Hingham, Wisconsin
| Hingham, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
| Census-designated place | |
  Hingham, Wisconsin | |
| Coordinates: 43°38′20″N 87°54′51″W / 43.63889°N 87.91417°WCoordinates: 43°38′20″N 87°54′51″W / 43.63889°N 87.91417°W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Sheboygan |
| Area | |
| • Total | 2.786 sq mi (7.22 km2) |
| • Land | 2.695 sq mi (6.98 km2) |
| • Water | 0.091 sq mi (0.24 km2) |
| Elevation | 804 ft (245 m) |
| Population (2010 census) | |
| • Total | 886 |
| • Density | 320/sq mi (120/km2) |
| Time zone | Central (CST) (UTC-6) |
| • Summer (DST) | CDT (UTC-5) |
| ZIP code | 53031 |
| Area code(s) | 920 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1566481[1] |
Hingham is an unincorporated census-designated place located in the town of Lima, in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. Hingham is northeast of Adell and southeast of Waldo. Hingham has a post office with ZIP code 53031.[2] As of the 2010 census, its population was 886.[3]
Hingham has a mill pond which has carp in it. There is an American Legion Hall near the mill pond at the intersection of County Highway I and County Highway F.
Hingham has a Memorial Day parade every year. There are usually goats in the parade and the Oostburg High School Band often marches in the parade.
History
According to Gustav W. Buchen in "Historic Sheboygan County", the community of Hingham was platted on Sept. 5, 1850, by Edward Hobart. The land was acquired from Mrs. David Giddings, who had bought it from the U S Government in 1846. A Hingham resident, Lemuel Tibbitts, who was a deputy county surveyor, did the platting. Streets on the original plat included Water, Center, Spring, South and Main Streets. The name "Hingham" was chosen after the city in Massachusetts.[4]
The Onion River flows through the village, and was originally dammed to provide power for the Giddings mill. Eventually, Hingham became a fairly sizeable community with a variety of businesses in the vicinity. In 1873, the Sheboygan Times listed the following census of businesses: 1 post office, 1 printing office, 1 hotel, 2 general stores, 1 drug, book & grocery store, 1 tailor shop, 1 barber shop, 1 milliner and dressmaker, 1 blacksmith shop, 1 tin shop, 3 shoe shops, 1 harness shop, 2 wagon shops, 2 paint shops, 1 cooper, 1 pump factory, 1 churn factory, 1 cheese factory, 2 grist mills, 1 sawmill, 1 boardinghouse, 1 school house, 1 Methodist church, Occupations listed included 1 minister, 1 physician, 1 millwright, 4 carpenters & joiners, 1 stonemason, 2 justices of the peace, 3 sewing machine agencies, and 1 rag gatherer & peddler.
The first post office was established at Hingham on Oct. 31, 1857, with Lemuel Tibbitts as postmaster.
By 1875, Hingham had its first newspaper—the Ready Pay Trader, published by F. A. Balch. There was also a later weekly paper called the Village News.
One distinction Buchen noted about the importance of the early days of Hingham was that there was an egg depot there, owned by S.D. Hyde, where eggs were picked in large vats and shipped to eastern markets. He says, "More eggs, it is said, were collected and shipped from Hingham in those days than any other place in the state, there being as many as ten carloads at one time."
The community of Hingham, however, lost its place in the sun when the Milwaukee & Northern railroad bypassed the village and located two miles west of the town. Within the next 125 years, small businesses mostly left the community, and residents became dependent for those services in nearby villages.
Today, Hingham has been reinvented as a bedroom community with good access to communities to the north and south via State Highway 57. New subdivisions have been developed, and the population has been growing. It still has its own post office, but the school population has been absorbed into the Oostburg School District. The Methodist Church has united with the Waldo Methodist congregation, but there is a large congregation affiliated with the Reformed Church in America, and there are both Lutheran and independent Bible Churches nearby.
References
- ↑ U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Hingham, Wisconsin
- ↑ ZIP Code Lookup
- ↑ "American FactFinder". U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved 5 April 2011.
- ↑ 'Historic Sheboygan County," Gustav W. Buchen, 1976, p. 275
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