Sauk City, Wisconsin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Sauk City is a village in Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,109 at the 2000 census. Founded by Agoston Haraszthy and his business partner Robert Bryant.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Notable residents
4 Trivia
5 Other information
6 External links

[edit] Geography

Sauk City is located at 43°16′27″N, 89°43′42″W (43.274130, -89.728310)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 4.1 km² (1.6 mi²). 3.9 km² (1.5 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of it (6.88%) is water.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 3,109 people, 1,285 households, and 796 families residing in the village. The population density was 800.3/km² (2,078.0/mi²). There were 1,314 housing units at an average density of 338.2/km² (878.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.01% White, 0.39% African American, 0.23% Native American, 0.19% Asian, 1.45% from other races, and 0.74% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.76% of the population.

There were 1,285 households out of which 30.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 49.8% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.0% were non-families. 32.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 14.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.99.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 7.5% from 18 to 24, 29.9% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 92.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 87.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $36,378, and the median income for a family was $45,156. Males had a median income of $29,908 versus $22,996 for females. The per capita income for the village was $17,705. About 10.0% of families and 12.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.4% of those under age 18 and 17.6% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Notable residents

August Derleth, author
Mark Schorer, author, professor
Emanuel L. Philipp, former Governor of Wisconsin

[edit] Trivia

Sauk City is the site of the first Culver's restaurant which opened July 18, 1984. Sauk City is where Jacob Leinenkugel of the Leinenkugel's Brewing Company was born and raised.

[edit] Other information

Impressed by the beautiful scenery, Agoston Haraszthy first purchased a small plot along the Wisconsin river, later (with his partner Robert Bryant), bought 10,000 acres (40 km²) for a townsite and founded Szeptaj (today Sauk City). The name (Széptáj) is merged from two Hungarian words: szép (nice/beautiful) and táj (region/scenery) together meaning Beautiful scenery, the village was later renamed to Sauk City.

German immigrants founded the Sauk City Free-Thinker's Society in 1852. This group, a liberal religious society, also celebrated German music, literature and culture. It met in a private home until 1884, when Park Hall was built as a meeting house. The building is now home to the Sauk County Free Congregation.

Sauk City is adjacent to Prairie du Sac, located directly to the north. Both communities are located on the west bank of the Wisconsin River. The two communities share a municipal boundary, as well as schools, a police department, and a hospital, but have separate fire departments, and libraries. Efforts have been made to join the two cities into a single entity, Sauk Prairie, but these have failed due to tax differences between the communities.

Sauk City is on U.S. Highway 12, approximately 18 miles northwest of suburban Madison.