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Fox Point is a village in
Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Milwaukee County () is a County (United States), county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 939,489, down from 947,735 in 2010. It is both the most populous and most densely ...
, United States. The population was 6,934 at the 2020 census. Located on the western shore of
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 depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
, Fox Point is one of the North Shore suburbs of the
Milwaukee metropolitan area The Milwaukee metropolitan area (also known as Metro Milwaukee or Greater Milwaukee) is a major metropolitan area located in Southeastern Wisconsin, consisting of the city of Milwaukee and some of the surrounding area. There are several defini ...
. The village is primarily residential. Shopping centers include Fox Point Shops, and RiverPoint Shopping Center.


History

The Fox Point area has been inhabited for thousands of years. The earliest known inhabitants were
Woodland period In the classification of :category:Archaeological cultures of North America, archaeological cultures of North America, the Woodland period of North American pre-Columbian cultures spanned a period from roughly 1000 BC to European contact i ...
Mound Builders Many pre-Columbian cultures in North America were collectively termed "Mound Builders", but the term has no formal meaning. It does not refer to specific people or archaeological culture but refers to the characteristic mound earthworks that in ...
, who constructed earthen effigy and burial mounds in the area. Many of the mounds were destroyed by white farmers between 1850 and 1920. In the early 19th century, archaeologists also found traces of several Hopewell villages in the area. The land was opened to European and American settlers in the 1830s, after the Potawatomi signed the
1833 Treaty of Chicago The 1833 Treaty of Chicago was an agreement between the United States government and the Chippewa, Odawa, and Potawatomi tribes. It required them to cede to the United States government their of land (including reservations) in Illinois, ...
. The first survey of the area was conducted later that year, and the U.S. Federal Government began land parcels in present-day Fox Point in autumn 1835. Surveyors in the mid-nineteenth century noted a point that resembled a fox's snout jutting into
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 depth () after Lake Superior and the third-largest by surface area (), after Lake Superior and Lake Huron. To the ...
at the present location of Doctor's Park in the village. They originally called it "Foxes Point" before residents eventually shortened it to "Fox Point." The land was organized as part of the Town of Milwaukee in 1835, and much of the land was bought by land speculators, who cleared the
old-growth forest An old-growth forest or primary forest is a forest that has developed over a long period of time without disturbance. Due to this, old-growth forests exhibit unique ecological features. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Natio ...
s for timber. The first permanent settler in the area was Cephas Buttles, who owned 160 acres in the Town of Milwaukee and built a cabin in present-day River Hills in 1843. In the mid-1840s, many families of Dutch settlers began arriving in the Town of Milwaukee. John Cappon was the first Dutch settler in Fox Point, building his cabin in 1846. By 1855, more than 20 Dutch families lived in Fox Point. The early settlers farmed the land with new techniques that allowed them to cultivate wheat, barley, rye, and corn in the clayey soil. In 1848, they built a one one-room schoolhouses and another two in 1852, including the Old Dutch Schoolhouse Site and Burial Ground, which is a Milwaukee County landmark. Two Dutch Reformed congregations formed in the community in its early years. The community's demographics changed later in the nineteenth century. One of Fox Point's first black residents was Calvin Reeves, a formerly enslaved man from Louisiana who moved to the community after the American Civil War with two Dutch-American soldiers returning home from the conflict. German immigrants also began moving to Fox Point in the 1860s, forming St. John's
Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...
Church in 1866. Fox Point changed significantly in the 1890s. Many of the originally Dutch farmers had moved to the City of Milwaukee and to the southern Sheboygan County Town of Holland, and the villages of
Oostburg Oostburg (Zeelandic Flemish: ''Wòstburg'') is a city in the south-western Netherlands. It is 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 receiv ...
and Cedar Grove. By 1898, the Dutch churches had disbanded. But at the same time, wealthy Milwaukeeans were building summer homes in the lakeside community, which was easily accessible via the Lakeshore & Western Railroad constructed in 1870 and later via the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company streetcars. In 1898, the Fox Point Club—the state's second golf course—opened in the community, and attracted even more wealthy residents to the area, serving as a social center. The rural Town of Milwaukee did not provide electricity, running water, sewage, or garbage collection, and by the 1920s, Fox Point's increasingly wealthy residents wanted a higher standard of municipal service. Fox Point incorporated as a village in 1926, formed a school district in 1927, and began creating municipal parks, including Doctors Park on the Lake Michigan shore, which opened in 1930 and was transferred to the Milwaukee County parks system in 1937. Although the late 1920s saw a short-lived building boom before the
Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
, the population remained in the hundreds through
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. But the village dramatically grew during the
post-war boom A post-war or postwar period is the interval immediately following the end of a war. The term usually refers to a varying period of time after World War II, which ended in 1945. A post-war period can become an interwar period or interbellum, w ...
with the population increasing from 1,180 in 1940 to 7,939 in 1970, a nearly seven-fold increase. The village also gained territory in 1954, when Bayside, Fox Point, Glendale, and River Hills agreed to annex what remained of the Town of Milwaukee to prevent the City of Milwaukee from expanding across northeastern Milwaukee County.


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 village has a total area of , all of it land.


Climate

Fox Point, situated within the humid continental climate zone (Köppen prefix D), experiences distinct
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
al variation, with wide swings in temperature and precipitation. The village's immediate proximity to Lake Michigan makes it susceptible to
lake-effect snow Lake-effect snow is produced during cooler atmospheric conditions when a cold air mass moves across long expanses of warmer lake water. The lower layer of air, heated by the lake water, picks up water vapor from the lake and rises through colde ...
in the winter months. The warmest month of the year in Fox Point is July, with a high temperature average of 84 °F (28.9 °C) and low temperatures of 64 °F (17.8 °C). The summer months are the wettest months of the year, with frequent
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 ...
s in the region. January is the coldest month, with average high temperatures averaging only 30 °F (-1.1 °C), and lows averaging 14 °F (-10 °C). February is the driest month.


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 6,701 people, 2,747 households, and 1,859 families residing 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 2,928 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the village was 91.5%
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 ...
, 2.8%
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, 3.7% Asian, 0.4% from other races, and 1.4% 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 2.4% of the population. There were 2,747 households, of which 29.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.5% 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, 5.1% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.0% had a male householder with no wife present, and 32.3% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.36 and the average family size was 2.92. The median age in the village was 45.6 years. 22.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 19.4% were from 25 to 44; 32.4% were from 45 to 64; and 18.4% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 49.0% male and 51.0% female.


2000 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 2000, there were 7,012 people, 2,825 households, and 1,988 families residing 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 2,399 people per square mile (927.2/km2). There were 2,910 housing units at an average density of 995.7 per square mile (384.8/km2). The racial makeup of the village was 95.55%
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 ...
, 1.21%
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 ...
, 0.11% Native American, 2.14% Asian, 0.01%
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 ...
, 0.19% from other races, and 0.78% 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 1.06% of the population. There were 2,825 households, out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.4% 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, 6.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.6% were non-families. 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39 and the average family size was 2.93. In the village, the population was spread out, with 23.9% under the age of 18, 6.1% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 27.0% from 45 to 64, and 20.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.9 males. The median income for a household in the village was $80,572, and the median income for a family was $94,348. Males had a median income of $77,850 versus $38,500 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 $48,469. About 1.8% of families and 2.8% 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 4.1% of those under age 18 and 3.8% of those age 65 or over.


Arts and culture


Sites on the National Register of Historic Places

* The Albert and Edith Adelman House, designed by
Frank Lloyd Wright Frank Lloyd Wright Sr. (June 8, 1867 – April 9, 1959) was an American architect, designer, writer, and educator. He designed List of Frank Lloyd Wright works, more than 1,000 structures over a creative period of 70 years. Wright played a key ...
. * Mary Nohl Art Environment, containing historic folk art.


Government

The government of the Village of Fox Point consists of a Village Board, and various other boards, commissions and committees. The Village operates under the Village-Manager form of government. The Board consists of six trustees and a President, who are elected to serve three-year terms. The current President is Christine Symchych, whose term will expire in 2026. The current Village Manager is Scott Botcher, who has served since 2015. The Board has three committees: a finance committee of three members, which oversees economic matters; an audit committee with three trustees and two residents who assist the finance committee; and a three-member administration committee, which oversees new village laws. Other committees, boards, and commissions include the plan commission, board of appeals, board of police commissioners, board of reviews, the building board, board of ethics, the fair housing commission, and the historic preservation committee. In Fox Point, the President also appoints a trustee and a resident to serve on the board of the North Shore Public Library. The Village participates in several shared municipal services, including the North Shore Fire Department, North Shore Dispatch, North Shore Library, and the North Shore Health Department. The Village is the only Moody’s Aaa rated Village in the State of Wisconsin, and has been so for 6 consecutive years. In the
Wisconsin State Senate The Wisconsin Senate is the upper house of the Wisconsin State Legislature. Together with the Wisconsin State Assembly they constitute the legislative branch of the state of Wisconsin. The powers of the Wisconsin Senate are modeled after those o ...
, Fox Point is part of the 8th Senate District, held by Republican Dan Knodl, while Democrat Deb Andraca represents the village in the Wisconsin Assembly. At the federal level, Fox Point is represented in
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
by Rep. Gwen Moore, a Democrat.


Education

The municipality is in the Fox Point Joint No. 2 School District (elementary) and the Nicolet Union High School District.
Text list
/ref> Fox Point includes kindergarten through 8th grade, and feeds into Nicolet High School. St. Eugene Catholic Grade School, a private Catholic school serving students from preschool through 8th grade, is also located in the village, as is Fox Point Preschool, part of Fox Point Lutheran Church, the Milwaukee Jewish Day School, the Bader Hillel Academy, and the Jewish Beginnings Lubavitch Preschool. Portions of St. Augustine Prep's campus are located within Village boundaries, though the school's official mailing address is in Glendale. The North Shore Public Library serves the community. Its board is a multi-municipal body with representatives from Fox Point, Bayside, Glendale, and River Hills. The library is a member of the Milwaukee County Federated Library System, and it therefore serves residents from across Milwaukee County.


References


External links


Village of Fox Point
{{authority control Villages in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin Villages in Wisconsin