
Western Kenosha County Transit is a regional fixed-route bus service operating throughout Kenosha County, Wisconsin and serving its many towns and villages. Western Kenosha County Transit is made up of three routes and two rush hour commuter shuttles. The system operates Monday–Friday at headways...
Route 1 stops at Southport Plaza, connecting riders to Twin Lakes
Twin Lakes, Wisconsin
Twin Lakes is a village in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,124 at the 2000 census.Lake Elizabeth and Lake Mary are the twin lakes.-Geography:Twin Lakes is located at ....
.
By highway, Kenosha is served mainly by Interstate 94
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...
which connects Chicago with Milwaukee, and thence west to the state captal city, Madison, Wisconsin
Madison, Wisconsin
Madison is the capital of the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Dane County. It is also home to the University of Wisconsin–Madison....
.
By passenger train, Kenosha is also served by Amtrak
Amtrak
The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak , is a government-owned corporation that was organized on May 1, 1971, to provide intercity passenger train service in the United States. "Amtrak" is a portmanteau of the words "America" and "track". It is headquartered at Union...
's Hiawatha Line
Hiawatha (Amtrak)
Hiawatha Service, or Hiawatha, is the name of an train route operated by Amtrak on the western shore of Lake Michigan, although the name was historically applied to several different routes that extended across the Midwest and out to the Pacific Ocean...
service (from the Sturtevant station
Sturtevant (Amtrak station)
Sturtevant is an Amtrak railway station which opened for service on August 14, 2006. It is located at 9900 East Exploration Court, as part of the Renaissance Business Park in Sturtevant, Wisconsin, United States...
in Racine County), with trains between Chicago and Milwaukee seven times daily. The Hiawatha serves commuters from Kenosha who work in either one of these two large cities.
In Kenosha County, numbered streets run east-west and numbered avenues north-south, with street numbering commencing with First Street on Kenosha County's northern border (County Trunk Highway
County highway
A county highway is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department...
KR) rather than at the city's center. ("Roads" are diagonal thoroughfares, "Courts" are short north-south avenues, and "Places" are short east-west streets.) The downtown area of Kenosha is located between 50th and 60th Streets. Avenue numbers increase as one heads west from the lakefront. This numbering system continues through all of Kenosha County, ending at 408th Avenue to the west at the Kenosha-Walworth County line, while north-south roads end at the Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
state line at 128th Street.
Higher education
Kenosha is home to the University of Wisconsin-ParksideUniversity of Wisconsin-Parkside
The University of Wisconsin–Parkside is a four-year public university located in Kenosha and Somers, Wisconsin, in the center of the Chicago-Milwaukee Conurbation, and just two miles from the Lake Michigan shoreline...
with over 5,000 students, Carthage College
Carthage College
Carthage College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Situated in Kenosha, Wisconsin midway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the campus is on the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time...
with over 2,000 students, and Gateway Technical College
Gateway Technical College
Gateway Technical College is a technical college serving Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties in Wisconsin. It has major campuses in the Kenosha, Racine and Elkhorn communities. There is a campus center in Burlington, and Advanced Technology Centers in Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, and Sturtevant...
.
Concordia University Wisconsin
Concordia University Wisconsin
Concordia University Wisconsin is a private liberal arts college located in Mequon, Wisconsin. The school is an affiliate of the 10-member Concordia University System, which is operated by the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod ....
, Cardinal Stritch University
Cardinal Stritch University
Cardinal Stritch University is a private Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.The university also has sites located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, Eden Prairie, Minnesota, and Rochester, Minnesota, as well as multiple Outreach programs throughout Wisconsin.Cardinal...
, and National-Louis University
National-Louis University
National–Louis University is a private non-profit American university. NLU has campuses in and near Chicago, Illinois, as well as in Wisconsin, Florida, and Nowy Sącz, Poland. Many NLU courses and programs are also offered at-a-distance. The university practices multi-campus, at-a-distance, and...
all maintain Kenosha branch campuses.
In 2009, Herzing University opened its new Kenosha campus.
