The Town of Port Washington is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

Ozaukee County Ozaukee County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 91,503. Its county seat is Port Washington, making it one of three Wisconsin counties on Lake Michigan not to have a county seat with the same ...

located 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 sover ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

. It surrounds the northern and western side of the city of Port Washington. As of the 2000 census, the town population was 1,631. The unincorporated communities of Druecker and Knellsville are also located in the town.

History

The area that became Port Washington was originally inhabited by the

Menominee The Menominee (; mez, omǣqnomenēwak meaning ''"Menominee People"'', also spelled Menomini, derived from the Ojibwe language word for "Wild Rice People"; known as ''Mamaceqtaw'', "the people", in the Menominee language) are a federally recog ...

Potawatomi The Potawatomi , also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American people of the western Great Lakes region, upper Mississippi River and Great Plains. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, a m ...

, and Sauk Native Americans. The 1830s saw the forced removal of Wisconsin's Native American population, followed by land speculation by merchants and investors. One of these land speculators was General Wooster Harrison, who purchased the land that would become the Town of Port Washington in 1835. Harrison's wife, Rhoda, died in 1837 and was the first white settler to be buried in the town. The settlement was abandoned that same year. In 1843, Harrison returned with a party of settlers. The Town of Port Washington was formed in January 1846 and until 1847 included the surrounding areas of what is currently Fredonia,

Saukville Saukville is a village in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. Located on the Milwaukee River with a district along Interstate 43, the community is a suburb in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The population was 4, ...

, and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. At the time, the land was part of Washington County, and in the late 1840s, Port Washington was a candidate for the county seat. However, the community was far from the county's other early settlements, including

Mequon Mequon () is the largest city in Ozaukee County, in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, and the third-largest city in Wisconsin by land area. Located on Lake Michigan's western shore with significant commercial developments along Interstate 43, the com ...

, Grafton and

Germantown Germantown or German Town may refer to: Places Australia * Germantown, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region United States * Germantown, California, the former name of Artois, a census-designated place in Glenn County * Ge ...

. In 1850, the Wisconsin legislature voted to bisected Washington County into northern and southern counties, with Port Washington and Cedarburg as the county seats, respectively. County residents failed to ratify the bill, and in 1853 the legislature instead bisected the county into eastern and western sections, creating Ozaukee County. Port Washington became the seat of the new county, and the Washington County seat moved to West Bend. The bisection was controversial. When Washington County officials from West Bend arrived in Port Washington to correct relevant county records, they were run out of town, and Ozaukee County officials refused to hand over the records for several months. The town population reached 2,500 in 1853 and continued to increase, with an influx of

immigrants Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

from

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

between 1853 and 1865. In the 1860s, William Knell developed the Knellsville community in the northern part of the town as a stagecoach stop on the Green Bay Road. In the 1870s,

dairy farming Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or ...

became increasingly popular among Port Washington's farmers, and the Pauly Cheese Factory opened in Knellsville in 1878. In the 20th century, Pauly's Cheese became a nationally distributed brand. Knellsville grew to serve the town's farmers with a feed mill, a cannery, and a foundry. The City of Port Washington incorporated out of some of the town's land in 1882. While dairy farming dominated the local economy in the 20th century, accounting for 80% percent of agriculture in the early 1940s, the Town of Port Washington was also one of several Ozaukee County communities to have prosperous fur farms in the 20th century. The 10-acre Johannes

Mink Mink are dark-colored, semiaquatic, carnivorous mammals of the genera ''Neogale'' and '' Mustela'' and part of the family Mustelidae, which also includes weasels, otters, and ferrets. There are two extant species referred to as "mink": the A ...

Ranch north of Knellsville opened in 1926, and annually produced 6,000 mink pelts at its height. Knellsville declined in the mid-20th century for several reasons. The Knellsville Canning Co. closed in 1955, and the Johannes Mink Ranch sold its last pelts in 1969. Additionally, as the City of Port Washington grew and suburbanized, annexing more land from the town, demand for access to the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Highway System in the United States. Th ...

grew. Knellsville was close to the city outskirts, and in the mid-1960s, the southern part of Knellsville was demolished to construct

Interstate 43 Interstate 43 (I-43) is a Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/ I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highway ...

's Exit 100.

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), 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 Census Bureau is part of the ...

