Winneconne is a town in Winnebago County,

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 ...

, United States. The population was 2,350 at the 2010 census. The Village of Winneconne is located within the town, on both sides of the Wolf River. The unincorporated community of Butte des Morts, named for a French and Native American trading war, is also located in the town. The town's water resources of rivers and lakes makes it a center of hunting and fishing, including winter ice fishing.

History

The name is a word derived from the Menominee language meaning "place of skulls". It refers to a battle site of the French colonial era, in which the Sauk and

Fox Foxes are small-to-medium-sized omnivorous mammals belonging to several genera of the family Canidae. They have a flattened skull; upright, triangular ears; a pointed, slightly upturned snout; and a long, bushy tail ("brush"). Twelve species ...

fought against the French,

Menominee The Menominee ( ; 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 recognized tribe of Na ...

and Chippewa for control over the regional

fur trade The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

and other resources. It also refers to a nearby prehistoric indigenous

burial mound Burial, also known as interment or inhumation, is a method of final disposition whereby a dead body is placed into the ground, sometimes with objects. This is usually accomplished by excavating a pit or trench, placing the deceased and objec ...

, the namesake for Lake Butte des Morts.

Geography

According to the

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

, the town has a total area of , of which is land and , or 36.02%, is water. This is the area of the Wolf Chain, a series of connected lakes along the river.

Demographics

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 2000, there were 2,145 people, 838 households, and 666 families residing in the town. 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 97.6 people per square mile (37.7/km²). There were 1,020 housing units at an average density of 46.4 per square mile (17.9/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.44%

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 ...

, 0.23% Native American, 0.19% Asian, and 0.14% from two or more races. 0.19% of the population were

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. There were 838 households, out of which 30.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 71.5% 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, 4.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 20.5% were non-families. 16.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 6.7% 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 2.87. In the town, the population was spread out, with 23.2% under the age of 18, 5.4% from 18 to 24, 27.1% from 25 to 44, 30.3% from 45 to 64, and 14.1% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 103.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.6 males. The median income for a household in the town was $60,385, and the median income for a family was $65,893. Males had a median income of $42,566 versus $27,692 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

for the town was $27,274. About 0.3% of families and 2.2% 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 ...

, including 1.3% of those under age 18 and 8.8% of those age 65 or over.

20th-century Secession

In 1967, the town name was inadvertently left off the official Wisconsin road map. When residents noticed, they formed a secret committee and formulated a plan to secede from Wisconsin, set up toll gates on local roads and begin annexation of nearby communities (starting with the city of Oshkosh) to form a ''Sovereign State of Winneconne''. As an alternative plan, they intended to seek annexation by another state, preferably one with better weather. The deadline for secession was July 21, 1967. A proclamation was issued, naming village president, "James Coughlin to be president of the new state of Winneconne; Vera Kitchen to be prime minister and custodian of Vera's Kitchen Cabinet." Wisconsin Governor Warren Knowles entered into negotiations with the former village officials; as a result, Winneconne rejoined the State of Wisconsin at 12:01 AM on July 22, 1967. An annual Sovereign State Days celebration commemorates the event.

References

External links

Town of Winneconne official website
{{authority control Towns in Winnebago County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin