Appleton ( mez, Ahkōnemeh) is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago counties 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 sove ...

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 ...

. One of the

Fox Cities The Fox Cities of Northeastern Wisconsin are the cities, towns and villages along the Fox River as it flows from Lake Winnebago northward into Green Bay. The Fox Cities communities, as defined by its Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Vis ...

, it is situated on the Fox River, southwest of Green Bay and north of

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 ...

. Appleton is 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 Outagamie County. As of the 2020 Census it had a population of 75,644, making it the sixth largest city in Wisconsin. Appleton is a part of the

metropolitan area, the third largest in the state behind

and Madison. Appleton serves as the heart of the Fox River Valley, which is home to

Lawrence University Lawrence University is a private liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Appleton, Wisconsin. Founded in 1847, its first classes were held on November 12, 1849. Lawrence was the second college in the U.S. to be founded as a coeducati ...

, the Fox Cities Exhibition Center,

Fox Cities Performing Arts Center The Fox Cities Performing Arts Center, also called the PAC, is a performing arts center in downtown Appleton, Wisconsin, USA. The Center is the home of the Broadway Across America – Fox Cities series, the Boldt Arts Alive! series, the Thrivent ...

, Fox River Mall, Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium,

Appleton International Airport Appleton International Airport , formerly Outagamie County Regional Airport, is an airport located in Greenville, Wisconsin, United States, west of Appleton. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integra ...

, and the Valley's two major hospitals: St. Elizabeth Hospital and ThedaCare Regional Medical Center–Appleton. It also hosts regional events such as Octoberfest and the Mile of Music.

History

Native American history

1805-Appleton, Outagamie County, Wisconsin 1867-PRINT

The territory where Appleton is today was traditionally occupied by the Ho-Chunk and 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 ...

. The Menominee Nation ceded the territory to the United States in the Treaty of the Cedars in 1836, with

Chief Oshkosh Chief Oshkosh (also spelled Os-kosh or Oskosh) (1795–August 31, 1858) was a chief of the Menominee Native Americans, recognized as the leader of the Menominee people by the United States government from August 7, 1827, until his death. He ...

representing the Menominee. The treaty came at the end of several years of negotiations between the Menominee, the Ho-Chunk and the federal government about how to accommodate the Oneida, Stockbridge-Munsee, and Brothertown peoples who were removed from New York to Wisconsin. The Ho-Chunk never ratified the final treaty as only the Menominee ceded land. In the Menominee language, Appleton is known as ''Ahkōnemeh'', or "watches for them place". The first European settlers in Appleton were fur traders seeking to do business with Fox River Valley Native Americans. Hippolyte Grignon built the White Heron in 1835 to house his family and serve as an inn and trading post.

European settlement

Appleton was settled in 1847. It was founded as three unincorporated villages along the Fox River. From south to north along the river, these were Grand Chute, Appleton, and Lawesburg. In 1853, the three were merged into the single incorporated Village of Appleton. John F. Johnston was the first resident and village president.

, also founded in 1847, was backed financially by

Amos A. Lawrence Amos Adams Lawrence (July 31, 1814August 22, 1886) was an American businessman, philanthropist, and social activist. He was a key figure in the United States abolitionist movement in the years leading up to the Civil War and the growth of the E ...

and originally known as the Lawrence Institute. Samuel Appleton, Lawrence's father-in-law from

New England New England is a region comprising 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 Can ...

who never visited Wisconsin, donated $10,000 to the newly founded college library, and the town took his name in appreciation. The paper industry, beginning with the building of the first paper mill in the city in 1853, has been at the forefront of the development of Appleton. In order to provide electricity to the paper industry, the nation's first hydro-electric central station, the

Vulcan Street Plant The Vulcan Street Plant was the first Edison hydroelectric central station.Fox River, began operation on September 30, 1882. The power plant also powered the Hearthstone House, the first residence in the world powered by a centrally located hydroelectric station using the Edison system."Victorian Christmas"
''

Beloit Daily News The ''Beloit Daily News'' is a daily newspaper that has served Beloit, Wisconsin and the stateline area of Rock County, Wisconsin and Winnebago County, Illinois since 1848. The newspaper was owned by Duane Hagadone and the Hagadone Newspaper Group ...

