Sheboygan, Wisconsin

For the town, see Sheboygan (town), Wisconsin.

See also: Cheboygan (disambiguation)

Sheboygan
—  City  —
Sheboygan's downtown looking southeast along N. 8th St., from Mead Public Library's top floor. The city's tallest building, the U.S. Bank Building, is in the background.
City Logo
Nickname(s): Bratwurst Capital of the World, The City of Cheese, Chairs & Children
Motto: Spirit on the Lake
Sheboygan Location within the state of Wisconsin
Coordinates: 43°45′0″N 87°43′30″W
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Sheboygan
Founded	1846
Government
• Mayor	Mike Vandersteen (NP)
Area
• Total	14.11 sq mi (36.54 km2)
• Land	13.97 sq mi (36.18 km2)
• Water	0.14 sq mi (0.36 km2)
Population (2010)
• Total	49,288
• Estimate (2011)	49,135
• Density	3,528.1/sq mi (1,362.2/km2)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
• Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
ZIP codes	53081 & 53083
Area code(s)	920
Website	www.ci.sheboygan.wi.us

Sheboygan is a city in and the county seat of Sheboygan County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 49,288 at the 2010 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area. The city is located on Lake Michigan at the mouth of the Sheboygan River, about 50 mi (81 km) north of Milwaukee and 64 mi (103 km) south of Green Bay.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 14.11 square miles (36.54 km²), of which, 13.97 square miles (36.18 km²) is land and 0.14 square miles (0.36 km²) is water. It is located at latitude 43°45' north, longitude 87°44' west.

History

Sheboygan was founded in 1846. By 1849 it was known for its German population. On June 25, 1849 William Williams wrote, "Arrived at Sheboigin [sic] on the Wisconsin side, a small town population perhaps from 700 to 1000. This is a promising place. There are a great many best class of Germans settling around it. Tis all along the lake so far quite an interesting country."

Demographics

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 49,288 people, 20,308 households, and 12,219 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,528.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,362.2 /km²). There were 22,339 housing units at an average density of 1,599.1 per square mile (617.4 /km²). The racial makeup of the city was 82.5% White, 1.8% African American, 0.5% Native American, 9.0% Asian, 3.6% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 9.9% of the population.

There were 20,308 households out of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.8% were non-families. 33.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.06.

The median age in the city was 36.2 years. 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 24.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, there were 50,792 people, 20,779 households, and 12,799 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,652.4 people per square mile (1,409.8/km²). There were 21,762 housing units at an average density of 1,564.9 per square mile (604.1/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 87.63% White, 0.86% Black or African American, 0.48% Native American, 6.48% Asian (with many being of Hmong descent), 0.04% Pacific Islander, 2.85% from other races, and 1.68% from two or more races. 5.97% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Many of the residents have German ancestry.

There were 20,779 households out of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.2% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.4% were non-families. 32.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the city the population was spread out with 25.6% under the age of 18, 9.2% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 19.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 96.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $40,066, and the median income for a family was $47,718. Males had a median income of $35,242 versus $24,690 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,270. About 6.2% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.8% of those under age 18 and 7.0% of those age 65 or over.

Hmong people

As of December 1999, there were around 5,000 Hmong and Hmong American residents. Of them, 65% were under the age of 18. In 1976 the first three Hmong families settled in Sheboygan. By 1990 Sheboygan had 2,000 Hmong. By 1997 Hmong gang crime began to increase.

As of December 1999, according to Robert L. Kaiser of the Chicago Tribune, "Sheboygan, like many heavily Hmong small towns in Wisconsin, has few readily apparent signs that such a large Hmong population is indeed there." Kaiser explained that there were very few Hmong-owned businesses, and that "[m]any Hmong residents tend to keep to themselves." As of that year many Hmong work in jobs do not require significant English fluency, such as automotive parts plants and other factories.

Government and politics

Sheboygan has a council-manager form of government. The Common Council consists of 16 alderpersons.

Infrastructure

Sheboygan Police Department

The Sheboygan Police Department was established in 1855. Its divisions include the administrative services division, the honor guard, the patrol division, the street crimes unit, the criminal investigative division, the emergency response team, and the K-9 unit. It collaborates with the Sheboygan County Sheriff’s Department in the Sheboygan County Dive Team and the Sheboygan County MEG Unit. The department has 78 sworn officers, and 5 unsworn.

Ranks

• Chief
• Captain of Patrol
• Captain of Criminal Investigation
• Captain of Administration
• Lieutenant
• Sergeant
• Detective
• Officer

Sheboygan Fire Department

The Sheboygan Fire Department (SFD) provides fire suppression, emergency medical services, technical rescue, code enforcement, fire investigations, and public education for the city. The department has about 72 firefighters, many of whom also serve as paramedics providing basic and advanced life support services.

The SFD currently operates out of five fire stations under the command of three shift commanders. The department's consists of two engine companies, two ladder companies, one rescue, four paramedic ambulances, one fireboat, and other special, support, and reserve units. Staffing levels are between 16 and 22 personnel for fire/rescue emergency operations 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Firefighters work an average of 56 hours a week.

Ranks

Fire Station 1

• Chief
• Assistant Chief
• Deputy Chief of Operations
• Shift Commander
• Captain
• Lieutenant
• Firefighter/Paramedic

Stations

Station	Apparatus	Medic Unit	Address
Station 1	Engine 1, Fire Boat		833 New York Avenue
Station 2	Engine 2, Command Post	Med 2	2413 S 18th Street
Station 3	Rescue 3, Engine 7 (reserve), Incident Command	Med 3, Med 6 (reserve)	1326 N 25th Street
Station 4	Ladder 4	Med 4	2622 N 15th Street
Station 5	Ladder 5, Engine 8 (reserve)		4504 S 18th Street

Police and Fire Commission

The Police and Fire Commission oversees all aspects of the Sheboygan Police Department and Sheboygan Fire Department operations. The Commission’s functions also include establishing recruitment and testing standards for positions in the Police and Fire Departments, hearing appeals by members of either department who have been disciplined by their Chief, independently investigating and monitoring citizen complaints, and disciplining employees for misconduct. The members are appointed by the Mayor and approved by the Common Council.

Education

Colleges

• University of Wisconsin–Sheboygan
• Lakeland College
• Lakeshore Technical College (Satellite Campus)

High schools

• Sheboygan Area Lutheran High School
• Sheboygan County Christian High School
• Sheboygan North High School
• Sheboygan South High School
• I.D.E.A.S Academy
• George D. Warriner High School for Personalized Learning

School district

• Sheboygan Area School District

Transportation

Downtown 8th Street. Downtown 8th Street. Historic Downtown Sheboygan. Alliant Energy's Edgewater Generation Station, a prominent coal-fired power plant on the city's south side. In the foreground is a portion of the city's wastewater treatment plant.

Airport

Sheboygan is served by the Sheboygan County Memorial Airport, which is located several miles from the city.

Roads

Interstate 43 is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S. Route 141 was the primary north-south route into Sheboygan before Interstate 43 was built, and its former route is a major north-south route through the center of the city that is referred to as Calumet Drive coming into the city from the north, and South Business Drive from the south; between Superior and Georgia Avenues, the highway is known as 14th Street. Four-lane Highway 23 is the primary west route into the city, and leads into the city up to North 25th Street as a freeway. Other state highways in the city include Highway 42, Highway 28, which both run mostly along the former inner-city routing of U.S. 141. Secondary county highways include County LS to the north; Counties J, O, PP, and EE to the west; and County KK to the south.

Commuter transit

Shoreline Metro provides public transit throughout the city as well as Kohler and Sheboygan Falls. All routes depart from the Metro Center, more known as the "Transfer Point" located in the downtown.

Jefferson Lines and Indian Trails serve Sheboygan at the Metro Center providing transportation to Milwaukee and Green Bay.

Space

Main article: Spaceport Sheboygan

Since 1995 Sheboygan has been the site of 8-and-20-foot-tall (2.4 and 6.1 m) rocket launches for a local high school program called Rockets for Schools. Sheboygan is also the site of a proposed new spaceport called Spaceport Sheboygan.

Water

Sheboygan is bounded on the east by Lake Michigan. There are no active ports in the city. The current site of Blue Harbor Resort sits on a peninsula between the lake and the Sheboygan River's last bend that was formerly used by the C. Reiss Coal Company (now a Koch Industries division) as their headquarters and base of operations, where ships would load and unload coal along the peninsula.

The Sheboygan River also passes through the city, but waterfalls upstream in Sheboygan Falls prevent navigation, while tall-masted boats are confined to the river downstream of the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge. Commercial charter fishing boats dock near the mouth of the river.

Media

The city's only daily newspaper is The Sheboygan Press, which has been published since 1907. The free papers The Sheboygan Sun and The Beacon are each mailed weekly to area residents and feature classified ads and other local content.

As Sheboygan is located mid-way between Green Bay and Milwaukee, residents of the city can choose from television and radio stations originating within each of those areas. A. C. Nielsen places Sheboygan within the Milwaukee market, although Green Bay stations also report news, events, and weather warnings pertaining to Sheboygan and target the city with advertising.

Arbitron places Sheboygan and Sheboygan County within one radio market, and several stations serve the area. Midwest Communications owns four stations within the county, including talk station WHBL (1330); country station WBFM (93.7); CHR/Top 40 WXER (104.5 from Plymouth, with a translator station on 96.1 in Sheboygan); and active rock WHBZ (106.5), all of which transmit from a three-tower site on Sheboygan's south side. Fox Sports Radio affiliate WCLB (950) also serves the city, along with the Sheboygan Area School District's WSHS (91.7), a member of the Wisconsin Public Radio Ideas Network, and Plymouth's WJUB (1420), a standards station. WYVM signed on in December 2012 licensed to Sheboygan from a temporary tower in Howards Grove on 90.9, acting as a full-power relay of Suring's WRVN (102.7), which has a religious teaching format.

Various religious stations originating from north of Green Bay and Milwaukee via low-power translator stations, including a translator for Kiel's WSTM (91.3), and NOAA Weather Radio station WWG91, all broadcast from a tower north of Superior Avenue along the west side of Interstate 43.

The city is served by Charter Communications and AT&T U-verse with public-access television cable TV programming provided to both systems from "WSCS" (Channels 95/990 on Charter, 99 on U-verse). The city formerly had one licensed television station, WPVS-LP, which is currently off the air due to the digital switchover. In 2011, the station was re-licensed to Milwaukee as a future ethnic broadcaster, and the station's new transmitter in Milwaukee will not reach Sheboygan with service. Channel 28 was reserved for the city in the analog age, but was never utilized by any broadcaster outside of an abandoned construction permit for a television sister to WHBL in the past.

Hospitals

Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center

• Aurora Sheboygan Medical Center
• St. Nicholas Hospital

Points of interest

• Above & Beyond Children's Museum
• Blue Harbor Resort
• Bookworm Gardens
• Blackwolf Run (located in nearby Kohler, Wisconsin)
• Ellwood H. May Environmental Park
• John Michael Kohler Arts Center
• Sheboygan County Historical Museum
• Sheboygan Hmong Memorial
• Sheboygan Municipal Auditorium and Armory
• Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts
• Whistling Straits

• In April 1896, the schooner Lottie Cooper was wrecked just off Sheboygan in a gale. The wreckage was found buried in the harbor during the construction of the Harbor Centre Marina and is now on display in DeLand Park, on Sheboygan's lakefront. The free display is the only one of its kind on the Great Lakes.

Bratwurst

Sheboygan County is well-known for its bratwurst. The Sheboygan Jaycees have an annual fund-raising festival called Bratwurst Days, which includes the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship.

Dairyland Surf Classic

Sheboygan hosts the annual Dairyland Surf Classic, the largest lake surfing competition in the world.

Sister cities

Sheboygan's sister cities are:

• Esslingen am Neckar, Germany
• Tsubame, Niigata, Japan

Sheboygan has student exchanges with both cities.

Awards and rankings

• Sheboygan was recognized by Reader's Digest as "The Best Place to Raise a Family" in the United States in 1995.

Notable natives and residents

• James Baumgart, Wisconsin State Senator
• Thomas M. Blackstock, politician and businessman
• Helen Boatwright, opera singer and educator
• Ray Buivid, American football player
• Charles Burhop, politician
• The Chordettes, singing quartet
• John Dittrich, NFL player
• Jerry Donohue, major contributor toward DNA identification
• Bernard O. Gruenke, artist
• Lorenzo D. Harvey, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin
• Timothy Hasenstein, painter
• Joe Hauser, Major League Baseball player
• Harrison Carroll Hobart, Union Army general
• Marvin John Jensen, U.S. Navy admiral
• Ernest Keppler, politician and jurist
• John Michael Kohler, industrialist, founder of Kohler Company and mayor of Sheboygan
• Terry Jodok Kohler, industrialist
• Walter J. Kohler, Jr., Governor of Wisconsin
• Walter J. Kohler, Sr., Governor of Wisconsin
• Conrad Krez, Union Army general, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
• Wesley Lau, actor
• Rick Majerus, basketball coach
• Anthony Martin, Escape Artist
• Jackie Mason, comedian
• Pat Matzdorf, high jump world record holder
• Don McNeill, early radio host of "The Breakfast Club"
• Doxie Moore, former NBA head coach for the Sheboygan Red Skins
• Martha Nause, golfer
• Carl Otte, Wisconsin legislator
• Juan Perez, former mayor of Sheboygan
• Calvin Potter, Wisconsin State Senator
• George Sauer, Jr., NFL player
• John Schneider, Jr., Wisconsin State Assemblyman
• Bill Schroeder, American football player (wide receiver)
• Bill Schroeder, professional football player (halfback)
• Carl Schuette, NFL player
• David N. Senty, U.S. Air Force Major General
• James McMillan Shafter, jurist and legislator
• E. E. Smith, science fiction author
• Adolphus Frederic St. Sure, judge
• David Taylor, judge
• William Te Winkle, Wisconsin State Senator
• Edward Voigt, U.S. Representative
• Jacob Vollrath, industrialist

Music

• Morbid Saint, thrash metal band

Images

• 

  Wreck of the Lottie Cooper

• 

  8th Street Sheboygan in the 1890s, featuring a man on a dead horse

• 

  Sheboygan Post Office, a registered historic place (RHP)

• 

  Garton Toy Factory, a RHP

• 

  Jung Carriage Building, a RHP

• 

  Sheboygan Theater, a RHP

See also

• Sheboygan County
• Sheboygan Area School District
• The Creature That Ate Sheboygan

External links

• City of Sheboygan
• Visit Sheboygan
• Sheboygan County Chamber