Public schools
The Kenosha Unified School DistrictKenosha Unified School District
Kenosha Unified School District serves the city of Kenosha, the Town of Somers and the village of Pleasant Prairie. KUSD is overseen by a school board of seven elected members whose president is Mary Snyder...
operates 24 public elementary schools, six middle schools, seven charter schools, and six major high schools: Mary D. Bradford High School
Mary D. Bradford High School
Bradford High School is a high school that serves students in grades 9 to 12 located in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is the primary high school for students on the north side of the city.-History:...
, George Nelson Tremper High School
George Nelson Tremper High School
George Nelson Tremper High School is a high school located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, and part of the Kenosha Unified School District. It was named after George Nelson Tremper, the principal of Kenosha High School from 1911 to 1944. The "new" school was completed in the fall of 1964, with the first...
, Indian Trail High School and Academy, Lakeview Tech Academy
Lakeview Tech Academy
Lakeview Tech Academy is one of the choice schools of the Kenosha Unified School District in Kenosha, Wisconsin. It is a small school that emphasizes engineering and technology. Some of these specialized areas include Biomedical engineering, Automated Manufacturing, Pre-Engineering, Information...
, Reuther Central High School and Harborside Academy, the latter a research school that uses the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model; it was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. 80% of Kenosha's fourth-graders score 'proficient' and 'advanced' gradings on reading tests, according to National Assessment of Educational Progress
National Assessment of Educational Progress
The National Assessment of Educational Progress is the largest continuing and nationally representative assessment of what our nation’s students know and can do in core subjects. NAEP is a congressionally mandated project administered by the National Center for Education Statistics , within the ...
tests. According to the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction, Kenosha's 2008 public-school graduation rate of 84.1% was ahead of the national average.
Private schools
Kenosha also has a number of parochial schools and independent academies, including St. Mary's Catholic School, St. Joseph's High School, Holy Rosary School, Bethany Lutheran School, Friedens Lutheran School, Armitage Academy, Christ Lutheran Academy, Kenosha Montessori School, Shoreland Lutheran High SchoolShoreland Lutheran High School
Shoreland Lutheran High School is a Lutheran High School in Somers, Wisconsin, affiliated with the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod and operated by a federation of 24 area congregations.- Academics :...
, the Brompton Academy, the Christian Life School
Christian Life School
Christian Life School is an independent, evangelical, interdenominational, co-educational, college-preparatory school located in Kenosha, Wisconsin in the USA. It has 759 students, from Prekindergarten to 12th grade, and 54 teachers....
, and the LakeView Advanced Technology Center. At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, St. Mary's and Holy Rosary became the two campuses of All Saints Catholic School. There will be two campuses but it will operate as one school. A number of professional schools are located within the city.
Libraries
The Kenosha Public Library, which is part of the Kenosha County Library System, operates in four locations throughout the city. Daniel H. Burnham designed the 1900 Beaux-Arts architectured Gilbert M. Simmons Library, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.Media
The primary newspaper of Kenosha County is the Kenosha NewsKenosha News
The Kenosha News is a morning daily newspaper published in Kenosha, Wisconsin, USA, serving southeastern Wisconsin and northeastern Illinois...
, a broadsheet with circulation of around 23,000 copies. The Happenings Magazine is an ad supported publication distributed at local businesses. A new media outlet has emerged that coveres Kenosha, Wisconsin Internet News.
Kenosha is within the Chicago and Milwaukee broadcast market and is considered as part of the Milwaukee television market by A.C. Nielsen. Arbitron
Arbitron
Arbitron is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio audiences. It was founded as American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by merging with L.A. based Coffin, Cooper and Clay in the early 1950s...
classifies Kenosha within the Chicago market. Five major radio stations broadcast from Kenosha: News/Talk/Oldies WLIP
WLIP
WLIP is a radio station located in Kenosha, Wisconsin, U.S. serving the Chicago-Milwaukee metropolitan region along the west shore of Lake Michigan with 250 watts effective radiated power, and also streams worldwide at www.wlip.com...
(1050 AM), Gateway Technical College
Gateway Technical College
Gateway Technical College is a technical college serving Kenosha, Racine, and Walworth counties in Wisconsin. It has major campuses in the Kenosha, Racine and Elkhorn communities. There is a campus center in Burlington, and Advanced Technology Centers in Kenosha, Pleasant Prairie, and Sturtevant...
's WGTD
WGTD
WGTD is a radio station licensed to Kenosha, Wisconsin, serving the Racine/Kenosha area. The station is part of Wisconsin Public Radio , and airs WPR's "NPR News and Classical Network", consisting of classical music and news and talk programming....
