Town of Grafton, Wisconsin | |
|---|---|
 Town hall | |
 Location of Town of Grafton in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin. | |
| Coordinates:43°19′05″N87°54′11″W / 43.31806°N 87.90306°W /43.31806; -87.90306 | |
| Country | United States |
| State | Wisconsin |
| County | Ozaukee |
| Settled | 1839 |
| Incorporated | 1846; 179 years ago (1846) |
| Government | |
| • Town Chairman | Lester A. Bartel Jr. |
| • Clerk | Lisa Kien |
| • Board of supervisors | Supervisors
|
| Area | |
• Total | 21.4 sq mi (55.5 km2) |
| • Land | 19.8 sq mi (51.3 km2) |
| • Water | 1.6 sq mi (4.1 km2) |
| Elevation | 750 ft (230 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
• Total | 4,157 |
• Estimate (2021) | 4,391 |
| • Density | 208/sq mi (80.5/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC-6 (Central (CST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-5 (CDT) |
| Postal code | 53024 |
| Area code | 262 |
| Website | www |
TheTown of Grafton is atown located inOzaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and is in theMilwaukee metropolitan area. The town was created in 1846 and at the time of the2020 Census had a population of 4,157.
Grafton is located on the western shore ofLake Michigan. German and Irish immigrants first settled in Grafton in the 1840s. Their centers of settlement became the unincorporated communities ofLakefield andUlao, as well as theVillage ofGrafton, which is partially located in the town.
The first Europeans to visit the area were the Jesuit missionariesClaude-Jean Allouez and Claude Bablon, who visited a Native American village on theMilwaukee River near the future site of Grafton around the year 1670.[3]
Timothy Wooden, who arrived in 1839 from the eastern United States, is considered Grafton's first permanent resident. The majority of the early residents were immigrants from Germany and Ireland. TheWisconsin territorial legislature officially created the Town of Grafton in 1846.
James T. Gifford, an investor who foundedElgin, Illinois, developed the community ofUlao in 1847 as a port onLake Michigan. At the time,steamships were common on the Great Lakes and burned massive amounts of wood for fuel. A steamship could consume wood equivalent to several acres worth of forest on single journey. Much of Grafton was primeval beech-maple forest, which settlers were clearing for agriculture, and Gifford saw an opportunity for Ulao to prosper as a steamship refueling station. He built a sawmill, a warehouse, and a one-thousand-foot-long pier on the lake where ships docked to buy wood. The community prospered in the 1850s and 1860s, but by the end of the American Civil War, Ozaukee County's forests had been largely depleted, and Ulao declined, with most of the land being converted to agriculture.[4]
TheVillage of Grafton was incorporated from some of the town's land in 1896.
In the late 1930s, a group of pro-Nazi German-Americans affiliated with theGerman American Bund purchased land on the Milwaukee River in the Town of Grafton. They ran a private camp called Camp Hindenburg, and hosted a speech by Nazi-supporterFritz Julius Kuhn in 1939.[5] The camp closed with the outbreak ofWorld War II in 1941. George Froboese, a prominent member of the camp, committed suicide in 1942 while being escorted to New York to answer a Federal subpoena.[6] Paul Knauer, another member of the camp, was stripped of his U.S. citizenship for having falsely taken the oath of allegiance and was deported back to Germany after the war.[7]
In 1940, the pro-American, anti-Bund Wisconsin Federation of German-American Societies opened Camp Carl Schurz in the Town of Grafton to compete with the Nazi-sympathizers.[8][9][10]
Grafton experienced significant population growth during thesuburbanization that followed World War II, and the village annexed more farm land from the town of Grafton for residential subdivisions and commercial developments. The construction ofInterstate 43 in the mid-1960s connected Grafton to other communities, such asMilwaukee andSheboygan.[11]
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 21.4 square miles (55 km2), of which, 19.8 square miles (51 km2) of it is land and 1.6 square miles (4.1 km2) of it (7.47%) is water.
TheVillage of Grafton is mostly located in what was formerly the town's western half. The town is also bordered by theCity of Port Washington,Town of Port Washington, andTown of Saukville to the north; theCity of Mequon to the south; theCity of Cedarburg and theCity of Cedarburg to the west; andLake Michigan to the east. The unincorporated communities ofLakefield andUlao are also located in the town.
The town is located on the western shore ofLake Michigan, and the coastline is characterized by claybluffs ranging from 80 to 140 feet (24 to 43 meters) in height with deepravines where streams flow into the lake. Clay bluffs are a geological formation are characteristic of the Lake Michigan shoreline, and are found in few other areas of the world. Much of the coast has mixed gravel and sand beaches.[12][13] TheKevich Light, a privately owned lighthouse on the lake, is located in the town.
