Evansville, Wisconsin

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Evansville is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 4,039 at the 2000 census.

1 History
2 Historic District
3 Community
4 Business and industry
5 Geography
- 5.1 Lake Leota
6 Demographics
7 External links

[edit] History

Evansville was first settled in the 1830s by New Englanders who were attracted to the area by its pristine wooded landscape and the placid Allen Creek. By 1855, the city recorded its first plat and was complete with homes, shops, and churches.

In 1863, the Chicago and North Western Railway came to Evansville, accelerating growth. At this point, Evansville's economy comprised the surrounding agriculture, mainly wheat and tobacco.

By the turn of the century Evansville had over 1900 residents, and by the 1920s, most of the buildings in Evansville's future Historic District were completed.

On April 4, 2006, Evansville voters participated in two referenda, one to urge a pullout of US troops from Iraq, and the second to gauge whether town residents support "our honorable President's leadership" against "the unfathomable wickedness of the forces of terror". The first was approved but the second was rejected. While other Wisconsin communities were noted for holding referenda on the Iraq War, Evansville was the only place where there were two that competed. Evansville received international attention with reporters from NPR-National Public Radio and CPR-Canadian Public Radio.

[edit] Historic District

The Evansville Historic District, which surrounds Main Street and stretches to the side streets of Garfield Avenue and Liberty Street, includes dozens of historic homes and other structures. The Wisconsin Historical Society called Evansville home to "the finest collection of 1840s to 1915 architecture of any small town in Wisconsin".

In 1978, the historic district was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.

[edit] Community

Evansville has many urban amenities, including four gas stations, a full sized grocery store, and several specialty shops and restaurants.

Evansville has a large central park, Leonard Park, on the shore of Lake Leota. Amenities include a baseball diamond with night lighting, a softball diamond, two tennis courts, a basketball court, a swimming pool, picnic shelters, and playgrounds. A skateboard facility was installed in 2006.

The city contains four schools: Levi Leonard Elementary, Theodore Robinson Intermediate School, J.C. McKenna Middle School, and Evansville High School.

[edit] Business and industry

Major employers in Evansville include Stoughton Trailers, which builds semi-trailer chassis, Varco-Pruden, which manufactures prefab metal buildings, Baker Manufacturing, a pump and well maker, and Evansville Manor, a nursing home.

In August 2006, North Prairie Productions from Waterloo, Wisconsin announced it would build a biodiesel facility in Evansville to process soybean crops from around the region into fuel. A feasibility study would also look into a crushing facility, the first in Wisconsin, to allow soybeans to be processed wholly on-site.[1]

[edit] Geography

Evansville is located at 42°46′48″N, 89°18′1″W (42.779917, -89.300378)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.7 km² (2.2 mi²). 5.6 km² (2.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.1 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (2.25%) is water.

Evansville is located just 30 miles south of Madison, Wisconsin, 25 miles northwest of Janesville, Wisconsin, and 45 miles northwest of Beloit, Wisconsin.

[edit] Lake Leota

This small lake was formed by damming Allen Creek many years ago . Because of erosion into Allen Creek from upstream farm fields, Lake Leota had become shallower due to silt deposits over the years. One major issue facing the city is how to restore the lake to something near its original depth. The dam was opened in September 2005 to allow the lake to drain and its bottom to dry out. Dredging is expected to occur in 2007, though details are yet to be worked out.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 4,039 people, 1,563 households, and 1,045 families residing in the city. The population density was 718.6/km² (1,863.0/mi²). There were 1,635 housing units at an average density of 290.9/km² (754.1/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.60% White, 0.12% African American, 0.42% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.64% from other races, and 0.99% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.78% of the population.

There were 1,563 households out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.1% were married couples living together, 10.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 33.1% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.08.

In the city the population was spread out with 29.1% under the age of 18, 7.0% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 16.8% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 91.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,229, and the median income for a family was $58,451. Males had a median income of $35,614 versus $30,313 for females. The per capita income for the city was $20,766. About 2.6% of families and 4.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.7% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.