Seymour, Wisconsin

For other uses, see Seymour, Wisconsin (disambiguation).

Seymour, Wisconsin
—  City  —
Nickname(s): Home of the Hamburger
Location of Seymour, Wisconsin
Location of Seymour, Wisconsin in Outagamie County
Coordinates: 44°30′31″N 88°19′42″W
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Outagamie
Founded	1868
Incorporated	1879
Government
• Type	Mayor/City Council
• Mayor	Judy Schuette
Area
• Total	2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
• Land	2.5 sq mi (6.6 km2)
• Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km2)
Elevation	784 ft (239 m)
Population (2010)
• Total	3,451
• Density	1,318.7/sq mi (509.1/km2)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Area code(s)	920
FIPS code	55-72725
GNIS feature ID	1573932
Website	http://seymour.govoffice.com/

Looking east

Banner advertises 2006 Burgerfest

Seymour is a city in Outagamie County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,451 at the 2010 census. The city is located within the Town of Seymour and the Town of Osborn.

History

The City of Seymour was founded in 1868 and named after Governor Horatio Seymour of the state of New York. Seymour is said to have once been called Squeedunk, which means "little settlement" or "village". Seymour's centennial was in 1968.

William and John Ausbourne were the first settlers in Seymour. They had traveled from western Outagamie County on the Wolf River during the summer of 1857 and made their way to the mouth of the Shioc River. They then moved to a spot where the Black Creek flows into the Shioc. After finding that there were no longer any roads to follow, the Ausbournes finally settled in the present location of Seymour, which was occupied by Native Americans at the time. There they built a log house, the only residence in Seymour for two years. Their closest neighbors lived in Osborn.

Over the years more settlers came to Seymour. Willis and Dan Mungers arrived in Seymour in 1864. The Mungers built a house on what is now Main Street and their daughter Sally lived in a frame house on what is now South Main Street. Erastus C. Buttles came during the spring and established a farm in the western part of the county. Leaonard and Avery Carter arrived in Seymour in 1876, along with Charles Eichler, the first German settler in the area.

As the population of the area grew, more villages were established in the Seymour area. On March 1, 1877 Seymour became a recognized town, along with the towns of Osborn and Freedom.

During the early 1880s, construction of the Green Bay and Lake Pepin Railroad was completed. In 1883 a station was built in Seymour, and soon Seymour was recognized as the smallest incorporated city in the nation.

As soon as the settlers had built their houses, they turned to education, electing a school superintendent and an establishing a school tax. The schoolhouse was a simple one-room building with no floor and a shake roof. Sunday school soon began in the same building.

Between 1887 and 1889 George E. Mendell published the first newspaper, called The Aurora, which lasted only three years. On July 8, 1886 the Seymour Press made its first appearance, and was published by the Van Vuren family for over 80 years. It was then sold to the Shellman Publishing Company of Oconto Falls, and is still published today.

According to one claim, Charlie Nagreen served the world's first hamburger at the Seymour Fair of 1885. "Hamburger" Charlie decided to flatten a meatball and place it between slices of bread to increase portability.

Geography

Seymour is located at 44°30′30″N 88°19′42″W (44.508499, -88.3284).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.5 square miles (6.6 km²).None of the area is covered with water.

Demographics

As of the census of 2010, there were 3,451 people, 1,565 households, and 1,458 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,380.4 people per square mile (522.8/km²). There were 1,565 housing units at an average density of 626 per square mile (237.12/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 94.34% White, 0.29% African American, ???% Native American, 0.17% Asian, 3.36% from other races, and 1.82% from two or more races. 2.02% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,458 occupied households out of which 31.96% had children under the age of 18 living with them.

In the city the population was spread out with 26.5% under the age of 18, 73.48% were over the age of 18, 5.91% from 20 to 24, 13.27% from 25 to 34, 21.58% from 35 to 49, 15.56% from 50 to 64, and 14.69% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 92.8 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $44,135, and the median income for a family was $50,746. Males had a median income of $36,789 versus $24,375 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,073. About 4.2% of families and 3.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.4% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

Attractions

Hamburger Hall of Fame

Seymour's Hamburger Hall of Fame is an elaborate structure that celebrates hamburger history. There is also an annual one-day Burger Fest and plans to build a hamburger-shaped building. In 1989 the world's largest hamburger (5,520 pounds) was served at the festival. There have been no challenges to the record, so the annual big burger now is only around 1,000 pounds. The festival, which occurs annually during the first week of August, starts early with a 5K run known as the Bun Run, the world's longest hamburger parade down Main Street, the hamburger eating contest, and the ketchup slide. The festival has a different theme each year. In 2011, the theme is "Honor the Veterans," and in 2010 it was a Mexican fiesta.

• 

  Giant burger, 2008

• 

  Ketchup slide, 2008

Outagamie County Fairgrounds

Outagamie County Fairgrounds grandstands in Seymour

Seymour is home to the annual Outagamie County Fair. Some attractions are the 4-H crafts, livestock, carnival rides and games, and nightly concerts.

The Outagamie County Fair has been successful because of the "big name" singers who have performed on stage in Seymour, including Johnny Cash, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Def Leppard, Weird Al Yankovic, Jake Owen, REO Speedwagon, Foreigner, Chris Young, Martina McBride, Trace Adkins, Randy Travis, Project Pink, Lonestar, Ted Nugent, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Little Big Town, Meat Loaf, The BoDeans, The Beach Boys, and Sarah Evans.