, the town has a total area of , of which, is land and (11.63%) is water. The City of Port Washington is located in what was formerly the southeastern part of the town. The Town of Port Washington is bordered by the Town of Belgium to the north,

Lake Michigan Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is the second-largest of the Great Lakes by volume () and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the east, its basin is conjoined with that o ...

to the east, the Town of Grafton to the south, and the Town of Saukville and Village of Saukville to the west. The unincorporated communities of Druecker and Knellsville are located in the town. The town is located on the western shore of

. The coastline is characterized by clay bluffs ranging from in height with deep

ravine A ravine is a landform that is narrower than a canyon and is often the product of streambank erosion.historic downtown where Sauk Creek flows into the lake and in the Town of Port Washington where Sucker Creek flows into the lake. The town is located in the Southeastern Wisconsin glacial till plains that were created by the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin Glacial Episode, also called the Wisconsin glaciation, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated in the northern North American Cor ...

during the most recent ice age. The soil is clayey glacial

till image:Geschiebemergel.JPG, Closeup of glacial till. Note that the larger grains (pebbles and gravel) in the till are completely surrounded by the matrix of finer material (silt and sand), and this characteristic, known as ''matrix support'', is d ...

with a thin layer of

loess Loess (, ; from german: Löss ) is a clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loess or similar deposits. Loess is a periglacial or aeolian ...

on the surface. The

Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) is a government agency of the U.S. state of Wisconsin charged with conserving and managing Wisconsin's natural resources. The Wisconsin Natural Resources Board has the authority to set policy ...

considers the town to be in the Central Lake Michigan Coastal ecological landscape. Before white settlers arrived in the area, the Port Washington area was an upland forest dominated by American beech and

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the prima ...

trees. There were also white cedars growing in the lowlands along the streams. Early surveyors also noted swamps in the area containing birch, ash, elm, oak, and sugar bush. Much of the original forest was cleared to prepare the land for agriculture. As land development continues to reduce wild areas, wildlife is forced into closer proximity with human communities like Port Washington. Large mammals, including

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known as the whitetail or Virginia deer, is a medium-sized deer native to North America, Central America, and South America as far south as Peru and Bolivia. It has also been introduced t ...

coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans'') is a species of canis, canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely related eastern wolf and red wolf. It fills much of the same ecologica ...

, and

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the Order (biology), order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe ...

es can be seen in the town. There have been infrequent sightings of black bears in Ozaukee County communities, including a 2010 sighting of a bear in a City of Port Washington residential neighborhood. The region struggles with many invasive species, including the

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the acronym EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash species. Females lay eggs in bark crevices on ash trees, and larvae feed undern ...

, common carp,

reed canary grass ''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern ...

, the

common reed ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of plant. It is a broadly distributed wetland grass that can grow up to tall. Description ''Phragmites australis'' commonly forms extensive stands (known as reed beds), which may ...

purple loosestrife ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family P ...

garlic mustard ''Alliaria petiolata'', or garlic mustard, is a Biennial plant, biennial flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, north-western Africa, Morocco, Iberian Peninsula, Iberia and the ...

, Eurasian buckthorns, and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae, native to northern latitudes in North America and Eurasia. Approximately 180 species of honeysuckle have been identified in both conti ...

Demographics

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses incl ...

of 2000, there were 1,631 people, 636 households, and 447 families residing in the town. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical term.Matt RosenberPopul ...

was 87.7 people per square mile (33.9/km²). There were 678 housing units at an average density of 36.4 per square mile (14.1/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 97.30%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White on ...

, 1.10%

Black Black is a color which results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without hue, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness. Black and white have o ...

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 0.43%

Asian Asian may refer to: * Items from or related to the continent of Asia: ** Asian people, people in or descending from Asia ** Asian culture, the culture of the people from Asia ** Asian cuisine, food based on the style of food of the people from Asi ...

, 0.25% Native American, 0.06%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, 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 the original p ...

, 0.31% from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 0.55% from two or more races. 0.61% of the population were

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to Vic ...

Latino Latino or Latinos most often refers to: * Latino (demonym), a term used in the United States for people with cultural ties to Latin America * Hispanic and Latino Americans in the United States * The people or cultures of Latin America; ** Latin A ...

of any race. There were 636 households, out of which 32.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.6% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between t ...

living together, 4.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 26.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 16.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.3% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 23.7% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.9 males. The median income for a household in the town was $56,875, and the median income for a family was $62,765. Males had a median income of $41,742 versus $25,645 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the town was $22,781. About 2.3% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 2.6% of those under age 18 and none of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

Port Washington is organized as a

governed by an elected board, comprising a chairman and two supervisors. The current chairman is Mike Didier. The board meets on the first Monday of each month at 7:30 p.m. in the town hall which is located at 3715 Highland Drive in the unincorporated Knellsville community. As part of

Wisconsin's 6th congressional district Wisconsin's 6th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in eastern Wisconsin. It is based in the rural, suburban and exurban communities between Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. It also ...

, Port Washington is represented by

Glenn Grothman Glenn S. Grothman (; born July 3, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to his seat in 2014. Grothman r ...

(R) in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

, and by

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American accountant, businessman, and politician serving as the senior United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Republican, Johnson was first elected to the U.S. S ...