(91.1 FM), a member station of the Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Public Radio
Wisconsin Public Radio is a network of 32 radio stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct analog services, the Ideas Network and the NPR News and Classical Network, as well as the "HD2 Classical Service," a digital-only, full-time classical music service.-Ideas...
News & Classical Music Network, rock WIIL
WIIL
WIIL is a radio station in Kenosha, Wisconsin that plays Active Rock music and serves Kenosha, Racine, and Milwaukee Counties in Wisconsin, and northern suburbs of Chicago. The call letters stand for Wisconsin and Illinois, as Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin, the station's transmitter location, is...
(95.1 FM) and classic hits WWDV
WWDV
WWDV is a radio station in Zion, Illinois, known as "The Drive". The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts with WDRV...
(96.9 FM), which simulcast
Simulcast
Simulcast, shorthand for "simultaneous broadcast", refers to programs or events broadcast across more than one medium, or more than one service on the same medium, at the same time. For example, Absolute Radio is simulcast on both AM and on satellite radio, and the BBC's Prom concerts are often...
s Chicago-based WDRV
WDRV
WDRV is a radio station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is currently owned by Hubbard Broadcasting, and simulcasts on WWDV . "The Drive" programs a broad-based classic rock format called "Timeless Rock"...
(97.1 FM). The Kenosha Convention and Visitors Bureau operates WPUR937 (1180 AM), a low-power tourist information station. Most of the AM and FM radio stations from Milwaukee and Chicago can be heard clearly in Kenosha.
WPXE
WPXE
WPXE-TV, digital channel 40, is the Ion Television O&O station for Milwaukee, Wisconsin, with the city of license thirty miles south in Kenosha. However, the digital transmitter is situated within the traditional tower farm site on Milwaukee's northeast side with the antenna located on the...
(Channel 55), owned by ION Television, is Kenosha's only locally licensed
City of license
A city of license or community of license, in American and Canadian broadcasting, is the community that a radio station or television station is officially licensed to serve by that country's broadcast regulator....
television station. Its analog transmitter was based in northern Racine County, while the digital tower is in Milwaukee's tower farm site on the north side and the station's studios are just south of suburban Glendale
Glendale, Wisconsin
Glendale is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 13,367 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Glendale is located at ....
, so it serves the entire Milwaukee television market.
Civic organizations
There are several Civic Organizations that add to the rich benevolent spirit found in Kenosha. Such organizations contribute resources to various positive causes as well as knit the fabric of the community together:Navy Club of the U.S.A.,
Free and Accepted Masons - Lodge 47,
Rotary Club International,
The Exchange Club,
Local VFW and American Legion Posts,
Kenosha Women's Club,
Kenosha Streetcar Society,
Danish Brotherhood Lodge #14.
Culture
Kenosha's three downtown museums, the Kenosha Public MuseumKenosha Public Museum
The Kenosha Public Museum, in Kenosha, Wisconsin, features displays of fine art, decorative art, and natural science specimens. Founded in 1933,and opened to the public in 1936 the museum currently is located at Kenosha's lakefront...
, the Civil War Museum and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum, are Smithsonian Institution
Smithsonian Institution
The Smithsonian Institution is an educational and research institute and associated museum complex, administered and funded by the government of the United States and by funds from its endowment, contributions, and profits from its retail operations, concessions, licensing activities, and magazines...
affiliates.
Completed in 2001, the Kenosha Public Museum is located on the Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron...
shoreline. Its main exhibit is a prehistoric Woolly Mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
skeleton uncovered in western Kenosha in 1992. The bones revealed new clues about ancient American history; cut-marks on the bones indicated that the animals were butchered by humans using stone tools. Carbon dating indicated their age to be 12,500 radiocarbon years years old or 14,500 calendar years old, one thousand radiocarbon years earlier than the previously-accepted presence of humans in the Americas. The museum also displays other Ice Age and fine-art exhibits.
The Kenosha History Center is within the 1917 City water treatment plant on Simmons Island adjoining the 1866 Kenosha Southport Light station, and showcases the history of Kenosha from the Indians and the first settlements to the present day. The 1906 Kenosha North Pier Light is also nearby.