Seymour Speedway

Seymour Speedway is another attraction in the city, located at the Outagamie County Fairgrounds. The facility is a ¹⁄₃ miles (540 m) clay racetrack, with modern grandstands and facilities, and hosts races in several divisions, including Fastrak Late Models, IMCA Modifieds, IMCA Stock Cars, IMCA Northern Sport Mods, N.E.W. Dirt Street Stocks, N.E.W. Dirt Compact Car, and 4 cylinders. Races are held every Sunday night during the summer months. At the end of the season each division crowns a champion based on a points system, much like NASCAR does.

Newton-Blackmour State Trail

The Newton Blackmour State Trail was completed from Oneida Nation of Wisconsin, through Seymour, to Black Creek in 2009. The trail runs from the Oneida Nation of Wisconsin through Seymour, Black Creek, and Shiocton all the way to New London. The name Newton-Blackmour is made up of the four incorporated communities on the trail. It is used for snowmobiles, snowshoing, and cross country sking in the winter and walking, biking and horse back riding in the summer.

Education

The City of Seymour has one middle school, one high school and one elementary school. The elementary school was renovated during 2007-2009. The middle school had a fire on the night of November 5, 2009, at about 10:30 p.m. The art room was destroyed.

The Seymour Community School District was established in 1963 as a result of the consolidation of numerous rural schools. The district encompasses 175 square miles (450 km²) of land adjacent to the Fox River Valley Cities of Green Bay and Appleton. The boundary of the school district covers all or part of twelve municipalities in Northern Outagamie and Southern Shawano counties. The total population of these twelve governmental units being served by the district is approximately 17,000. The district's kindergarten through twelfth grade student population is approximately 2,400.There are currently five schools that make up the Seymour School District; Rock Ledge Primary Center, Rock Ledge Intermediate Center, Seymour Middle School, Seymour High School and the Black Creek Elementary/Middle School. The school's facilities includes a 27,000-square-foot (2,500 m²) Athletic Center that seats over 1,800. The district has an Aquatic Center with an eight-lane competition pool, a zero depth activity pool and a diving well. Our 4,500-square-foot (420 m²) Fitness Center features free weights, selectorized machines and cardiovascular equipment.

High School Basketball

The Seymour High School boys' basketball team has qualified for every state tournament from 2000 until 2007, which is a state Division 2 record. Seymour has made an appearance at the State Tournament in 1935, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000 through 2007, and 2011. The team has won five Silver Ball trophies (runner-up) and three Gold Ball trophies, advancing to the championship game seven times. Seymour has garnered three state basketball championships in division 2 (1997, 2001, and 2006).

Media

Newspapers

The primary newspapers that serve Seymour include: the Advertiser Community News~Times Press, based in Seymour, the Green Bay Press-Gazette, based in Green Bay, and The Post~Crescent, based in Appleton.

Radio Stations

WCHK-FM (Chuck FM) is the only radio station located within the city limits.

Television appearances

On June 30, 2011, "Only in America" with Larry the Cable Guy, from the History Channel, came to the "Home of the Hamburger" to film a segment for an episode that will likely be aired early 2012. Jim Campbell woke up at 3:30am on June 30 to cook a 150 pound burger, on the Charlie Grill; for the segment which will likely be named "Larry Loves Burgers from Hoof to Plate." A crowd gathered on Depot Street surrounding Larry while he bit into the 150 pound burger; the Cable Guy then handed out the rest of the burger to fans while signing autograghs, and posing for pictures. Before the crew could leave though, Hamburger Charlie (Bill Collar) invited the "Get er Done" guy to the 23rd annual Burgerfest on August 6, 2011, to compete on the Ketchup Slide.

Infrastructure

Transportation

	WIS 55, also marked as Main Street Northbound, routes to Angelica. Southbound, WIS 55 routes to U.S. Highway 41.
	WIS 54 Westward routes to Black Creek and New London. Eastward WIS 54 routes to Green Bay.
	Going Northbound Hwy C, or Ivory Street, routes to WIS 54/WIS 55. Going Southbound Hwy C routes to Highway E.
	Hwy G's, or Pearl Street, Western Terminus is WIS 47 and its Eastern Terminus is Hwy Y.

Airports near Seymour

Major airports near Seymour include: Austin Straubel International Airport (public), located on WIS 172 in the village of Ashwaubenon; Outagamie County Regional Airport (public), located at the intersection of County Highways CA and CB in the town of Greenville.

Religion

The City of Seymour has seven churches; there are three Catholic churches which include St. John Baptist Catholic Church‎, St. Sebastian Catholic Church, and St Stanislaus Catholic Church‎. Seymour is also served by Emmanuel Lutheran Church, a member of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America; Seymour Assembly of God; First Baptist Church; Seymour Community Church; and the Seymour United Methodist Church.

Images

• 

  Northbound on Highway 55

• 

  City hall

• 

  Seymour Community Museum

• 

  Muehl Public Library

Further reading

• Seymour centennial, 1868-1968 : the centennial review, historical-photo album. 1968.
• The Commission. City of Seymour community development plan. 1995.
• Seymour (Wis.). Common Council. City of Seymour open space and recreation plan. 1995.
• Koenigs, Lynn E. My corner of the county. 2010.

External links

• City of Seymour
• Seymour Chamber of Commerce
• Muehl Public Library
• Seymour High School
• Seymour Hamburger Festival
• Seymour Middle School
• Seymour Historical Society and Museum