Jefferson County is a

county A county () is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesL. Brookes (ed.) '' Chambers Dictionary''. Edinburgh: Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, 2005. in some nations. The term is derived from the Old French denoti ...

in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

. As of the 2020 census, the population was 84,900. Its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

is Jefferson. Jefferson County comprises the Watertown- Fort Atkinson, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included in the

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

- Racine- Waukesha, WI Combined Statistical Area.

History

Jefferson County was created in 1836 as part of

Wisconsin Territory The Territory of Wisconsin was an organized and incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 3, 1836, until May 29, 1848, when an eastern portion of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Wisconsin. Belm ...

and was organized in 1839. Jefferson County was founded by "Yankee" settlers from

New England New England is a region consisting of six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the ...

. It was named after

Jefferson County, New York Jefferson County is a county on the northern border of the U.S. state of New York. As of the 2020 census, the population was 116,721. Its county seat is Watertown. The county is named after Thomas Jefferson, third President of the United S ...

, where some of the original settlers came from. The town of Watertown, Wisconsin, was named after

Watertown, New York Watertown is a city in and the county seat of Jefferson County, New York, United States. It is approximately south of the Thousand Islands, along the Black River, about east of where it flows into Lake Ontario. The city is bordered by the t ...

, in

Geography

According to the

U.S. Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The U.S. Census Bureau is part of the U ...

, the county has an area of , of which is land and (4.5%) is water.

Major highways

Railroads

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, Trade name, doing business as Amtrak (; ), is the national Passenger train, passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates intercity rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous United Stat ...

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and ...

Buses

Airports

* Watertown Municipal Airport (KRYV) provides services for the county and surrounding communities. * Fort Atkinson Municipal Airport (61C), enhances county service.

Adjacent counties

* Dodge County - north * Waukesha County - east * Walworth County - southeast * Rock County - southwest *

Dane County Dane County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 561,504, making it the second-most populous county in Wisconsin after Milwaukee County, Wiscon ...

- west

Demographics

As of the census of 2020, the population was 84,900. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Standing stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geog ...

was . There were 36,376 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the county was 88.5%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.0%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 0.8% Asian, 0.4% Native American, 3.4% from other races, and 5.8% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 8.3%

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race. As of the

census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...

of 2010, there were 83,686 people, 32,117 households, and 21,872 families residing in the county. The

was . There were 30,092 housing units at an average density of . The county's racial makeup was 96.34%

, 0.28%

, 0.34% Native American, 0.45% Asian, 0.02%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 1.65% from other races, and 0.93% from two or more races. 4.09% of the population were

or Latino of any race. 55.1% were of

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

, 6.1% Norwegian, 6.0% Irish and 5.1% American ancestry. There were 28,205 households, out of which 33.20% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 58.50% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognised union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children (if any), and b ...

living together, 8.20% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.50% were non-families. 23.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.55 and the average family size was 3.02. In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.20% under the age of 18, 8.50% from 18 to 24, 30.40% from 25 to 44, 23.20% from 45 to 64, and 12.60% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 98.40 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.80 males. In 2017, there were 861 births, giving a general fertility rate of 53.7 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the eleventh lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties. The Dwight Foster Public Library, which serves as the resource library for the county, had a total service population of 19,095 in 2010. It is a member of the Bridges Library System.

Government

The County Board of Supervisors, with 30 members, serves as the legislative body for the county. There are seven elected officials in addition to the County Board of Supervisors. County-wide partisan elections are held in November. The County Board's members are elected for two-year terms during a spring

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

election. The County Board is responsible for the county administrator. The County Board elects a chairman, vice-chairman, and second vice-chairman.

Politics

Jefferson County has been primarily Republican since 1940. Only three Democratic presidential candidates have won the county since then, in 1964, 1996, and 2008.

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), also known as LBJ, was the 36th president of the United States, serving from 1963 to 1969. He became president after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, under whom he had served a ...

in 1964 is the last Democratic Party candidate to win a majority of the county's votes.

Communities

Jefferson County Wisconsin Fairgrounds Grandstand

Jefferson County Wisconsin Fairgrounds sign

Cities

* Fort Atkinson * Jefferson (county seat) * Lake Mills * Waterloo * Watertown (partly in Dodge County) *

Whitewater Whitewater forms in the context of rapids, in particular, when a river's Stream gradient, gradient changes enough to generate so much turbulence that air is trapped within the water. This forms an unstable current that foam, froths, making t ...

(mostly in Walworth County)

Villages

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

(mostly in

) * Johnson Creek * Lac La Belle (mostly in Waukesha County) *

Palmyra Palmyra ( ; Palmyrene dialect, Palmyrene: (), romanized: ''Tadmor''; ) is an ancient city in central Syria. It is located in the eastern part of the Levant, and archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first menti ...

* Sullivan

Towns

* Aztalan * Cold Spring * Concord * Farmington *

Hebron Hebron (; , or ; , ) is a Palestinian city in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Hebron is capital of the Hebron Governorate, the largest Governorates of Palestine, governorate in the West Bank. With a population of 201,063 in ...

* Ixonia * Jefferson * Koshkonong * Lake Mills * Milford *

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

* Sullivan *

Sumner Sumner may refer to: Places Antarctica * Mount Sumner, a mountain in the Rare Range, Antarctica * Sumner Glacier, southern Graham Land, Antarctica Australia * Sumner, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane New Zealand * Sumner, New Zealand, a seasi ...

* Waterloo * Watertown

Census-designated places

* Helenville * Ixonia * Lake Koshkonong * Lake Ripley *

Rome Rome (Italian language, Italian and , ) is the capital city and most populated (municipality) of Italy. It is also the administrative centre of the Lazio Regions of Italy, region and of the Metropolitan City of Rome. A special named with 2, ...

Unincorporated communities

* Aztalan * Blackhawk Island * Busseyville * Carcajou * Cold Spring * Concord * Ebenezer * Farmington * Glenn Oaks Beach * Heath Mills * Hoopers Mill * Hubbleton * Jefferson Junction * Koshkonong (partial) * Koshkonong Manor * Koshkonong Mounds * Kroghville * Lake Lac La Belle *

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

(partial) *

Maranatha Baptist University Maranatha Baptist University is a private Baptist university in Watertown, Wisconsin. History The institution was founded in 1968 as Maranatha Baptist Bible College by B. Myron Cedarholm. The college was named for the Aramaic phrase '' Mara ...

(College Campus) * Milford * North Shore *

* Pipersville *

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

(partial) * Slabtown * Sylvan Mounds * Vinnie Ha Ha

Education

School districts (all K-12) include:
Text list
/ref> * Cambridge School District * Edgerton School District * Fort Atkinson School District * Jefferson School District * Johnson Creek School District * Kettle Moraine School District * Lake Mills Area School District * Oconomowoc Area School District * Palmyra-Eagle Area School District * Waterloo School District * Watertown School District * Whitewater School District

References

External links

Jefferson County

Jefferson County map
from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
''Daily Jefferson County Union''
newspaper {{coord, 43.02, -88.78, display=title, type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990 1839 establishments in Wisconsin Territory Populated places established in 1839