Kenosha's 59000 square feet (5,481.3 m²) Civil War Museum opened on June 13, 2008. The main exhibit, "The Fiery Trial", opened September 15, 2008. It is a 15000 square feet (1,393.5 m²) exhibit offering an interactive experience of the role of six Midwestern states before, during and after the American Civil War
American Civil War
The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...
.
The Dinosaur Discovery Museum, designated a federal repository, opened in August, 2006 in the historic Old Post Office adjoining the 56th Street streetcar line at Tenth Avenue, and includes an on-site paleontology
Paleontology
Paleontology "old, ancient", ὄν, ὀντ- "being, creature", and λόγος "speech, thought") is the study of prehistoric life. It includes the study of fossils to determine organisms' evolution and interactions with each other and their environments...
laboratory operated through the Carthage College
Carthage College
Carthage College is a private liberal arts college affiliated with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. Situated in Kenosha, Wisconsin midway between Chicago, Illinois and Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the campus is on the shore of Lake Michigan and is home to 2,500 full-time and 900 part-time...
Institute of Paleontology.
The Kenosha Transit Carhouse at 724 54th Street, which houses Kenosha's historic fleet of PCC streetcars, is occasionally open for guided tours.
A Maritime Museum is being developed within the restored 1866 Southport Light and Lighthouse Keeper's cottage on Simmons Island. A Children's Museum is also planned for the upper two floors of the Orpheum Building on Sixth Avenue at 59th Street, currently occupied by the Heim's Downtown Toy Store and Scoop's Ice Cream. No formal timetable has been provided.
Music
Summer band performances have existed in Kenosha for over 80 years , traditionally put on by the Kenosha American Legion Band (renamed the Kenosha Concert Band in 1963 and now the Kenosha Pops Concert Band.) Since 1988 the concerts have been at Kenosha's Sesquicentennial Bandshell in Pennoyer Park each Wednesday from mid-June to early August.The Kenosha Lakeshore Youth Philharmonic offers an intensive orchestral experience to middle school and high school musicians.
Kenosha Unified School District
Kenosha Unified School District
Kenosha Unified School District serves the city of Kenosha, the Town of Somers and the village of Pleasant Prairie. KUSD is overseen by a school board of seven elected members whose president is Mary Snyder...
offers a touring summer marching band program for students at all school-band-age levels. Continental Band and Rambler Band offer opportunities for novice and intermediate musicians whereas the Band of the Black Watch is the jewel of the high school bands program, bringing together musicians from all of Kenosha's high schools. These bands perform in various parades and concert events throughout the summer locally within Southern Wisconsin and North Eastern Illinois and the Band of the Black Watch performs on an annual trip to varying locations which have included Disney World and Toronto.
Southeast Wisconsin Performing Arts (SEWPA) sponsors the Opera à la Carte evening concert series featuring middle school, high school and college singers.
The Kenosha Symphony Orchestra presents concerts in the acoustically correct Reuther Central Auditorium (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) at Walter Reuther Central High School
Walter Reuther Central High School
- History :Walter Reuther Central High School was named for United Auto Workers leader Walter Reuther. This classic limestone structure, designed by John Chubb, was built between 1924 and 1927 and occupies a massive block-square...
in downtown Kenosha. Film composer and orchestrator Lucien Cailliet
Lucien Cailliet
Lucien Cailliet was an American composer, conductor, arranger and clarinetist.-Biography:Born at Dijon, in France, Cailliet studied at the Conservatory in his native city before migrating to the United States in 1918....
, orchestrator for The Ten Commandments
The Ten Commandments (1956 film)
The Ten Commandments is a 1956 American epic film that dramatized the biblical story of the Exodus, in which the Hebrew-born Moses, an adopted Egyptian prince, becomes the deliverer of the Hebrew slaves. The film, released by Paramount Pictures in VistaVision on October 5, 1956, was directed by...
, was the KSO conductor until 1960.
Since 2002, the outdoor Peanut Butter and Jam Concert Series has been held every Wednesday in August at Veterans Memorial Park.
Lincoln Park Live! concerts began in 2005 on the Lincoln Park lawns near the Warren Taylor Memorial Gardens.
A number of outdoor jazz events are offered throughout the summer months, most often at Veterans Memorial Park and the historic Kemper Center.
