Barneveld is a village in Iowa 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 1,331 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area. The community was named after John of Barneveld of the Netherlands.

Geography

Barneveld is located at (43.014223, -89.895551). 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 village has a total area of , all of it land.

Demographics

2010 census

As of the

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

of 2010, there were 1,231 people, 457 households, and 331 families living in the village. The

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

was . There were 477 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 98.2%

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 ...

, 0.7%

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

, 0.1% Native American, 0.2% Asian, 0.1%

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

, and 0.7% from two or more races.

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 were 0.2% of the population. There were 457 households, of which 43.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.2% 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, 9.2% had a female householder with no husband present, 3.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 27.6% were non-families. 22.1% 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 2.67 and the average family size was 3.16. The median age in the village was 32.4 years. 30.5% of residents were under the age of 18; 5.5% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 34.2% were from 25 to 44; 21.5% were from 45 to 64; and 8.2% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.

2000 census

As of the

of 2000, there were 1,088 people, 396 households, and 298 families living in the village. The

was 805.7 people per square mile (311.2/km²). There were 400 housing units at an average density of 296.2 per square mile (114.4/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 98.71%

, 0.28%

, 0.37% Native American, 0.09% Asian, and 0.55% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 0.09% of the population. There were 396 households, out of which 43.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.4% were

living together, 8.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.7% were non-families. Households made up of individuals numbered 22.2% and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.72 and the average family size was 3.16 In the village, the population was spread out, with 30.7% under the age of 18, 6.4% from 18 to 24, 39.8% from 25 to 44, 14.4% from 45 to 64, and 8.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 1000 males The median income for a household in the village was $56,000, and the median income for a family was $58,393. Males had a median income of $34,107 versus $25,480 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 village was $22,009. About 4.7% of families and 7.5% 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 12.2% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over. The largest employer in the village is Vortex Optics with approximately 210 employees.

1984 F5 Tornado

At 12:41 AM CDT on June 8, 1984, a powerful

tornado A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the ...

tore through Barneveld. It was part of a large outbreak of storms that started the evening before with tornadoes also touching down in

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

Iowa Iowa ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the upper Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders the Mississippi River to the east and the Missouri River and Big Sioux River to the west; Wisconsin to the northeast, Ill ...

, and

Minnesota Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...

. Although a tornado watch had been issued late on the night of June 7, most residents were unaware that a storm was approaching until they were awakened by a lightning strike and an instantaneous clap of

thunder Thunder is the sound caused by lightning. Depending upon the distance from and nature of the lightning, it can range from a long, low rumble to a sudden, loud crack. The sudden increase in temperature and hence pressure caused by the lightning pr ...

just before 12:41 AM CDT. The 0.4-mile (0.60-km) wide tornado caused F5 damage, the highest level on the

Fujita scale The Fujita scale (F-Scale; ), or Fujita–Pearson scale (FPP scale), is a scale for rating tornado intensity, based primarily on the damage tornadoes inflict on human-built structures and vegetation. The official Fujita scale category is determ ...

. Two hundred of the village's 584 residents were injured and nine were killed. Seventeen of the 18 businesses in Barneveld were destroyed, including all the government offices, the

fire station __NOTOC__ A fire station (also called a fire house, fire hall, firemen's hall, or engine house) is a structure or other area for storing firefighting apparatuses such as fire apparatus, fire engines and related vehicles, personal protective equ ...

library A library is a collection of Book, books, and possibly other Document, materials and Media (communication), media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or electron ...

, and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

. The town's three churches were all flattened: the Congregational United Church of Christ, pastor Rev. Jann Cather Weaver, the Lutheran Church, pastor Rev. Robert Twiton, and the Roman Catholic Church. The Congregational UCC church also lost its parsonage. In all, about 170 of the village's 225 commercial,

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

, and

residential A residential area is a land used in which houses, housing predominates, as opposed to industrial district, industrial and Commercial Area, commercial areas. Housing may vary significantly between, and through, residential areas. These include ...

buildings were either destroyed instantly or damaged seriously enough that they were unable to be rebuilt. The only remaining and largely undamaged structure was the

water tower A water tower is an elevated structure supporting a water tank constructed at a height sufficient to pressurize a water distribution system, distribution system for potable water, and to provide emergency storage for fire protection. Water towe ...

, which had to be repaired and repainted. Damage to the village of Barneveld was estimated at $25 million with damage to the surrounding area put at about $40 million. Rebuilding began immediately, and by 2000, the population of Barneveld was almost exactly double what it was at the time the tornado nearly destroyed the town. The

thunderstorm A thunderstorm, also known as an electrical storm or a lightning storm, is a storm characterized by the presence of lightning and its acoustics, acoustic effect on the Earth's atmosphere, known as thunder. Relatively weak thunderstorm ...

that created the tornado also put on one of the brightest

lightning Lightning is a natural phenomenon consisting of electrostatic discharges occurring through the atmosphere between two electrically charged regions. One or both regions are within the atmosphere, with the second region sometimes occurring on ...

shows in recorded history, generating 200 strikes per minute.

Images

File:Barneveld tornado damage.jpg, 1984 tornado damage File:BarneveldWisconsinSign.jpg, Looking west at Barneveld File:BarneveldWisconsinWatertower.jpg, Looking east at houses and Barneveld's water tower File:Barneveld,_Wisconsin_-_101109.jpg, An aerial view from nearby Blue Mound State Park. File:Cassidy Farmhouse.jpg, Cassidy Farmhouse File:304 Grove Street, Grove Street HD, Barneveld, WI.JPG, Osborn House, located within the Grove Street Historic District. File:Harris House Barneveld.jpg, Harris House File:Roberts House Barneveld.jpg, Roberts House

References

www.channel3000.com
Barneveld, 1984: 9 Dead, 200 Injured. WISC-TV Madison. June 9, 2004

External links

Village of Barneveld website
{{authority control Villages in Iowa County, Wisconsin Villages in Wisconsin Madison, Wisconsin, metropolitan statistical area