'', December 15, 2005 Shortly thereafter, in August 1886, Appleton was the site for another national first, the operation of a commercially successful electric

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

company. Electric lights replaced gas lamps on College Avenue in 1912. Appleton also had the first

telephone A telephone is a telecommunications device that permits two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most efficiently the human voice, into e ...

in Wisconsin, and the first incandescent light in any city outside of the East Coast. The community was incorporated as a city on March 2, 1857, with Amos Storey as its first mayor. Early in the 20th century, it adopted the commission form of government. In 1890, 11,869 people lived in Appleton; in 1900, there were 15,085; in 1910, 16,773; in 1920, 19,571; and in 1940, 28,436. Significant annexations to the city, taken from the Town of Grand Chute, were performed in the next two decades. The first, the "Glendale" district, was completed on November 8, 1941, growing Appleton north past Glendale Avenue. Another became official on December 22, 1950 after multi-year disputes, when the unincorporated villages of Bell Heights and Whispering Pines were annexed into the city from Grand Chute. Bell Heights added new area to the northwest edge of Appleton, and Whispering Pines, to the northeast, would include land where Appleton Memorial Hospital would later be built. Bell Heights and Whispering Pines increased the population of the city by ten percent, and its area by twenty percent, overnight. Appleton's tallest building, the 222 Building was built in 1952. The Valley Fair Shopping Center, built in 1954, laid claim to being the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States, although this claim is disputed by other malls. In 2007 most of the structure was demolished, leaving only its east wing and a movie theater. A

Pick 'n Save Roundy's Supermarkets (also known as Roundy's) is an American supermarket operator. It owns and operates stores under the names of Pick 'n Save, Metro Market, and Mariano's Fresh Market. The chain is a subsidiary of Kroger. Roundy's operates 14 ...

Food Center now stands in its place. From approximately 1930–1970, Appleton was a

sundown town Sundown towns, also known as sunset towns, gray towns, or sundowner towns, are all-white municipalities or neighborhoods in the United States that practice a form of racial segregation by excluding non-whites via some combination of discriminator ...

: black people were not allowed to stay overnight, and none lived within its city limits by 1930. In 1936, the Institute of Paper Chemistry tried to hire the famous African-American chemist Percy Julian, but could not figure out how to do this without running afoul of what was stated as "an arcane law on the City of Appleton's books". A fight over Julian's employment ensued, and he was hired by Glidden in Chicago instead. Appleton's sundown status was largely

de facto ''De facto'' ( ; , "in fact") describes practices that exist in reality, whether or not they are officially recognized by laws or other formal norms. It is commonly used to refer to what happens in practice, in contrast with ''de jure'' ("by la ...

and not

de jure In law and government, ''de jure'' ( ; , "by law") describes practices that are legally recognized, regardless of whether the practice exists in reality. In contrast, ("in fact") describes situations that exist in reality, even if not legally ...

; it stood by unwritten consensus and enforcement, such as by police strongly encouraging black people to leave town after dark. A partial exception was made for opera singer

Marian Anderson Marian Anderson (February 27, 1897April 8, 1993) was an American contralto. She performed a wide range of music, from opera to spirituals. Anderson performed with renowned orchestras in major concert and recital venues throughout the United ...

when she sang at Lawrence University in 1941; she was allowed to stay overnight in the Conway Hotel, but even then was not allowed to eat dinner in public. Following the Flint water crisis, a report of Wisconsin

Rust Belt The Rust Belt is a region of the United States that experienced industrial decline starting in the 1950s. The U.S. manufacturing sector as a percentage of the U.S. GDP peaked in 1953 and has been in decline since, impacting certain regions an ...

cities showed high levels of lead contamination in the water of Appleton, with children under the age of 1 testing positive for lead. With a state average of 1.9 per 100 for this age group, Appleton tested at 4.5 per 100 for the same age group.

Geography

Appleton is located at (44.278819, −88.392625). 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.

Climate

Appleton has a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

typical of Wisconsin. Summers are warm to hot and winters are rather cold in comparison. Precipitation is relatively moderate compared to other areas close to the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes in the mid-east region of North America that connect to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River. There are five lak ...

, which means lesser snowfall in winter than in many other cold areas. A

dew point The dew point is the temperature to which air must be cooled to become saturated with water vapor, assuming constant air pressure and water content. When cooled below the dew point, moisture capacity is reduced and airborne water vapor will cond ...

of was observed at Appleton at 5 p.m. on July 13, 1995. This is tied for the second highest dew point ever observed in the United States. Being inland from Lake Michigan, Appleton is prone to temperature extremes. The hottest temperature recorded was during the 1936

Dust Bowl The Dust Bowl was a period of severe dust storms that greatly damaged the ecology and agriculture of the American and Canadian prairies during the 1930s. The phenomenon was caused by a combination of both natural factors (severe drought) a ...

and the coldest was in 1929. The coldest maximum on record is set in 1994 and the warmest minimum being in 1912. On average, the coldest maximum temperature of the year during the normals between 1991 and 2020 was at a frigid and the warmest minimum averaged .