The CYO (Catholic Youth Organization) Emerald Knights Band of Kenosha, which includes students from all schools and backgrounds, was formed on Thursday, March 23, 1939 and since 2008 has sponsored the Great Lakes Band Championships, an offshoot of the former Kenosha Music Round-Up, with its origins in the early years of World War II. By the end of summer 2008, the Emerald Knights had competed with countless talented bands all over the midwest through the Mid-America Competing Band Directors Association (MACBDA)
MACBDA
The Mid-American Competing Band Directors Association , founded in 1972, is one of the only remaining summer marching band competition circuits in America...
.
The Electric Hellfire Club
Electric Hellfire Club
The Electric Hellfire Club is an industrial metal band mixing elements of glam metal, techno, gothic rock, psychedelia, black metal lyrical themes and experimental noise...
, an industrial metal band, originated in Kenosha in the early 1990s.
Korey Cooper
Korey Cooper
Korey Cooper is the keyboardist, guitarist, and backing vocalist for the Christian Rock band Skillet. Her husband, John Cooper, is the lead singer and bassist of the band, as well as one of the founding members...
—keys, rhythm guitar, and background vocals for the rock band Skillet
Skillet (band)
Skillet is an American Christian rock band formed in Memphis, Tennessee in 1996. The band currently consists of husband and wife John and Korey Cooper , along with Jen Ledger and lead guitarist Seth Morrison. The band has released eight albums, two receiving Grammy nominations: Collide and Comatose...
—is originally from Kenosha.
Lazarus A.D.
Lazarus A.D.
Lazarus A.D. is a thrash metal band from Kenosha, Wisconsin, originally formed as "Lazarus" in 2005. The "A.D." was added to avoid potential legal issues....
, a thrash metal
Thrash metal
Thrash metal is a subgenre of heavy metal that is characterized usually by its fast tempo and aggression. Songs of the genre typically use fast percussive and low-register guitar riffs, overlaid with shredding-style lead work...
band on Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records
Metal Blade Records is a record label which was founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The U.S. corporate office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Arizona, Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distributed in the U.S. by Sony BMG Music...
, is from Kenosha and frequently plays shows when in town.
Jungle Rot, a death metal
Death metal
Death metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal. It typically employs heavily distorted guitars, tremolo picking, deep growling vocals, blast beat drumming, minor keys or atonality, and complex song structures with multiple tempo changes....
band on Victory Records
Victory Records
Victory Records is a Chicago-based record label founded by Tony Brummel. It is a privately held corporation. It also operates a music publishing company called "Another Victory, Inc." and is the distributor of several smaller independent record labels....
, formed in Kenosha.
Jeff Waluch, Audio Mixer, Tour Manager for Eddie Money
Eddie Money
Eddie Money is an American rock guitarist, saxophonist and singer-songwriter who found success in the 1970s and 1980s with a string of Top 40 hits and platinum albums...
, Geoff Tyson
Geoff Tyson
Geoff Tyson played guitar for T-Ride, whose debut album shared the same title. He was a student of Joe Satriani, and one of two students Satriani has said 'Graduated' from his lessons...
, and scores of recording artists from the 1970s to present.
Parks
Kenosha is ringed by an emerald necklace of recreational city and county parks, and has eight miles (29 km) of Lake Michigan shoreline frontage, nearly all of which is public. The city has 74 municipal parks, totaling 781.52 acres (3.2 km²).Kenosha's Washington Park includes the oldest operating velodrome
Velodrome
A velodrome is an arena for track cycling. Modern velodromes feature steeply banked oval tracks, consisting of two 180-degree circular bends connected by two straights...
in the United States (1927) at Washington Bowl. The Kenosha Velodrome Association sponsors American Track Cycling
Track cycling
Track cycling is a bicycle racing sport usually held on specially built banked tracks or velodromes using track bicycles....
sanctioned races as well as training sessions at the "bowl" throughout the summer. Races are held on Tuesday evenings beginning in mid-May and continuing through August. Free seating is available on the inside of the track, and on important race days concessions are available.
Petrifying Springs Park flanks the Pike River and was developed in the 1930s on the northwestern edge of the city, and is named for its artesian mineral water. Over ten miles (16 km) of trails wind through the wooded park, which also features an 18-hole golf course.
Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum has three historic buildings and several trails for hiking.
Library Park is home to a statue of Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln
Abraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through a great constitutional, military and moral crisis – the American Civil War – preserving the Union, while ending slavery, and...
by Charles Henry Niehaus
Charles Henry Niehaus
Charles Henry Niehaus , was an American sculptor, born in Cincinnati, Ohio.-Education:Niehaus began working as a marble and wood carver and then gained entrance to the McMicken School of Design in Cincinnati and later studied at the Royal Academy in Munich, Germany...
as well as a statue called Winged Victory by Daniel Burnham
Daniel Burnham
Daniel Hudson Burnham, FAIA was an American architect and urban planner. He was the Director of Works for the World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago. He took a leading role in the creation of master plans for the development of a number of cities, including Chicago and downtown Washington DC...
.
Kenosha has been a Tree City USA
Tree City USA
Tree City USA is a tree planting and tree care program sponsored by the National Arbor Day Foundation for cities and towns in the United States.- Requirements :...
since 1982.
Golf
Kenosha has a number of golf courses. Petrifying Springs Golf Course was named the "No. 1 Sporty Course in Wisconsin". The Washington Park Golf Course was dedicated on February 18, 1922, and its 1937 English-cottage clubhouse is a city landmark. Most recently there have been new private courses such as Strawberry Creek, designed by Rick Jacobson.Cycling
Kenosha is home to the Food Folks and Spokes criterium racing event, a part of the International Cycling Classic known as "SuperWeek" in which cyclists from all over the world compete in various types of cycling events. Kenosha is home to the Washington Park Velodrome. The Washington Park Velodrome is the longest operating 333 meter track, opening in 1927.Notable Kenoshans
On June 7, 1990 a Chicago TribuneChicago Tribune
The Chicago Tribune is a major daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, and the flagship publication of the Tribune Company. Formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" , it remains the most read daily newspaper of the Chicago metropolitan area and the Great Lakes region and is...
feature article ("The Kenosha Connection") marveled at the large number of Kenoshans in the arts and sciences.
Rankings
Kenosha has received high rankings in several "Best-of" national surveys of American communities in recent years.- In its 2005 survey of United States communities, MoneyMoney (magazine)Money is published by Time Inc. Its first issue was published in October 1972. Its articles cover the gamut of personal finance topics ranging from investing, saving, retirement and taxes to family finance issues like paying for college, credit, career and home improvement...
listed Kenosha as 94th on its list of "Best Places to Live". - The April 1997 Readers Digest ranked Kenosha in second place within its list of "Best Places to Raise a Family"
- Worldwide ERCWorldwide ERCWorldwide ERC is a relocation services industry trade group. Its membership of 12,000 relocation professionals--or global workforce mobility specialists--are concerned with current issues and management practices for the movement of employees within the United States and between all other...
rates Kenosha among the "Best Cities for Relocating Families" in the 500,000 to 250,000 metro population category. - In 2005, the Milken InstituteMilken InstituteThe Milken Institute is an independent economic think tank based in Santa Monica, California that publishes research and hosts conferences that apply market-based principles and financial innovations to a variety of societal issues in the US and internationally.The mission of the Institute, founded...
rated Kenosha as the 86th among the largest 200 metro areas in the United States in its "Best Performing Cities" list - In May 2006, Inc. Magazine ranked Kenosha #45 on its "Hottest Midsize Cities" list.
Sister cities
Kenosha's four sister cities are:- Cosenza
CosenzaCosenza is a city in southern Italy, located at the confluence of two historic rivers: the Busento and the Crathis. The municipal population is of around 70,000; the urban area, however, counts over 260,000 inhabitants...
, ItalyItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
(since 1979) - Douai
Douai-Main sights:Douai's ornate Gothic style belfry was begun in 1380, on the site of an earlier tower. The 80 m high structure includes an impressive carillon, consisting of 62 bells spanning 5 octaves. The originals, some dating from 1391 were removed in 1917 during World War I by the occupying...
, FranceFranceThe French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
(since 1981)) - Quezon City
Quezon CityQuezon City is the former capital and the most populous city in the Philippines. Located on the island of Luzon, Quezon City is one of the cities and municipalities that make up Metro Manila, the National Capital Region. The city was named after Manuel L...