The town is located in theSoutheastern Wisconsin glacial till plains that were created by theWisconsin glaciation during the most recent ice age. The soil is clayey glacialtill with a thin layer ofloess on the surface. TheWisconsin Department of Natural Resources considers the eastern part of the town along the lake to be in the Central Lake Michigan Coastal ecological landscape, while the western part of the town is in the Southeast Glacial Plains ecological landscape.[12]
Before white settlers arrived in the area, the Grafton area was an upland forest dominated byAmerican beech andsugar maple trees. There were alsowhite cedars growing along theMilwaukee River, which flows through Grafton. Much of the original forest was cleared to prepare the land for agriculture.[12] The Bratt Woods nature preserve and the Kurtz Woods State Natural Area, which are both maintained by the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust, have old growth endemic trees and retain the character of the pre-settlement beech-maple forests.[14][15]
As land development continues to reduce wild areas, wildlife is forced into closer proximity with human communities like Grafton. Large mammals, includingwhite-tailed deer,coyotes, andred foxes can be seen in the town. Many birds, includinggreat blue herons andwild turkeys are found in the town, and waterfowl includinggreen herons andAmerican bitterns breed in the town's wetlands.[16] The Bratt Woods nature preserve is a habitat for theAmerican gromwell, a State-designated special concern plant species.[12]
The region struggles with many invasive species, including theemerald ash borer,common carp,reed canary grass, thecommon reed,purple loosestrife,garlic mustard,Eurasian buckthorns, andhoneysuckles.[13]
As of thecensus[17] of 2000, there were 4,132 people, 1,569 households, and 1,241 families residing in the town. Thepopulation density was 208.5 people per square mile (80.5/km2). There were 1,608 housing units at an average density of 81.1 per square mile (31.3/km2). The racial makeup of the town was 98.02%White, 0.34%Black orAfrican American, 0.22%Native American, 0.48%Asian, 0.10%Pacific Islander, 0.34% fromother races, and 0.51% from two or more races. 1.11% of the population wereHispanic orLatino of any race.
There were 1,569 households, out of which 33.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.5% weremarried couples living together, 5.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.9% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the town, the population was spread out, with 24.7% under the age of 18, 5.9% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $64,707, and the median income for a family was $73,125. Males had a median income of $42,320 versus $35,446 for females. Theper capita income for the town was $30,582. About 4.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 6.4% of those under age 18 and 8.0% of those age 65 or over.
Grafton is organized as atown governed by an elected board, comprising a chairman and four supervisors. The current chairman is Lester A. Bartel Jr. The board meets on the second Wednesday of each month at 7 p.m. in the town hall which is located in the Village of Grafton.[18]
As part ofWisconsin's 6th congressional district, Grafton is represented byGlenn Grothman (R) in theUnited States House of Representatives, and byRon Johnson (R) andTammy Baldwin (D) in theUnited States Senate.Alberta Darling (R) represents Grafton in theWisconsin State Senate, andDeb Andraca (D) represents Grafton in theWisconsin State Assembly.[19]
Much of the town of Grafton is served by theGrafton School District, which has twoelementary schools, serving kindergarten through fifth grade: John F. Kennedy Elementary School and Woodview Elementary School. John Long Middle School serves the entire district for grades six through eight, andGrafton High School serves grades nine through twelve.
The district is governed by a seven-member electedschool board, which meets on the fourth Monday of the month at 6 p.m. in the Grafton High School Library. The current district superintendent, Jeff Nelson, has held the position since 2016.[20]
Some residents in the southwestern part of the town attend theCedarburg School District, and residents in the northeastern part of the town attend thePort Washington-Saukville School District.[21]
Grafton also has threeparochial schools that serve students from kindergarten through eight grade: Our Savior Lutheran School,[22] St. Joseph Catholic Parish School,[23] and St. Paul Lutheran School.[24]
Interstate 43 passes through the town with access via Exit 92 and Exit 93, andWisconsin Highway 60 also passes throughUlao and the downtown Village of Grafton.
Grafton has limited public transit compared with larger cities. Ozaukee County and theMilwaukee County Transit System run the Route 143 commuter bus, also known as the "Ozaukee County Express," to Milwaukee via Interstate 43. The bus makes two stops at park-and-ride lots in the village off of Exit 92: one at the Grafton Commons shopping center and the other in theTarget parking lot. The bus operates Monday through Friday with limited hours corresponding to peak commute times.[25][26] Ozaukee County Transit Services' Shared Ride Taxi is the public transit option for traveling to sites not directly accessible from the interstate. The taxis operate seven days a week and make connections to Washington County Transit and Milwaukee County Routes 12, 49 and 42u.[25][27]
TheOzaukee Interurban Trail, which is for pedestrian and bicycle use, goes through both the town and the Village of Grafton, connecting residents to the neighboring communities ofCedarburg andPort Washington. The trail continues north toSheboygan County and south toMilwaukee County.
TheWisconsin Central Ltd. railroad operates a freight rail line which passes through the town and goes north toSaukville and south to Cedarburg. TheUnion Pacific Railroad runs parallel to Interstate 43.[28] The town currently does not have a train station.
TheOzaukee Interurban Trail runs through the town, following the former route of theMilwaukee Interurban Rail Line. The southern end of the trail is at Bradley Road inBrown Deer which connects to theOak Leaf Trail (43°09′48″N87°57′39″W / 43.16333°N 87.96083°W /43.16333; -87.96083), and its northern end is at DeMaster Road in the Village ofOostburgSheboygan County (43°36′57″N87°48′08″W / 43.61583°N 87.80222°W /43.61583; -87.80222). The trail connects the community to neighboringCedarburg andPort Washington.
There are also two private, commercial golf courses in the town and the privately owned 20-acre Grafton Dells River Park.[32]
Municipalities and communities ofOzaukee County, Wisconsin,United States | ||
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| Towns | ||
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| Unincorporated communities | ||
| Ghost towns | ||
| Footnotes | ‡This populated place also has portions in an adjacent county or counties | |
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