(R) and

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American lawyer and politician who has served as the junior United States senator from Wisconsin since 2013. A member of the Democratic Party, she served three terms in the Wisconsin Stat ...

(D) in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

Duey Stroebel Sherburn Duane "Duey" Stroebel Jr. (born September 1, 1959) is an American politician and businessman. He is a Republican member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing the 20th district since 2015. He previously served in the Wisconsin Assembly, ...

(R) represents Port Washington in the

Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the larger Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after t ...

, and

Robert Brooks Robert Darren Brooks (born June 23, 1970) is a former American football wide receiver who attended University of South Carolina and played for the Green Bay Packers (1992–1998) and the Denver Broncos. Biography Early life Brooks sta ...

(R) represents Port Washington in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Representatives are elected for two-year terms, ...

Education

Port Washington is served by the joint

Port Washington-Saukville School District Port Washington-Saukville School District (PWSSD) is a school district headquartered in Port Washington, Wisconsin. It serves that community and Saukville. Prior to 2013 the school building served as polling sites. This was scrapped for security r ...

. The district has three elementary schools for kindergarten through fourth grade. Students in the northern and eastern parts of the town attend Lincoln Elementary. Saukville Elementary serves students in the western parts of the Town of Port Washington and the Town and Village of Saukville. Students in the far southern parts of the town attend Dunwiddie Elementary. All students in the district attend Thomas Jefferson Middle School for fifth through eighth grades, and

Port Washington High School Port Washington High School is a public secondary high school in the city of Port Washington, Wisconsin and a part of the Port Washington-Saukville School District. The enrollment during the 2022–2023 school year was 825. Eric Burke served as th ...

for ninth through twelfth grades. The district is governed by a nine-member elected

school board A board of education, school committee or school board is the board of directors or board of trustees of a school, local school district or an equivalent institution. The elected council determines the educational policy in a small regional are ...

, which meets on Mondays at 6 p.m. in the District Office Board Room, 100 W. Monroe Street, Port Washington. The district also has a full-time superintendent: Michael R. Weber.

Transportation

passes through the town with access to Knellsville and the City of Port Washington via Exit 100. A small stretch of

Wisconsin Highway 33 State Trunk Highway 33 (often called Highway 33, STH-33 or WIS 33) is a Wisconsin state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is in length. Route description La Crosse to Baraboo WIS 33 begins east of the Mississip ...

passes through the southwestern part of the town between the City of Port Washington and the Village of Saukville. Port Washington has limited public transit compared with larger cities. Ozaukee County and the

Milwaukee County Transit System The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is the largest transit agency in Wisconsin, and is the primary transit provider for Milwaukee County. It ranks among the top 50 transit agencies in the United States for total passenger trips. Milwaukee ...

run the Route 143 commuter bus, also known as the "Ozaukee County Express," to Milwaukee via Interstate 43. The closest stop is the route's northern terminus at the Saukville

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

parking lot, near Interstate 43 Exit 96. The bus operates Monday through Friday with limited hours corresponding to peak commute times. 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. Unlike a typical taxi, however, the rider must contact the service ahead of time to schedule their pick-up date and time. The taxi service plans their routes based on the number of riders, pick-up/drop-off time and destination then plans the routes accordingly. The town does not have sidewalks in many areas, but the

Ozaukee Interurban Trail The Ozaukee - Sheboygan Interurban Trail is a roughly long rail trail in Ozaukee, and Sheboygan Counties, in Wisconsin. The south end of the trail is in Milwaukee County but only runs 1 mile through the county. It uses the abandoned right-of- ...

for pedestrian and bicycle use runs north–south through the town and connects Port Washington to the neighboring communities of Grafton in the south and

in the north. The trail continues north to

Oostburg Oostburg ( Zeelandic Flemish: ''Wòstburg'') is a city in the south-western Netherlands. It located in the municipality of Sluis, in the province of Zeeland. As of 1 January 2015, its population is 4731, down from 5008 in January 2005. It received ...

Sheboygan County Sheboygan County is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after the Sheboygan River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 118,034. Its county seat is Sheboygan. The county was created in 1836 and organized in 1846. At th ...

and south to Brown Deer where it connects with the

Oak Leaf Trail The Oak Leaf Trail (formerly 76 Bike Trail) is a paved multi-use recreational trail system which encircles Milwaukee County, Wisconsin. Clearly marked trail segments connect all of the major parks in the Milwaukee County Park System. History ...

. The trail was formerly an

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

passenger rail line that ran from

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

to Sheboygan with a stop in the City of Port Washington, which was the halfway point between the northern and southern terminuses. The train was in operation from 1907 to 1948, when it fell into disuse following World War II. The old rail line was converted into the present recreational trail in the 1990s. The town does not have passenger rail service, but the

Union Pacific Railroad The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

operates freight trains in the community.

References

External links

Town of Port Washington
{{authority control Towns in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin