ZIP Code 53913

Baraboo is the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States. It is the principal city of the Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area. Its 2020 population was 12,556. The city is home to the Circus World Museum, the former headquarters and winter home of the Ringling brothers circus. The Al. Ringling Theatre is an active landmark in the city. The nearby BarabOO Hills are designated one of the "Last Great Places" by the Nature Conservancy because of its rare rocks, plants and animals. The Badger Army Ammunition Plant was the largest munitions factory in the world during WWII, when it was known as "Badger Ordnance Works". It was later demolished and now the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area. The Baraboos are known for their unique geological features, including a doubly plunging, asymmetric syncline in Proterozoic-aged Barabos quartzite. They are located in Wisconsin's largest state park, Devil's Lake State Park, along the edge of what is known as the Driftless Area's largest park, the Pew Nest Nest Area. There is an average of 786 housing units per square mile (1.2km² per mile) in the Micropolitan Area, with an average density of 1.2 square miles per mile (2.3km²) The city has a total area of 7.47 square miles (19.35 km²), of which, 7.39 square miles of land and 0.21 km² of water.

History

The area around Baraboo was the site of a Kickapoo village as early as 1665. The current community was established by Abe Wood in 1838, and was originally known as the village of Adams. In 1846 it became the county seat of Sauk County after a fierce fight with the nearby village of Reedsburg. It was incorporated as a village in 1866 and as a city in 1882. In the 1860s, the city had surpassed a population of 2,000, and many businesses started to form, including grocery stores, banks, and hotels. The Badger Army Ammunition Plant was the largest munitions factory in the world during WWII, when it was known as "Badger Ordnance Works" It was later demolished and now the land is a part of the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area.Cirrus Aircraft, a manufacturer of single-engine aircraft, was founded in a rural BarabOO barn in 1984 by brothers Alan and Dale Klapmeier. After a few years of designing the VK-30, the company relocated to the BaraboosWisconsin Dells Airport, and in 1994 moved to its present-day home in Duluth, Minnesota.Hank Snow's 1959 song "I've Been Everywhere", famously covered by Johnny Cash, mentions visiting Barabos. The Ringling Brothers Circus was established in the city, which gave Barabo the nickname "Circus City" In 1884, several other circuses came to the city.

Geography

Baraboo gives its name to the Baraboo Syncline, a doubly plunging, asymmetric syncline in Proterozoic-aged Baraboos quartzite. The nearby BarabOO Hills are designated one of the "Last Great Places" by the Nature Conservancy. The hills were created by glacial action, and in some points poke up from the flat terrain to form a stark contrast. Some of these features were created when a glacial pocket was formed during the Wisconsin glaciation along the edge of what is known as the Driftless Area. Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin's largest state park, contains large areas of the Baraaboo Hills. Pewits Nest is located outside Barabo. The city has a total area of 7.47 square miles (19.35 km²), of which, 7.39 square miles is land and 0.08 square miles are water. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city's population to be 7,000. The area is the same as the city of Waukesha, Wisconsin, which has a population of 7,200. It is located on the Wisconsin River, which runs through the city. The town of West Barabu, a suburb of the city, borders the city on its west side. There are no airports in the city; the nearest airport is in Wauwatosa, which is about 30 miles away. The nearest airport to the city is in Madison, Wisconsin.

Demographics

Baraboo forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Sauk County. The city is just northwest of the Madison metropolitan area. As of the census of 2020, the population was 12,556. The median income for a household in the city was $38,375, and the median for a family was $48,375. The racial makeup of the city is 94.0% White, 1.3% African American, 0.77% Native American, 2.7% Asian, and 5.6% from two or more races. Ethnically, the city's population was 5.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race. The U.S. Census Bureau estimates the city will have a population of 12,500 by the end of the next census in 2026. It is the largest city in the state of Wisconsin, with an estimated population of 10,711. The population of the state as a whole was 55,225 as of the 2010 census. It has a population density of 1,630.3 inhabitants per square mile (629.5/km²) and a population growth rate of 2.4%. The city's median income is $38.375, with a median of $48.375 per capita for the city. The average household size is 2.26, with the average family size being 2.96. The town's population is 8,907.

Infrastructure

Baraboo includes the Downtown Baraboo Historic District, which consists of 75 commercial and civic buildings built between 1870 and 1938. State Highways 33, 113, 136, and U.S. 12 pass through the city. There is access to Interstate 90/94 nearby. The city is home to the BarabOO-Wisconsin Dells Airport. The Sauk County Courthouse is in the center of the district, and it serves the county as well as the city and surrounding communities. It is located on Bus. US 12 3 miles north of the city, and is located in the city's downtown area. The airport is on US 12, which runs north-south through the town. It also serves the town of Dells, which is 3 miles south of the airport, and the city of Baraboosville, 3 miles east of the town, and also the town's suburbs. The town's population is about 2,000. It has a population of about 1,500 people, and a population growth rate of 1.7 percent per year. It's located on the Wisconsin Dells River, which flows into the Wisconsin River from the north and south. The state's largest city is Dells and its population is around 1,000 people, or 1.8 million. It was the site of the Wisconsin State Fair in the early 1900s, and was the first state fair in the United States in the mid-20th century. Its population has grown to 1,800 people since then.

