Portage is a city in and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Columbia County,

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 ...

, United States. The

population Population typically refers to the number of people in a single area, whether it be a city or town, region, country, continent, or the world. Governments typically quantify the size of the resident population within their jurisdiction using a ...

was 10,581 at the 2020 census making it the largest city in Columbia County. The city is part of the

Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area The Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan area, also known as Greater Madison, is the metropolitan area surrounding the city of Madison, Wisconsin. Madison is the state capital of Wisconsin and is Wisconsin's second largest city (after Milwaukee), and t ...

. Portage was named for the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a portage between the Fox River and the Wisconsin River, which was recognized by

Jacques Marquette Jacques Marquette S.J. (June 1, 1637 – May 18, 1675), sometimes known as Père Marquette or James Marquette, was a French Jesuit missionary who founded Michigan's first European settlement, Sault Sainte Marie, and later founded Saint Ign ...

and

Louis Joliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore and ...

during their discovery of a route to the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

in 1673. The city's slogan is "Where the North Begins."

History

The Native American tribes that once lived here, and later the

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located entirel ...

an traders and settlers, took advantage of the lowlands between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers as a natural " portage". This is reflected in indigenous names for the town, such as 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 ...

name ''Kahkāmohnakaneh'', which means "at the short cut". In May 1673,

joined the expedition of

Louis Jolliet Louis Jolliet (September 21, 1645after May 1700) was a French-Canadian explorer known for his discoveries in North America. In 1673, Jolliet and Jacques Marquette, a Jesuit Catholic priest and missionary, were the first non-Natives to explore and ...

, a French-Canadian explorer, to find the

. They departed from St. Ignace on May 17, with two canoes and five voyageurs of French-Indian ancestry ( Métis). They followed Lake Michigan to Green Bay and up the Fox River, nearly to its headwaters. From there, they were told to portage their canoes a distance of slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak plains to the Wisconsin River. Later, French fur traders described the place as "le portage", which eventually lent itself to the name of the community. As a portage, this community developed as a center of commerce and trade; later, a

canal Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flo ...

was constructed to facilitate this trade. When the railroads came through, the community continued in this role. Portage emerged at this place because of its unique position along the one and a half mile strip of marshy floodplain between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers. By the end of the 17th century, the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, linked at The Portage, served as the major fur trade thoroughfare between Green Bay and

Prairie du Chien Prairie du Chien () is a city in and the county seat of Crawford County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 5,506 at the 2020 census. Its ZIP Code is 53821. Often referred to as Wisconsin's second oldest city, Prairie du Chien was esta ...

. It was not until the 1780s and 1790s that traders built their posts and warehouses at each end of The Portage. In the early 19th century Portage was primarily populated by Métis. In 1828, the federal government recognized the strategic economic importance of The Portage and built

Fort Winnebago Fort Winnebago was a 19th-century fortification of the United States Army located on a hill overlooking the eastern end of the portage between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers east of present-day Portage, Wisconsin. It was the middle one of three f ...

at the Fox River end. After 15 years of controversy, Winnebago settlement (now Portage) won the

in 1851. The community incorporated as Portage City in 1854. The Portage business district lies along a hill that overlooks the Portage Canal. The buildings now in the city's downtown were once part of a bustling, urban commercial center serving a large region across north central Wisconsin. The building of the city paralleled its commercial prominence between the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

and the second decade of the 20th century.

Historic sites

* Fort Winnebago Surgeon's Quarters Historic Site * Fox-Wisconsin Portage Site * Henry Merrell House * Old Indian Agency House * Portage Industrial Waterfront Historic District * Portage Retail Historic District * Zona Gale House * Museum at the Portage * Wisconsin American Legion Museum and Learning Center * Portage Canal Society * Historic Portage Canal * World War II History Museum * Wisconsin State Historical Markers in Portage ** Fort Winnebago Surgeon's Quarters Historic Site **

Frederick Jackson Turner Frederick Jackson Turner (November 14, 1861 – March 14, 1932) was an American historian during the early 20th century, based at the University of Wisconsin until 1910, and then Harvard University. He was known primarily for his frontier thes ...

and

** Ketchum's Point ** Potter's Emigration Society ** Society Hill Historic District ** Zona Gale * Veterans memorials ** Revolutionary War Veteran (Cooper Pixley and Alexander Porter) ** To Honor Pierre Pauquette ** To the Memory of Our Historic Dead * Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Markers ** Site of Fort Winnebago / Surrender of Red Bird ** Pierre Pauquette and East End of Wauona Trail **Landing Place of the Ferry Built by Pierre Pauquette

Geography

Portage lies in the Wisconsin River valley. The city is surrounded by prairies and grasslands. Approximately three miles (5 km) west of the city are the Baraboo bluffs. 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 t ...

, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. The location of the town at the split of the Wisconsin and Fox river is what gives it the name "Portage", which means carrying a boat of its cargo between two navigable waters. In addition to the rivers, the city has access to Swan Lake and Silver Lake.

Cityscape

When Portage was first established, the streets were laid out on a traditional grid system. Today, the streets of the outlying city are contorted as a result of the many marshes and lowlands that run through much of Columbia County. The northern side of the city thus looks different from the central city, with the organized grid street system giving way to a more suburban streetscape with a lower housing density. The city has two commercial areas. One is the downtown historic district, which features several small boutique shops and restaurants; the other is the Northridge commercial area that features big box stores. In the summer of 2007, the Portage Canal was cleaned up and now features a bike path that runs alongside part of it. In the summer of 2008, the main downtown street was redone. Historical landmarks of the city include the Museum at the Portage, the Indian Agency house, and the Surgeons Quarters.

Climate

Demographics

2010 census

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 in ...

of 2010, there were 10,324 people, 4,060 households, and 2,349 families living in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: 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 geographical ...

was . There were 4,493 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 90.9%

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 o ...

, 5.0%

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 ...

, 0.9% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.7% 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 1.6% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, 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 viceroyalties forme ...

or Latino of any race were 4.0% of the population. There were 4,060 households, of which 31.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 40.5% were married couples living together, 11.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male householder with no wife present, and 42.1% were non-families. 34.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27 and the average family size was 2.90. The median age in the city was 37.2 years. 22.1% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 30.6% 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 53.7% male and 46.3% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 9,728 people, 3,770 households, and 2,228 families living in the city. The

was 1,172.9 people per square mile (453.1/km²). There were 3,970 housing units at an average density of 478.7 per square mile (184.9/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 92.76%

European-American European Americans (also referred to as Euro-Americans) are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes people who are descended from the first European settlers in the United States as well as people who are descended from more recent E ...

, 3.90%

, 0.51% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.05%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 0.85% from

, and 1.21% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 3.39% of the population. There were 3,770 households, out of which 30.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% were married couples living together, 10.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 40.9% were non-families. 34.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.30 and the average family size was 2.96. In the city, the population was spread out, with 23.3% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 106.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 108.7 males. The median income for a household in the city was $35,815, and the median income for a family was $44,804. Males had a median income of $33,158 versus $23,478 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 city was $18,039. About 4.6% of families and 7.2% 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 7.5% of those under age 18 and 7.8% of those age 65 or over.

Education

Portage Community School District serves Portage. Portage High School (Wisconsin) was recently upgraded to a larger building, with the older high school building now housing the Wayne E. Bartels Middle School. Portage has three elementary schools: John Muir, Woodridge, and Rusch. Three rural elementary schools serve three of the towns in Columbia County: Lewiston, Fort Winnebago, and Caledonia. There are also two private schools: St. John's Lutheran and St. Mary's Catholic Schools. The

Madison Area Technical College Madison Area Technical College (Madison College) is a public technical and community college based in Madison, Wisconsin. It serves students in parts of 12 counties in south-central Wisconsin: Adams, Columbia, Dane, Dodge, Green, Iowa, J ...

, also has a campus located in Portage. The Portage scheme of support for children with special educational needs was developed in the city.

Infrastructure

Corrections

Wisconsin Department of Corrections The Wisconsin Department of Corrections (WIDOC) is an administrative department in the executive branch of the state of Wisconsin responsible for corrections in Wisconsin, including state prisons and community supervision. The secretary is a cab ...

operates the Columbia Correctional Institution.

Transportation

Major highways

Three interstate highways, Interstate 94, Interstate 90, and

Interstate 39 Interstate 39 (I-39) is a highway in the Midwestern United States. I-39 runs from Normal, Illinois, at I-55 to State Trunk Highway 29 (WIS 29) in the town of Rib Mountain, Wisconsin, which is approximately south of Wausau. I- ...

run past Portage, giving the city a 30-minute commute to Madison and 15-minute commute to Wisconsin Dells. The city also lies only a few hours 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 ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, and

Minneapolis Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

Saint Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. Situated on high bluffs overlooking a bend in the Mississippi River, Saint Paul is a regional business hub and the center ...

Rail

Portage is served by

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Empire Builder The ''Empire Builder'' is an Amtrak long-distance passenger train that operates daily between Chicago and either Seattle or Portland via two sections west of Spokane. Introduced in 1929, it was the flagship passenger train of the Great Northe ...

between Chicago and Seattle or Portland, with a train stopping there in each direction every day. * Portage (Amtrak station)

Intercity bus

Portage is served by intercity bus from Milwaukee via Madison and to Wisconsin Rapids via Stevens Point, with a bus stopping in each direction daily at the Portage station. *

List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin The following is a list of presently operating intercity bus stops in Wisconsin with regular service. The list excludes charter buses, local transit buses, paratransit systems, and trolleybus systems. The following companies provide intercity bus se ...

Airport

* Portage Municipal Airport (C47) serves the city and surrounding communities.

Notable people

Earl Abell Earl C. "Tuffy" Abell (May 29, 1892 – May 26, 1956) was an American football player and coach. He played college football as a tackle at Colgate University. He later returned to Colgate as an assistant coach in 1925, and took over the head c ...

, member of the College Football Hall of Fame * Alvin Alden, Wisconsin politician * Walt Ambrose, NFL player * Josiah D. Arnold, Wisconsin politician * Levi W. Barden, Wisconsin politician * Everett Bidwell, Wisconsin politician * Peter J. Boylan, U.S. Army general, President of

Georgia Military College Georgia Military College (GMC) is a public military junior college in Milledgeville, Georgia. It is divided into the junior college, a military junior college program, high school, middle school, and elementary school. It was originally known as M ...

* Ben Brancel, Wisconsin politician * Samuel S. Brannan, Wisconsin politician and newspaper editor * Llywelyn Breese, Wisconsin politician, former Secretary of State * Guy W.S. Castle,

Medal of Honor The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...

recipient *

Maureen Clark Maureen Clark (born December 20, 1982 as Maureen Brunt) is an American curler. She began curling at the age of 5 at the Portage Curling Club, a few blocks from her home. Career Clark began curling competitively at the age of 14. She was the sk ...

, U.S. Olympian * William W. Corning, Wisconsin politician *

Jeffrey Dahmer Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (; May 21, 1960 – November 28, 1994), also known as the Milwaukee Cannibal or the Milwaukee Monster, was an American serial killer and sex offender who killed and dismemberment, dismembered seventeen men and boys ...

, imprisoned at Columbia Correctional Institution in Portage * Luther S. Dixon, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court * Thomas E. Fairchild, Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals *

Russel C. Falconer Russell Chamberlain Falconer (February 4, 1851 – December 15, 1936) was a member of the Wisconsin State Senate. Biography Falconer was born on February 4, 1851, in Williamsburg, New York. He moved to Quincy, Wisconsin, in 1855 or to Pardeeville ...

, Wisconsin politician * Zona Gale, writer, Pulitzer Prize winner (first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for drama, 1921) * Charles Randall Gallett, Wisconsin politician * B. Frank Goodell, Wisconsin politician *

Henry Gunderson Henry A. Gunderson (June 20, 1878 – October 7, 1940) was a Wisconsin attorney who served as the 27th Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin. Henry A. Gunderson was born in Columbia County, Wisconsin in 1878, the son of Norwegian immigrants. He ...

Lieutenant Governor of Wisconsin The lieutenant governor of Wisconsin is the first person in the line of succession of Wisconsin's executive branch, thus serving as governor in the event of the death, resignation, removal, impeachment, absence from the state, or incapacity due to ...

* Joshua James Guppey,

Union Army During the American Civil War, the Union Army, also known as the Federal Army and the Northern Army, referring to the United States Army, was the land force that fought to preserve the Union of the collective states. It proved essential to th ...

general * Frank A. Haskell,

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

, author of a noted account of the

Battle of Gettysburg The Battle of Gettysburg () was fought July 1–3, 1863, in and around the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, by Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. In the battle, Union Major General George Meade's Army of the Po ...

* Philip Hayes, U.S. Army general * Charles W. Henney, U.S. Representative * John Edward Kelley, U.S. Representative from

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota and Dakota Sioux Native American tribes, who comprise a large porti ...

* Herman Lange, Wisconsin politician * Margery Latimer, writer * James J. Lindsay, U.S. Army general * Wellington Porter McFail, aviator * Hugh McFarlane, Wisconsin politician *

John Muir John Muir ( ; April 21, 1838December 24, 1914), also known as "John of the Mountains" and "Father of the National Parks", was an influential Scottish-American naturalist, author, environmental philosopher, botanist, zoologist, glaciologist ...

, naturalist * William Owen, Wisconsin politician * Russell W. Peterson, former

Governor of Delaware A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

* Russ Rebholz, head coach of the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West division. They play their home games at IG Fie ...

, member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame; head coach of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Panthers men's basketball team * Ferdinand Schulze, Wisconsin politician * Mike Thompson, NFL player * Yellow Thunder, chief of the Ho-Chunk (or Winnebago) tribe *

Andrew Jackson Turner Andrew Jackson Turner (September 24, 1832June 10, 1905) was an American politician, newspaper editor, and businessman. He served 4 years in the Wisconsin State Assembly, representing western Columbia County, and was the 2nd Wisconsin Railroad ...

, writer, newspaper editor, politician *

, historian, Pulitzer Prize winner * Samuel K. Vaughan,

general * Joan Wade, Wisconsin politician * Jabez H. Wells, Wisconsin politician'Wisconsin Blue Book 1899,' Biographical Sketch of Jabez H. Wells, pg. 765

Images

File:Portage, Wisconsin.jpg, Looking south at DeWitt Street and MacFarlane Lane divide File:PortageWisconsinSignWIS33.jpg, West side city limit sign on Highway 33 File:PortageWisconsinWelcomeSignWIS33.jpg, Welcome sign File:Portage WI Post Office.jpg, Post office File:HenryMerrellHousePortageWisconsinWIS33.jpg, Henry Merrell House File:Portage Industrial Waterfront Historic District.jpg, Part of the Portage Industrial Waterfront Historic District File:PortageRetailHistoricDistrictCookBetweenWisconsinDeWittWIS33.jpg, Part of the Portage Retail Historic District File:Society Hill Historic District Portage WI.jpg, A house in the Society Hill Historic District File:Portage Water Tower Near Pauquette Park.jpg, Portage Water Tower Near Pauquette Park

References

External links

City of Portage

Portage Chamber of Commerce
{{Authority control Cities in Wisconsin Cities in Columbia County, Wisconsin Portages in the United States County seats in Wisconsin Populated places established in 1854 1854 establishments in Wisconsin