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Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
 Kilbourn Dam and downtown Wisconsin Dells | |
 Logo | |
| Nicknames: | |
 Location of Wisconsin Dells in Wisconsin | |
  Wisconsin Dells  Wisconsin Dells | |
| Coordinates:43°38′15″N89°46′44″W / 43.6374°N 89.7788°W /43.6374; -89.7788 | |
| Country |  United States |
| State |  Wisconsin |
| Counties | |
| Founded | 1857 |
| Renamed | 1931 |
| Government | |
| • Type | Mayor–council |
| • Mayor | Edward Wojnicz |
| Area | |
• Total | 8.18 sq mi (21.19 km2) |
| • Land | 7.8 sq mi (20.3 km2) |
| • Water | 0.34 sq mi (0.89 km2) |
| Elevation | 909 ft (277 m) |
| Population | |
• Total | 2,942 |
| • Density | 375/sq mi (144.9/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−6 (Central) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−5 (Central) |
| ZIP Code | 53965 |
| Area code | 608 |
| FIPS code | 55-88150[5] |
| GNIS feature ID | 1576900[6] |
| Website | www |
Wisconsin Dells (formerlyKilbourn) is a city inColumbia,Sauk,Adams andJuneau counties in the U.S. state ofWisconsin. The population was 2,942 at the2020 census.[4] The city takes its name from theDells of the Wisconsin River, a scenicgorge that featuressandstone formations along the banks of theWisconsin River. It is a popularMidwestern tourist destination, home to severalwater parks and tourist attractions.[7] Wisconsin Dells is about 42 miles (68 km) northwest ofMadison, the state's capital city.
The natural formation of the Dells was named by Early French explorers asdalles, arapids ornarrows on a river invoyageur French.[8] Wisconsin Dells is located on ancestralHo-Chunk andMenominee land.[9] The Ho-Chunk name for Wisconsin Dells isNįįš hakiisųc, meaning "rocks close together".[10]
According to Indian agentJoseph Montfort Street, the Sauk leaderBlack Hawk sought refuge with Ho-Chunks near the Dells of the Wisconsin River at the end of theBlack Hawk War of 1832 before surrendering to the United States,[11][12] but more recent research has argued that this was a mistranslation of the true location.[13][14] The U.S. acquired the land in treaties with the Ho-Chunk nation in 1837 and with the Menominee in 1848,[9] but Ho-Chunk people who resisted the U.S. policy ofIndian removal continued to return to the area and eventually acquired small homesteads.[15]
The city of Wisconsin Dells was founded in 1856 by the Wisconsin Hydraulic Company, adam-building and real estate investment business. The town was originally namedKilbourn City forByron Kilbourn, the president of theLa Crosse & Milwaukee Railroad Company, which was then preparing to build a railroad across theWisconsin River to connectMilwaukee andLa Crosse, Wisconsin.[16] The railroad's route caused great local controversy. Boosters and speculators had anticipated the river crossing two miles downriver, where they had established the town ofNewport, Wisconsin, and attracted around 1,500 residents by 1855.[17] When the railroad instead completed a slightly more northern route in 1857, Newport rapidly turned into aghost town as its residents relocated to the site of the railroad bridge, bringing many buildings and even a church from the earlier town to reassemble in Kilbourn City.[18]
In 1859, lumbermen destroyed the Wisconsin Hydraulic Company's new dam at Kilbourn City because it blocked the flow oftimber rafts down the river. This led the company's main creditor, Byron Kilbourn, to foreclose on its property and take ownership of most of the city's real estate.[19]
Kilbourn City quickly became a popular travel destination in the Midwest due to the scenery of theDells of the Wisconsin River and the ready railroad access. In 1856, entrepreneur Leroy Gates began taking tourists on boat tours of the Wisconsin Dells and promoting the town to railroad travelers. These tours were given using wooden rowboats until 1873 when two excursion steamers, theModocawanda and theDell Queen launched.[20] Gates also established a photography studio in the city, which he sold to photographerH. H. Bennett in 1865.[21] Over the following decades, Bennett took many photos of the sandstone formations in the dells, includingstereoscopic views, as well as portraits of local Ho-Chunk people in Indian costume. Prints of Bennett's photographs were distributed across the United States and played a large role in promoting Kilbourn City as an exotic destination for sightseers.[22][23] TheH. H. Bennett Studio is now a historic site operated by theWisconsin Historical Society.[24]
In 1909, theKilbourn Dam was completed across the Wisconsin River to generatehydroelectricity, over the protests of people such as H. H. Bennett,[25] separating the Dells into the Upper and Lower Dells.[26] It is now owned byAlliant Energy.[27]
In 1928 Mr. Clinton Berry established Berry's Dells airport. It occupied sixty acres and was designated on government maps as beacon No. 19. Berry built the airport to carry visitors to the Dells from the surrounding metropolitan areas.[28]
Kilbourn City shortened its name to "Kilbourn" in 1895 and then changed its name toWisconsin Dells in 1931, identifying itself with the famousnatural landscape of the Dells of the Wisconsin River.[29][30]
In 1952, a new traveling performance fromChicago called "Tommy Bartlett's Thrill Show" came to Lake Delton on its second stop. Following the show's huge success in the city, its owner, Tommy Bartlett, chose to keep the performance permanently in Wisconsin Dells. To promote the show, Bartlett gave awaybumper stickers advertising his thrill show and the city, effectively spreading word about the area across the nation. That tourist attraction closed permanently in 2020.[31]
Soon more attractions followed to serve the ever-increasing tourists, along with many hotels, shops, and restaurants. Today, a large number ofwater parks are central to the local economy.[32]
Lake Delton, Wisconsin Dells's sister city to the south, gradually became popular as the Dells attractions spread out.The Wonder Spot, which used optical illusions found in "gravity hills" to make water appear to flow backwards, people appear to stand at odd angles, and chairs to balance on two legs,[33] was founded in Lake Delton in 1952 and remained open until 2006.[34]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.18 square miles (21.19 km2), of which 7.84 square miles (20.31 km2) is land and 0.34 square miles (0.88 km2) is water.[35] According to theWisconsin Department of Administration,[36] on January 19, 2004, the city annexed land from theTown of Lyndon in Juneau County, thus expanding the city to include area in four counties. It is mostly located inColumbia County.
Wisconsin Dells has ahumid continental climate.
On July 13, 1936, the temperature in Wisconsin Dells reached 114 °F (46 °C), the highest ever recorded in the state ofWisconsin.[37]
| Climate data for Wisconsin Dells, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1922–present | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Record high °F (°C) | 63 (17) | 68 (20) | 84 (29) | 91 (33) | 104 (40) | 102 (39) | 114 (46) | 104 (40) | 101 (38) | 90 (32) | 81 (27) | 67 (19) | 114 (46) |
| Mean maximum °F (°C) | 46 (8) | 52 (11) | 66.6 (19.2) | 78.7 (25.9) | 86.4 (30.2) | 91.5 (33.1) | 92.7 (33.7) | 91.1 (32.8) | 88.3 (31.3) | 80.3 (26.8) | 64.5 (18.1) | 50.9 (10.5) | 94.9 (34.9) |
| Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 26.4 (−3.1) | 31.4 (−0.3) | 43.3 (6.3) | 56.8 (13.8) | 69.4 (20.8) | 78.9 (26.1) | 82.5 (28.1) | 80.5 (26.9) | 73.1 (22.8) | 59.6 (15.3) | 44.3 (6.8) | 31.9 (−0.1) | 56.5 (13.6) |
| Daily mean °F (°C) | 17.2 (−8.2) | 21.2 (−6.0) | 32.5 (0.3) | 45 (7) | 57.3 (14.1) | 67.2 (19.6) | 71 (22) | 68.9 (20.5) | 60.9 (16.1) | 48.2 (9.0) | 35.1 (1.7) | 23.5 (−4.7) | 45.7 (7.6) |
| Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 8 (−13) | 10.9 (−11.7) | 21.8 (−5.7) | 33.2 (0.7) | 45.2 (7.3) | 55.6 (13.1) | 59.6 (15.3) | 57.2 (14.0) | 48.6 (9.2) | 36.8 (2.7) | 25.9 (−3.4) | 15.2 (−9.3) | 34.8 (1.6) |
| Mean minimum °F (°C) | −16.2 (−26.8) | −11.4 (−24.1) | −1.9 (−18.8) | 18.1 (−7.7) | 28.9 (−1.7) | 40.1 (4.5) | 47.1 (8.4) | 44.5 (6.9) | 33.1 (0.6) | 21.7 (−5.7) | 8.2 (−13.2) | −7.4 (−21.9) | −20.5 (−29.2) |
| Record low °F (°C) | −43 (−42) | −38 (−39) | −29 (−34) | 0 (−18) | 21 (−6) | 31 (−1) | 41 (5) | 32 (0) | 24 (−4) | −2 (−19) | −11 (−24) | −27 (−33) | −43 (−42) |
| Averageprecipitation inches (mm) | 1.32 (34) | 1.38 (35) | 2.28 (58) | 4.08 (104) | 4.38 (111) | 5.11 (130) | 4.04 (103) | 4.22 (107) | 3.84 (98) | 2.82 (72) | 2.23 (57) | 1.77 (45) | 37.47 (954) |
| Average snowfall inches (cm) | 11.5 (29) | 10.2 (26) | 5.9 (15) | 2 (5.1) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0 (0) | 0.4 (1.0) | 2 (5.1) | 8.7 (22) | 40.7 (103.2) |
| Average precipitation days(≥ 0.01 in) | 7.3 | 6.7 | 8 | 10.8 | 12 | 11.2 | 9.4 | 9.5 | 9.4 | 9.8 | 8.1 | 9 | 111.2 |
| Average snowy days(≥ 0.1 in) | 6.6 | 5.8 | 3.1 | 1.2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.2 | 1.8 | 5.7 | 24.4 |
| Source 1: NOAA[38] | |||||||||||||
| Source 2: National Weather Service[39] | |||||||||||||
| Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 | 1,114 | — | |
| 1880 | 945 | −15.2% | |
| 1890 | 961 | 1.7% | |
| 1900 | 1,134 | 18.0% | |
| 1910 | 1,170 | 3.2% | |
| 1920 | 1,206 | 3.1% | |
| 1930 | 1,489 | 23.5% | |
| 1940 | 1,762 | 18.3% | |
| 1950 | 1,957 | 11.1% | |
| 1960 | 2,105 | 7.6% | |
| 1970 | 2,401 | 14.1% | |
| 1980 | 2,521 | 5.0% | |
| 1990 | 2,393 | −5.1% | |
| 2000 | 2,418 | 1.0% | |
| 2010 | 2,678 | 10.8% | |
| 2020 | 2,942 | 9.9% | |
| U.S. Decennial Census[40] | |||
Because it straddles multiple counties, Wisconsin Dells is part of severalcore-based statistical areas (CBSAs). The Columbia County portion of the city is part of theMadison Metropolitan Statistical Area, while the Sauk County portion is part of theBarabooMicropolitan Statistical Area. The Adams and Juneau county portions are not part of any metropolitan or micropolitan area.
As of thecensus of 2020,[4] the population was 2,942. Thepopulation density was 375.3 inhabitants per square mile (144.9/km2). There were 1,512 housing units at an average density of 192.9 per square mile (74.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 85.2%White, 2.9%Black orAfrican American, 1.3%Native American, 0.4%Asian, 5.6% fromother races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 12.4%Hispanic orLatino of any race.
Of the 2020 total population of 2,942, the population by county was:
As of thecensus[41] of 2010, there were 2,678 people, 1,148 households, and 659 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 363.9 inhabitants per square mile (140.5/km2). There were 1,485 housing units at an average density of 201.8 per square mile (77.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 91.5%White, 0.7%African American, 1.8%Native American, 0.8%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 3.3% fromother races, and 1.8% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino people of any race were 7.4% of the population.
There were 1,148 households, of which 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.9% weremarried couples living together, 10.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 6.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.6% were non-families. 33.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.87.
The median age in the city was 40.3 years. 20.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 9.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 25.4% were from 25 to 44; 26.6% were from 45 to 64; and 17.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.6% male and 50.4% female.
Of the 2010 total population of 2,678, the population by county was:
As of thecensus[5] of 2000, there were 2,418 people, 1,019 households, and 609 families residing in the city. Thepopulation density was 583.1 people per square mile (225.1 people/km2). There were 1,178 housing units at an average density of 284.1 per square mile (109.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 97.56%White, 0.37%African American, 0.87%Native American, 0.25%Asian, 0.33% fromother races, and 0.62% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino people of any race were 1.7% of the population.
There were 1,019 households, out of which 26.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.5% weremarried couples living together, 10.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.2% were non-families. 34.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.28 and the average family size was 2.93.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 22% under the age of 18, 7.8% from 18 to 24, 27.3% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, and 19.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 86.7 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $35,699, and the median income for a family was $46,304. Males had a median income of $29,830 versus $22,553 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $23,447. About 4.0% of families and 7.5% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 9.7% of those under age 18 and 3% of those age 65 or over.
Tourism is the major contributor to the economy of Wisconsin Dells. The Dells area has manyindoor and outdoorwaterparks, proclaiming itself the "Waterpark Capital of the World".[7] Other attractions include boat tours,zip-lining,golf courses,mini golf,go-kart tracks, water sports,horseback riding, a water ski show known as theTommy Bartlett's Thrill Show (now closed), museums, amusement parks, Wizard Quest,[42] and a casino.[43] Most attractions are located on the Strip, otherwise known as theWisconsin Dells Parkway. Accommodations range from economicalmotels toRV parks to chain hotels to themedresorts featuring indoor and outdoor waterparks and other amenities.
AmphibiousDUKW vehicles called "ducks" began offeringduck tours to tourists in Wisconsin Dells in 1946. The tours visit wilderness trails and enter nearbyLake Delton and the Wisconsin River. One company, Original Wisconsin Ducks, has more than 90 vehicles and is the largest operator of duck tours in the United States.[44][45]
Since the late 1970s, the Dells area (Wisconsin Dells and Lake Delton) has become the home of large water parks.Noah's Ark Waterpark opened in Lake Delton in 1979 and later ranked among the most visited water parks in the U.S.[citation needed] Other outdoor amusement and water parks followed, featuring water slides, mini golf,roller coasters, go-karts, and other attractions. ThePolynesian Resort Hotel opened the United States' and the Dells area's first indoor waterpark in 1994. Since then, the number of combination resort/indoor waterparks in the Wisconsin Dells area has increased. Among these are theMt. Olympus Water & Theme Park,Wilderness Territory,Kalahari Resort,Chula Vista Resort, andAtlantis Resort.
TheTanger Outlet Center, a shopping mall, opened in 2006 on the site of the defunct Wisconsin Dells Greyhound Park, which opened in May 1990 but closed in 1996 due to heavy competition from the nearbyHo-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells Bingo/Casino.
It is in theWisconsin Dells School District, which operatesWisconsin Dells High School.
Wisconsin Dells is served by a local newspaper,Wisconsin Dells Events, and 2 local radio stations, WNNO and WDLS.[46] TheWisconsin Dells Events is published byCapital Newspapers, which publishes multiple newspapers in south central Wisconsin.[47]WNNO-FM broadcasts at 106.9 MHz and covers an area 20 miles in radius centered on Wisconsin Dells.[48]WDLS broadcasts on 900 AM.
Greyhound Lines provides intrastate and interstate bus service to Wisconsin Dells[49] on its Chicago - Milwaukee - Madison - Minneapolis route.[50]
TheEmpire Builder andBorealis, operated byAmtrak, provide daily rail service from theWisconsin Dells station to Chicago, Saint Paul, Portland, or Seattle.[51][52] The station was built in the 1980s in the style of the original station. Freight railroad service is provided by theCanadian Pacific Railway under theSoo Line Railroad umbrella.
Wisconsin Dells has onesister city.
Iwaizumi-Cho (Japan) since 1990[57]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
Municipalities and communities ofAdams County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Village | ||
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Municipalities and communities ofColumbia County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost town | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Municipalities and communities ofJuneau County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
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| Cities |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Towns | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
Municipalities and communities ofSauk County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
|---|---|---|
| Cities |  | |
| Villages | ||
| Towns | ||
| CDPs | ||
| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Indian reservation | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
| Surrounding communities |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Counties | ||
| Geographic regions | ||
| Reservation lands | ||
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Geographic | |
| Other | |
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