Demographics

Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton–Oshkosh–Neenah CSA, a

Combined Statistical Area Combined statistical area (CSA) is a United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB) term for a combination of adjacent metropolitan (MSA) and micropolitan statistical areas (µSA) across the 50 US states and the territory of Puerto Ric ...

which includes the Appleton (Calumet and Outagamie counties) and Oshkosh–Neenah ( Winnebago County) metropolitan areas, which had a combined population of 392,660 at the 2010 censusAnnual Estimates of the Resident Population: April 1, 2010 to July 1, 2019
U.S.Census. Retrieved November 23, 2021 and an estimated population of 409,881 as of 2019.

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the city's population was 75,644. 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 31,747 housing units at an average density of . Ethnically, the population was 7.3%

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. When grouping both Hispanic and non-Hispanic people together by race, the city was 80.1%

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 ...

, 6.4% Asian, 3.13%

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 ...

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, 0.1%

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 ...

, 3.2% 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 6.5% from two or more races. The 2020 census population of the city included 318 people incarcerated in adult correctional facilities and 1,275 people in student housing. According to the American Community Survey estimates for 2016-2020, the median income for a household in the city was $61,475, and the median income for a family was $76,791. Male full-time workers had a median income of $51,431 versus $41,564 for female workers. 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 $33,282. About 7.8% of families and 10.3% 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 15.8% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Of the population age 25 and over, 92.6% were high school graduates or higher and 33.6% had a bachelor's degree or higher.

2010 census

As of the 2010

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 ...

, there were 72,623 people, 28,874 households, and 18,271 families residing in the city. The

was . There were 30,348 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 87.5%

, 1.7%

, 0.7% Native American, 5.9% Asian, 2.2% from

, and 2.0% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 5.0% of the population. There were 28,874 households, of which 33.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.7% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, 4.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.7% were non-families. 29.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 3.04. The median age in the city was 35.3 years. 25% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.1% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.7% were from 25 to 44; 26.1% were from 45 to 64; and 11.3% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

Crime

FBI crime statistics for 2009 list the crime rate (per 100,000 population) for Appleton as follows:

Government

Appleton is governed via the mayor-council system. The mayor appoints department heads, subject to council approval. The city attorney is elected every four years in a citywide vote. The council, known as the common council or city council, consists of 15 members, called alderpersons, all of whom are elected to two-year terms from individual districts. The current mayor of Appleton, Jake Woodford, was elected in 2020 to his first four-year term. The first mayor of Appleton was Amos Story, elected in April 1857. The longest-serving mayor was Timothy Hanna, who served from 1996 through 2020.

Mayors of Appleton

Partial of list of Appleton's past mayors:

Legislative and Congressional representation

Appleton is represented by Mike Gallagher (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 chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...

, and by Ron Johnson (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 St ...

(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 ...

. In the Wisconsin state legislature, Appleton is divided among four State Assembly Districts (3rd, 55th, 56th, 57th) and two State Senate Districts (1st, 19th). As of the 2018–2019 legislative session, the following representatives serve these districts: * 3rd Assembly District: Ron Tusler (R–Harrison) * 55th Assembly District: Rachael Cabral-Guevara (R–Fox Crossing) * 56th Assembly District: David Murphy (R–Greenville) * 57th Assembly District:

Lee Snodgrass Lee Alyson Snodgrass (born February 9, 1969) is an American politician, communications consultant, and campaign organizer. She represents the 57th district of the Wisconsin State Assembly, based in Menasha and central Appleton, Wisconsin. She is a ...

(D–Appleton) * 1st Senate District: André Jacque (R–DePere) * 19th Senate District:

Roger Roth Roger J. Roth Jr. (born February 5, 1978) is an American politician from Wisconsin. A Republican, he was a member of the Wisconsin State Assembly from 2007 to 2011, and a member of the Wisconsin State Senate since 2015. He was the Republican nom ...

(R–Appleton)

Transportation

The city owns Valley Transit, a network of bus lines serving the Fox Valley. There are also several taxi operators in the city. Valley Transit operates routes that generally begin service as early as 5:45 AM and run until as late as 10:40 PM Monday through Saturday. Frequencies are usually every hour and every half-hour on certain routes during peak morning and afternoon times on weekdays. There is no service on Sunday. Amtrak and Lamers offer intercity buses serving such locations as Green Bay, Madison, Oshkosh, Fond du Lac, Milwaukee, and Chicago. In April 2021, Bird Rides launched a pilot program with 100 rentable electric scooters that users can operate throughout most of the city. The founder of the company

Travis VanderZanden Travis VanderZanden (born 1979) is an American businessman and the founder and current CEO of Bird, a scooter sharing service. Before founding Bird, VanderZanden was Chief Operating Officer at Lyft, then VP of International Growth at Uber. Educ ...

grew up in the Appleton area. Appleton is served by multiple intercity buses serving Green Bay, Wausau, Milwaukee and other destinations.

Roads

Rail

Appleton is crisscrossed by the former main lines of the

Chicago and North Western Railway The Chicago and North Western was a Class I railroad in the Midwestern United States. It was also known as the "North Western". The railroad operated more than of track at the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states befor ...

(southwest-northeast) and the

Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway The Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western Railway or ''Lake Shore Road'' (reporting mark MLS&W) is a former railroad company whose mainline connected Milwaukee, the Upper Peninsula and northwest Wisconsin with connection to Chicago by way of the Chicag ...

(roughly southeast–northwest, and now largely abandoned except for local service to area paper mills and other industries). A north-south branch of the former Wisconsin Central Railroad passes on the west side of the city. All rail service is now operated by Canadian National Railway. Appleton has no intercity passenger rail service, although studies are being undertaken on the feasibility of extending

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 ...

rail service to the Fox Cities and Green Bay.

Airport

The

(ATW) is located at the west end of College Avenue, two miles west of Interstate 41 and six miles west of downtown Appleton.

Education

Appleton is served by the Appleton Area School District, which has three high schools, four middle schools, seventeen elementary schools, and sixteen charter schools. The district's main public high schools are Appleton East, Appleton North, and Appleton West. The

Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod The Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), also referred to simply as the Wisconsin Synod, is an American Confessional Lutheran denomination of Christianity. Characterized as theologically conservative, it was founded in 1850 in Milwauke ...

(WELS) has four Christian elementary schools in Appleton: Mount Olive Lutheran School (Pre-K–8), Riverview Lutheran School (Pre-K–8), St. Paul Lutheran School (Pre-K–8), and St. Peter Lutheran School (Pre-K–8). Appleton has two parochial high schools:

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

Xavier High School A multitude of schools and universities have been named after St. Francis Xavier, a Spanish Roman Catholic saint and co-founder of the Society of Jesus. This page lists notable educational institutions named after St. Xavier, arranged by country a ...

and Fox Valley Lutheran High School. Appleton also has charter high schools, including: Fox Cities Leadership Academy, Renaissance Academy, Appleton Technical Academy, and Tesla Engineering. Appleton is home to

, a private

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

college, and Fox Valley Technical College. Globe University,

Concordia University Wisconsin Concordia University Wisconsin (CUW) is a private Lutheran university in Mequon, Wisconsin. It is part of the eight-member Concordia University System operated by the Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod (LCMS). The university is a coeducational in ...

, and Rasmussen College have branch campuses in the city. The University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley, a two-year campus of the University of Wisconsin System, is located in nearby Menasha. In recent years, Appleton has emerged as a center for innovation in technology education, particularly in the area of K–12 technology education: the student-driven Appleton Youth Education Initiative has partnered with Microsoft Philanthropies, Plexus Corp., Miron Construction,

Schneider National Schneider National, Inc. is a provider of truckload, intermodal and logistics services. Schneider's services include regional, long-haul, expedited, dedicated, bulk, intermodal, brokerage, cross-dock logistics, pool point distribution, supply ...

, and Stellar Blue Technologies to organize the Appleton Tech Clinic and HackAppleton, a popular annual hackathon that draws students from all over Wisconsin. The city and surrounding area are served by the Appleton Public Library, which was chartered by the city in 1897 and as of 2010 has a collection of over 600,000 items. The library offers free wifi as well as printing and faxing for a small fee.

Economy

Largest employers

As of 2020, the largest employers in the city were:

Companies headquartered in Appleton

Air Wisconsin Air Wisconsin Airlines is a regional airline based at Appleton International Airport in the town of Greenville, Wisconsin near Appleton. Air Wisconsin originally operated as one of the original United Express partners in 1985, and operated ...

* Armament Systems and Procedures, Inc. *

Fleet Farm Fleet Farm (formerly Mills Fleet Farm) is an American retail chain of 48 stores in Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota and South Dakota. Headquartered in Appleton, Wisconsin, the company has a main distribution center in Chippewa Falls, ...

John Birch Society The John Birch Society (JBS) is an American right-wing political advocacy group. Founded in 1958, it is anti-communist, supports social conservatism, and is associated with ultraconservative, radical right, far-right, or libertarian ide ...

* Miller Electric * New Leaf Paper Inc *

Pierce Manufacturing Pierce Manufacturing is a U.S. company based in Appleton, Wisconsin that manufactures customized fire and rescue apparatus and a wholly owned subsidiary of Oshkosh Corporation. Pierce was acquired by Oshkosh in 1996 and is currently the large ...

* SECURA Insurance *C3 Corporation

Health care

The city is served by two hospitals: * ThedaCare Regional Medical Center-Appleton * St. Elizabeth Hospital

Tourism

Appleton tourist attractions include the Hearthstone House, the four-story mansion that was the first house in US to be powered by

hydroelectricity Hydroelectricity, or hydroelectric power, is electricity generated from hydropower (water power). Hydropower supplies one sixth of the world's electricity, almost 4500 TWh in 2020, which is more than all other renewable sources combined an ...

at its completion in 1881. The History Museum at the Castle contains exhibits on Fox River Valley history, including a gallery showcasing

Edna Ferber Edna Ferber (August 15, 1885 – April 16, 1968) was an American novelist, short story writer and playwright. Her novels include the Pulitzer Prize-winning '' So Big'' (1924), ''Show Boat'' (1926; made into the celebrated 1927 musical), '' Ci ...

, a Harry Houdini exhibit, and other traveling exhibits. The

Paper Discovery Center The Atlas Science Center, formerly Paper Discovery Center, is a museum and workshop center focused on papermaking in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States, where paper is an important local industry. Programs in the past have included hands-on work ...

has historic paper-making machines on display and an exhibit on the history of paper. The Fox River Mall is the second-largest mall in Wisconsin. Other local malls include Northland Mall, and City Center Plaza. In 2013, Houdini Plaza, on the corner of College Avenue and Appleton Street, was renovated. The project cost around $1.5 million with most of that paid by the city itself. The plaza, known as the 'front yard' of downtown Appleton holds roughly 55 events each year, including summer concerts and part of the downtown farmers market.

Parks

The city of Appleton has 24 neighborhood parks and four community parks in its park system. The neighborhood parks range in size from two acres to 16 acres, while the community parks range in size from 25 acres to 139 acres. Memorial Park is the largest of the community parks, covering 139 acres. The park's facilities include: seven baseball/softball fields, playground equipment, an indoor ice skating rink, a sledding hill, a picnic pavilion, a catch-and-release fishing pond, grills, and a warming shelter. The park provides a firework display for the Appleton community during the 4th of July holiday. City Park, established in 1882, is the oldest park in the Appleton park system. The Trout Museum of Art uses the park for its ''Art in the Park'' showcase. The show features over 200 artists that attract over 25,000 art enthusiasts annually. Pierce Park is the site of weekly Appleton City Band concerts held during the summer, and of the annual Appleton Old Car Show and Swap Meet. Pierce Park and Telulah Park each feature a disc-golf course. Erb Park and Mead Park each feature a public aquatics facility. Jones Park is the site of the finish line for the Santa Scamper run held during the annual Appleton Christmas Parade, and features an outdoor hockey rink in the winter.

Notable people

Sister cities

Appleton is twinned with: * Chinandega,

Chinandega Department Chinandega () is a department in Nicaragua, located on the border with Honduras. It covers an area of 4,822 km2 and has a population of 441,897 (2021 estimate). The capital is the city of Chinandega. Largely agricultural, it produces rum f ...

, Nicaragua * Kan'onji, Kagawa, Japan

Points of interest

* The Trout Museum of Art *

* Fox Cities Exhibition Center * Fox River Mall * Fox Valley Technical College * Gardens of the Fox Cities * Goodland Field * Hearthstone Historic House Museum * History Museum at the Castle * J. B. Courtney Woolen Mills * John Hart Whorton House *

* St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church * Temple Zion and School * Zion Lutheran Church * Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium, home of the

Wisconsin Timber Rattlers The Wisconsin Timber Rattlers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Midwest League and the High-A affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers. They are located in Grand Chute, Wisconsin, a town on the outskirts of Appleton in the Fox Cities, and are na ...

(Minor League-Class A Midwest League)

References

External links

*
City of Appleton
* {{Authority control Cities in Calumet County, Wisconsin Cities in Wisconsin Cities in Outagamie County, Wisconsin Cities in Winnebago County, Wisconsin County seats in Wisconsin Sundown towns in Wisconsin Appleton–Fox Cities metropolitan area