St. Francis, Wisconsin

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Location of St. Francis, Wisconsin

St. Francis is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,662. It is the smallest fully incorporated city in Milwaukee County.

Contents

[edit] Geography

St. Francis is located at 42°58′11″N, 87°52′36″W (42.969615, -87.876745)GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 6.6 km² (2.5 mi²), all land. It is located directly south and east of the City of Milwaukee, directly west of Lake Michigan, and directly north of Cudahy, Wisconsin. Milwaukee's primary airport, General Mitchell International Airport, is bordered on one side by St. Francis.

[edit] Religion

St. Francis Seminary
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St. Francis Seminary

The City of St. Francis is named after the patron saint of the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi, who set up a convent and Roman Catholic seminary in city in the mid 19th century. Catholic Church land accounts for a significant percentage of the area of this small city, from the old St. Francis Seminary buildings; to the 'seminary woods,' as the large, undeveloped forest owned by the church is called by area residents; to the Archbishop Cousins Center, famed as the practice location for the Milwaukee Bucks of the National Basketball Association.

[edit] Economy

The founders of St. Francis broke the city away from the Town of Lake, a now defunct entity that covered much of Milwaukee's far southside and some of the southern/southwestern suburbs in Milwaukee County, in order to keep revenues from the South Shore Power Plant for themselves. The importance of the power plant to St. Francis' economy in the middle of the 20th century shows in the city's former logo, with the familiar smoke stacks holding a prominent position. The plant closed in the late 1980s, moving to Oak Creek, Wisconsin. The land on Lake Michigan's coast that the electric utility owned for the plant has, after over a decade of lying unused, recently been developed with high-priced condominiums. These condos are especially valuable because they are built on some of the only undeveloped lakefront land in the metropolitan Milwaukee area.

How best to make use of the lakeshore property has generated much controversy over the years, with many suggesting that the city should preserve it as open space for the enjoyment of all. A petition drive was mounted proposing that the land be annexed into the Milwaukee County park system. County executive William O'Donnell decided, however, to defer the annexation due to budgetary constraints and other concerns. Subsequently the land was acquired by Chicago-based developers. After a plan to develop the land as a Native American casino was rejected after massive public opposition, the condo development plan was ultimately approved instead despite community misgivings. The project was approved in line with a stated goal of the city government to improve the tax base and generate increased revenue. Since the primary selling point for the condos is the view of Lake Michigan, the project is commonly referred to by local residents as "pay-per-view".

Today, businesses in St. Francis include Supreme Meats, Foamation (manufacturer of the world-famous 'Cheeseheads' worn by Wisconsin sports fans, especially to Green Bay Packers football games), and EZ Paintr, among other small manufacturers and service companies. Many residents work in the City of Milwaukee or in other municipalities in the Milwaukee area.


[edit] School District

The St. Francis scool district is made up of three schools. The high school is located right off of the lake and litterally on top of the border between Cudahy and St. Francis. Then there is Deer Creek Intermediate. This school is in the old building of St. John's School for the deaf. The school is located right next to St. Ann's. The elementary school is Willow Glen.

There used to be two elementary schools: Willow Glen and Deer Creek, until they combined to form a school for the younger students and a separate school for the older students. Now Deer Creek is 4th grade to 8th grade and Willow Glen is K4 to 3rd. The high school stayed the same.

[edit] Demographics

As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 8,662 people, 4,050 households, and 2,158 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,321.9/km² (3,421.7/mi²). There were 4,193 housing units at an average density of 639.9/km² (1,656.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.77% White, 0.97% African American, 0.88% Native American, 1.05% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 1.50% from other races, and 1.81% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.53% of the population.

There were 4,050 households out of which 21.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.0% were married couples living together, 8.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.7% were non-families. 40.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 13.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.11 and the average family size was 2.88.

In the city the population was spread out with 19.3% under the age of 18, 8.9% from 18 to 24, 30.9% from 25 to 44, 23.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females there were 96.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $36,721, and the median income for a family was $49,896. Males had a median income of $37,013 versus $27,129 for females. The per capita income for the city was $21,837. About 2.7% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.6% of those under age 18 and 14.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Notable denizens

[edit] External links

 
Milwaukee, Wisconsin		 Flag of Wisconsin
Surrounding municipalities
(over 10,000 inhabitants)

Brookfield | Brown Deer | Caledonia | Cedarburg | Cudahy | Delafield | Franklin | Germantown | Glendale | Grafton | Greendale | Greenfield | Menomonee Falls | Mequon | Muskego | New Berlin | Oak Creek | Oconomowoc | Pewaukee | Richfield | Shorewood | South Milwaukee | Waukesha | Wauwatosa | West Allis | Whitefish Bay |
(less than 10,000 inhabitants)

Bayside | Big Bend | Butler | Chenequa | Dousman | Elm Grove | Fox Point | Genesee | Hales Corners | Hartland | Ixonia | Lac La Belle | Lannon | Lisbon | Merton | Nashotah | North Prairie | Pewaukee | Oconomowoc Lake | Okauchee Lake | Ottawa | River Hills | Saukville | Saint Francis | Summit | Sussex | Thiensville | Vernon | Wales | West Milwaukee |
Counties

Jefferson | Milwaukee | Ozaukee | Racine | Washington | Waukesha |
*town ‡village °city §CDP
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