, PhilippinesPhilippinesThe Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
(since 1986) - Wolfenbüttel
WolfenbüttelWolfenbüttel is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany, located on the Oker river about 13 kilometres south of Brunswick. It is the seat of the District of Wolfenbüttel and of the bishop of the Protestant Lutheran State Church of Brunswick...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
(since 1970))
In popular culture
Kenosha has been the setting or filming location for a number of magazine ads and television commercials, and several motion pictures including The BetsyThe Betsy
The Betsy is a 1978 film made by the Harold Robbins International Company and released by Allied Artists. It was directed by Daniel Petrie and produced by Robert R. Weston and Emanuel L. Wolf with Jack Grossberg as associate producer. The screenplay was by William Bast and Walter Bernstein, adapted...
, The Last Great Ride, Dead Air
Dead Air
Dead Air is a novel by the Scottish writer Iain Banks, published in 2002.-Plot introduction:The book revolves around the life of Ken Nott, a radio DJ on a London station called Capital Live!-Plot summary:...
, Fever Lake
Fever Lake
Fever Lake is a 1996 horror film starring Corey Haim, Mario López and Bo Hopkins.-Plot summary:A group of teenagers visit a lake with intentions to spend the weekend there...
, Time-Men, The Smokers
The Smokers
-Plot:Three rebellious teenage girls decide to even the score in the battle of the sexes. Looking back a few years after the events depicted, Jefferson Roth tells the story of the last few months of her senior year at a Wisconsin boarding school when she and two girl friends, the naive Lisa and the...
, For Keeps?
For Keeps?
For Keeps is a 1988 movie starring Molly Ringwald and Randall Batinkoff as Darcy and Stan, two high school seniors in love. Complications ensue when Darcy becomes pregnant just before graduation and decides to keep her baby...
, RKO 281
RKO 281
RKO 281 is a 1999 historical drama film directed by Benjamin Ross. It stars Liev Schreiber, James Cromwell, Melanie Griffith, John Malkovich, and Roy Scheider and depicts the troubled production behind the 1941 film Citizen Kane...
(the film’s subject, Orson Welles
Orson Welles
George Orson Welles , best known as Orson Welles, was an American film director, actor, theatre director, screenwriter, and producer, who worked extensively in film, theatre, television and radio...
was born in Kenosha), The Paint Job, and in a lighthouse scene in Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 3
Scary Movie 3 is a 2003 American science fiction comedy film, which parodies the horror, sci-fi, and mystery genres, directed by David Zucker. It is the third film of the Scary Movie franchise, as well as the first to have no involvement from the Wayans family...
.
Was mentioned in Stephen King's book Carrie (pg. 15), 3 letters were from Kenosha that Mrs White received.
- Kenosha was the name of John Candy's character's band, "The Kenosha Kickers", in Home AloneHome AloneHome Alone is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film written and produced by John Hughes and directed by Chris Columbus. The film stars Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight-year-old boy, who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to Paris for their Christmas vacation...
. - In the beginning of the rock band WeezerWeezerWeezer is an American alternative rock band. The band currently consists of Rivers Cuomo , Patrick Wilson , Brian Bell , and Scott Shriner . The band has changed lineups three times since its formation in 1992...
's music video "Buddy Holly", Al from Happy Days announces they are "Kenosha, Wisconsin's own Weezer". - Kenosha is the home of the chaplain in Joseph HellerJoseph HellerJoseph Heller was a US satirical novelist, short story writer, and playwright. His best known work is Catch-22, a novel about US servicemen during World War II...
's novel Catch-22Catch-22Catch-22 is a satirical, historical novel by the American author Joseph Heller. He began writing it in 1953, and the novel was first published in 1961. It is set during World War II in 1943 and is frequently cited as one of the great literary works of the twentieth century...
. - A "Kenosha Kid" is mentioned in Thomas PynchonThomas PynchonThomas Ruggles Pynchon, Jr. is an American novelist. For his most praised novel, Gravity's Rainbow, Pynchon received the National Book Award, and is regularly cited as a contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature...
's novel Gravity's RainbowGravity's RainbowGravity's Rainbow is a postmodern novel written by Thomas Pynchon and first published on February 28, 1973.The narrative is set primarily in Europe at the end of World War II and centers on the design, production and dispatch of V-2 rockets by the German military, and, in particular, the quest...