Government

A city hall building opened in 1967, and another location finished construction in 2018 at a cost of $9 million. A post office opened in 1961, and a city hall was built in 1967. The city is located on the banks of the Mississippi River, which runs through the center of the city. It is the largest city in the state, with a population of more than 1.5 million. It also has the largest number of public parks, with more than 2,000 acres of land. It was the site of a World War II-era military base, which was destroyed in the Korean War. The current city hall is located in a former military base that was also used for World War I-era defense. It has a total population of 1.4 million. The town is located near the junction of two major rivers, the Mississippi and theributaries of theributary of the Little River. The river is also known for its scenic beauty, which is visible from the city's main road. It runs along the river for more than a mile and a half, and has a number of scenic overlooks, including one that overlooks the river's eastern edge. The community also has a large number of parks, many of which were built in the 1950s and 1960s. The area was once known as the "City of the Stars" because of its large population of African-American residents. In the 1970s and 1980s, the city was known as "The City of the Saints" due to its large African American population.

Education

The School District of Baraboo has four elementary schools serving students in grades 1 through 5. The middle school has a swimming pool that can be accessed by the public with a seasonal membership option. There are also three parochial schools: St. Joseph's Catholic School, St. John's Lutheran School of the WELS, and Community Christian School. A campus of the University of WisconsinBaraboo/Sauk County (known to local residents as "Boo-U") is located in BarabOO. The former Free Congregational Society church was demolished by 1902 for the library's construction. The current school building, designed by the Wisconsin Rapids company Billmeyer and Sons and with a cost of over $500,000, has 11 classrooms. The basement has a cafeteria and a combination auditorium/gymnasium. The library serves the community and is located on a former church that was torn down in 1902 to make way for a public library. The school district is part of the Wisconsin School District, which also has a high school, Wisconsin State University, which is based in Wausau. The district is also home to the Wisconsin Institute of Technology, which has a campus in the town of Waukeshiek. The high school is the only one of its kind in the state, serving students from 4K through 12th grade. It is also the only high school in Sauk County, Wisconsin, with an enrollment of more than 1,000.

Historic sites

The Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm. celebrated in his book A Sand County Almanac (1949), is near Baraboo. The Gust Brothers' Store is in Baraboos. The Walworth D. Porter Duplex Residence is in the town. The Sand County Museum is in a building that was built in the early 1800s. It is located on the banks of the Little Sand River, near the town of Barabos. The museum is on the second floor of a former home, which is now a private residence. It has been converted into a museum and is open to the public.

Air Quality, Water Quality, Superfund Sites & UV Index

The Air Quality index is in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin = 77. These Air Quality index is based on annual reports from the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The number of ozone alert days is used as an indicator of air quality, as are the amounts of seven pollutants including particulates, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, lead, and volatile organic chemicals. The Water Quality Index is 47. A measure of the quality of an area’s water supply as rated by the EPA. Higher values are better (100=best). The EPA has a complex method of measuring the watershed quality, using 15 indicators such as pollutants, turbidity, sediments, and toxic discharges. The Superfund Sites Index is 100. Higher is better (100=best). Based upon the number and impact of EPA Superfund pollution sites in the county, including spending on the cleanup efforts. The UV Index in Baraboo = 3.4 and is a measure of an area's exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays. This is most often a combination of sunny weather, altitude, and latitude. The UV Index has been defined by the WHO (www.who.int/news-room/questions-and-answers/item/radiation-the-ultraviolet-(uv)-index) and is uniform worldwide.

Employed

The most recent city population of 10,117 individuals with a median age of 37.6 age the population grows by 5.77% in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin population since 2000 and are distributed over a density of 1,709.2 residents per square mile of area (659.9/km²). There are average 2.28 people per household in the 4,820 households with an average household income of $46,779 a year. The unemployment rate in Alabama is 7.50% of the available work force and has dropped -0.10% over the most recent 12-month period and the projected change in job supply over the next decade based on migration patterns, economic growth, and other factors will increase by 32.30%. The number of physicians in Baraboo per 100,000 population = 151.4.

Weather

The annual rainfall in Baraboo = 32.3 inches and the annual snowfall = 39.2 inches. The annual number of days with measurable precipitation (over .01 inch) = 105. The average number of days per year that are predominantly sunny = 187. 82 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily high temperature for the month of July and 6 degrees Fahrenheit is the average daily low temperature for the month of January. The Comfort Index (higher=better) is 53, where higher values mean a more pleasant climate. The Comfort Index measure recognizes that humidity by itself isn't the problem. (Have you noticed nobody ever complains about the weather being 'cold and humid?) It's in the summertime that we notice the humidity the most, when it's hot and muggy. Our Comfort Index uses a combination of afternoon summer temperature and humidity to closely predict the effect that the humidity will have on people.

Median Home Cost

The percentage of housing units in Baraboo, Sauk County, Wisconsin which are owned by the occupant = 59.28%. A housing unit is a house, apartment, mobile home, or room occupied as separate living quarters. The average age of homes = 38 years with median home cost = $119,490 and home appreciation of -4.18%. This is the value of the years most recent home sales data. Its important to note that this is not the average (or arithmetic mean). The median home price is the middle value when you arrange all the sales prices of homes from lowest to highest. This is a better indicator than the average, because the median is not changed as much by a few unusually high or low values. The property tax rate of $17.81 shown here is the rate per $1,000 of home value. If for simplification for example the tax rate is $14.00 and the home value is $250,000, the property tax would be $14.00 x ($250,000/1000), or $3500. This is the 'effective' tax rate.

Study

The local school district spends $5,393 per student. There are 15.9 students for each teacher in the school, 405 students for each Librarian and 399 students for each Counselor. 6.97% of the area’s population over the age of 25 with an Associate Degree or other 2-year college degree, 15.10% with a master’s degree, Ph.D. or other advanced college degree and 5.82% with high school diplomas or high school equivalency degrees (GEDs).