Big Flats, Wisconsin
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Big Flats is a town in Adams County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The population was 946 at the 2000 census.
[edit] Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 124.6 km² (48.1 mi²). 124.6 km² (48.1 mi²) of it is land and 0.02% is water.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 946 people, 402 households, and 270 families residing in the town. The population density was 7.6/km² (19.7/mi²). There were 797 housing units at an average density of 6.4/km² (16.6/mi²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.36% White, 0.53% African American, 0.63% Native American, 0.53% from other races, and 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.11% of the population.
There were 402 households out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.5% were married couples living together, 6.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.6% were non-families. 25.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.35 and the average family size was 2.77.
In the town the population was spread out with 21.5% under the age of 18, 5.3% from 18 to 24, 23.2% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 20.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females there were 109.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $27,800, and the median income for a family was $36,250. Males had a median income of $31,583 versus $21,806 for females. The per capita income for the town was $14,629. About 6.9% of families and 13.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 16.6% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] History
Big Flats was the site of a devastating wild fire on May 5th, 2005. The fire started when Thomas Barnhart lit a fire inside of a fire ring in an attempt to burn off the grass. It burned 90 structures, including seasonal and year-round homes as well as sheds and other out buildings. The fire was contained after it consumed just under 3800 acres in an area measuring 1 mile by 6 miles. Numberous fire departments and State DNR units were called in to fight the fire, including air attack units from Minnesota. Smoke from the fire was visible in Wisconsin Rapids, over 30 miles away.
Ironically, this was Wisconsin's worst wild fire since the 1976 fire in the Town of Saratoga, only 20 minutes away from Big Flats.