. - Youngsters from That '70s ShowThat '70s ShowThat '70s Show is an American television period sitcom that centers on the lives of a group of teenage friends living in the fictional suburban town of Point Place, Wisconsin, from May 17, 1976, to December 31, 1979...
went to Kenosha to see Star WarsStar WarsStar Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...
and to discoDiscoDisco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
. - In The Fairly OddParentsThe Fairly OddParentsThe Fairly OddParents is an American-Canadian animated television series created by Butch Hartman about the adventures of Timmy Turner, who is granted fairy godparents named Cosmo and Wanda. The series started out as cartoon segments that ran from September 4, 1998 to March 23, 2001 on Oh Yeah!...
it described another Timmy Turner from Kenosha, Wisconsin. - In SupernaturalSupernatural (TV series)Supernatural is an American supernatural and horror television series created by Eric Kripke, which debuted on September 13, 2005 on The WB, and is now part of The CW's lineup. Starring Jared Padalecki as Sam Winchester and Jensen Ackles as Dean Winchester, the series follows the brothers as they...
, the main characters Sam and Dean visit Kenosha to solve a case in the episode "Weekend at Bobby's" - Home to Al Molinaro (Happy DaysHappy DaysHappy Days is an American television sitcom that originally aired from January 15, 1974, to September 24, 1984, on ABC. Created by Garry Marshall, the series presents an idealized vision of life in mid-1950s to mid-1960s America....
), Daniel J. Travanti (Hill Street BluesHill Street BluesHill Street Blues is an American serial police drama that was first aired on NBC in 1981 and ran for 146 episodes on primetime into 1987. Chronicling the lives of the staff of a single police precinct in an unnamed American city, the show received critical acclaim and its production innovations ...
) - Fictional television character Samantha Spade from Without a TraceWithout a TraceWithout a Trace is an American television drama which originally ran on CBS from September 26, 2002 to May 19, 2009. The series was set in New York City and concerned a fictitious FBI Missing Persons Unit.-Premise:...
claimed to have grown up in Kenosha prior to joining the FBI. - In the movie Titanic Leonardo DiCaprio's character was going to Kenosha to work with his uncle.
- In Season 2, episode 2 of "The Golden Girls" The girls meet 3 guys from Kenosha, one of which is named John, and Rose says, "I know a John from Kenosha."
- In the 2011 black comedy The Guard, Don Cheadle's character, the FBI Agent Wendell Everett, is revealed to having grown up in Kenosha, Wisconsin during the film. http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_guard_2011/trailers/11151515/
Other notables
- The Northwestern WildcatsNorthwestern WildcatsThe Northwestern Wildcats are the athletic teams that represent Northwestern University, a founding member of the Big Ten Conference and the only private university in the conference. Northwestern has eight men's and eleven women's Division I sports teams. The mascot is Willie the Wildcat...
Football Team holds "Camp Kenosha" preseason football training camp in Kenosha. Northwestern UniversityNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University is a private research university in Evanston and Chicago, Illinois, USA. Northwestern has eleven undergraduate, graduate, and professional schools offering 124 undergraduate degrees and 145 graduate and professional degrees....
began training in Kenosha in 1991 at UW-Parkside prior to the start of the Big 10 season.
- Republican Party Chairman Reince PriebusReince PriebusReinhold Reince Priebus is the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is also a previous chair of the Republican Party of Wisconsin....
is a Kenosha native, having graduated from Tremper High School.
Neighborhoods of Kenosha
- AuroraAurora, Kenosha County, WisconsinAurora is now part of the city of Kenosha, Wisconsin, in Kenosha County, Wisconsin, but was the site of one of the area's earliest post offices, opened in the early 1830s at the Willis Tavern, the Aurora community center on the west side of the old Green Bay Trail just north of what is now 60th...
- TruesdellTruesdell, WisconsinTruesdell is a residential and business neighborhood of the city of Kenosha in east-central Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States. It lies along Highway 50 on the former Milwaukee Road main railroad line from Chicago, Illinois. The last Milwaukee Road passenger trains stopped in Truesdell in...
- Allendale
- Downtown
- Uptown
- North Side
- Forest Park
- Sunnyside
- Highland Park
- Highview
- Earleen State Park