Saukville is a town in Ozaukee 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 United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. The Village of Saukville is located in the town's southeast quadrant. The population was 1,755 at the 2000 census.

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 Sauk Native Americans lived in the area until the 1830s when the U.S. Federal Government forced them to leave Wisconsin. The first white settlers in the mid-1840s, and the Town of Saukville was organized in 1848. The early settlers were farmers, and dairy farming became the primary economic activity by the early 1900s. The Village of Saukville incorporated from some of the town's land in 1915, and while the village has become increasingly industrial, agriculture still plays a major role in the Town of Saukville's economy. The town has thousands of acres of undeveloped, biodiverse

bogs A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main Wetland#Types, types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagm ...

coniferous swamp Coniferous swamps are forested wetlands in which the dominant trees are lowland conifers such as northern white cedar (''Thuja occidentalis''). The soil in these swamp areas is typically saturated for most of the growing season and is occasional ...

s, and primeval beech-maple forests. The largest of the community's natural areas is the 2,200-acre

Cedarburg Bog Cedarburg Bog is a bog located in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin owned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. It is the largest intact wetland complex in southeastern Wisconsin. The bog is a refu ...

State Natural Area. The town's bogs are a habitat for many endangered species, birds, and

carnivorous plant Carnivorous plants are plants that derive some or most of their nutrients from trapping and consuming animals or protozoans, typically insects and other arthropods, and occasionally small mammals and birds. They have adapted to grow in waterlo ...

s. Among other landforms, the Cedarburg Bog contains a

string bog A string bog or string mire is a bog consisting of slightly elevated ridges and islands, with woody plants, alternating with flat, wet sedge mat areas. String bogs occur on slightly sloping surfaces, with the ridges at right angles to the directio ...

—a geographic feature that seldom occurs as far south as Wisconsin—which contains many plant species rarely seen outside remote parts of Canada.

History

Saukville was the site of a Native American village at the crossroads of two

trails A trail, also known as a path or track, is an unpaved lane or a small paved road (though it can also be a route along a navigable waterways) generally not intended for usage by motorized vehicles, usually passing through a natural area. Ho ...

, one of which became the north-south Green Bay Road and the other the east-west Dekora Road. Also located on the banks of the

Milwaukee River The Milwaukee River is a river in the state of Wisconsin. It is about long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed May 19, 2011 Once a locus of industry, the river is now the ...

, the village's inhabitants were probably

and

Sauk people The Sauk or Sac (Sauk language, Sauk: ''Thâkîwaki'') are Native Americans in the United States, Native Americans and Indigenous peoples of the Northeastern Woodlands. Their historical territory was near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Today they have t ...

. The Native Americans were forced to leave Wisconsin in the 1830s, and white settlers arrived in the area around 1845 and began to build along Green Bay Road. Saukville was part of the town of Port Washington until 1848 when the Town of Saukville was established. Throughout the 19th and early 20th centuries, Saukville was a rural community with many dairy farmers. In 1871, a rail line was constructed through Saukville. It would eventually become part of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul Railway. The Village of Saukville incorporated out of some of the Town of Saukville's land in 1915. In 1973, the Village of Newburg incorporated from some of the Town of Saukville's land as well as land from the neighboring Town of Trenton in Washington 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 town has a total area of 33.3 square miles (86.4 km²), of which, 32.7 square miles (84.6 km²) of it is land and 0.7 square miles (1.8 km²) of it (2.04%) is water. The Village of Saukville is located in what was formerly the town's southeast quadrant. The town borders Waubeka, the Town of Fredonia, and the Village of Fredonia to the north; the Town of Port Washington to the east; the Town of Grafton and the

Cedarburg (town), Wisconsin Cedarburg is a town in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin, United States, and is in the Milwaukee metropolitan area. The town was created in 1849 and at the time of the 2020 census had a population of 6,162. German and Irish immigrants first settled ...

to the south; and the Town of Trenton and the Village of Newburg to the west. The town is located in the Southeastern Wisconsin glacial till plains that were created by the

Wisconsin glaciation The Wisconsin glaciation, also called the Wisconsin glacial episode, was the most recent glacial period of the North American ice sheet complex, peaking more than 20,000 years ago. This advance included the Cordilleran Ice Sheet, which nucleated ...

during the most recent ice age. The town has many glacial landforms, including

kame A kame, or ''knob'', is a glacial landform, an irregularly shaped hill or mound composed of sand, gravel and till that accumulates in a depression on a retreating glacier, and is then deposited on the land surface with further melting of the g ...

s, kettles, and

moraine A moraine is any accumulation of unconsolidated debris (regolith and Rock (geology), rock), sometimes referred to as glacial till, that occurs in both currently and formerly glaciated regions, and that has been previously carried along by a gla ...

s. Much of the community is located on the Racine Dolomite formation that stretches through eastern Wisconsin and Illinois. The formation contains

Silurian The Silurian ( ) is a geologic period and system spanning 23.5 million years from the end of the Ordovician Period, at million years ago ( Mya), to the beginning of the Devonian Period, Mya. The Silurian is the third and shortest period of t ...

marine fossils, and while much of the rock lies between 25 and 50 feet below the surface, the fossils of a prehistoric reef can be seen in some old quarries in the northern part of the Village of Saukville as well as in the 50-foot-high bluff along the

at Riveredge Nature Center. Before white settlers arrived in the area, the Saukville area was an upland forest dominated by

American beech American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

and

sugar maple ''Acer saccharum'', the sugar maple, is a species of flowering plant in the soapberry and lychee family Sapindaceae. It is native to the hardwood forests of eastern Canada and the eastern United States. Sugar maple is best known for being the ...

trees. There were also white cedars growing along the

and several thousand acres of

in Saukville's southwest quadrant. Much of the original forest—with the exception of the coniferous swamps—was cleared to prepare the land for agriculture. The Cedarburg Beech Woods State Natural Area in the western part of the town has old growth endemic trees with minimal damage from logging and retains the character of the pre-settlement beech-maple forests.

The town has many nature preserves and other undisturbed natural areas, the largest of which is the

State Natural Area, a 2,200-acre

National Natural Landmark The National Natural Landmarks (NNL) Program recognizes and encourages the conservation of outstanding examples of the natural history of the United States. It is the only national natural areas program that identifies and recognizes the best e ...

with high biodiversity, which is home to many endangered plant and animal species. The largest and best preserved

bog A bog or bogland is a wetland that accumulates peat as a deposit of dead plant materials often mosses, typically sphagnum moss. It is one of the four main types of wetlands. Other names for bogs include mire, mosses, quagmire, and musk ...

in eastern Wisconsin, it contains two lakes, extensive white cedar and

tamarack ''Larix laricina'', commonly known as the tamarack, hackmatack, eastern larch, black larch, red larch, or American larch, is a species of larch native to Canada, from eastern Yukon and Inuvik, Northwest Territories east to Newfoundland, and als ...

coniferous swamps, and the southernmost

on Earth. The bog is a habitat for several

species, including

bladderworts ''Utricularia'', commonly and collectively called the bladderworts, is a genus of carnivorous plants consisting of approximately 233 species (precise counts differ based on classification opinions; a 2001 publication lists 215 species).Salmon, Br ...

pitcher plants Pitcher plants are carnivorous plants known as pitfall traps—a prey-trapping mechanism featuring a deep cavity filled with digestive liquid. The traps of pitcher plant are considered to be "true" pitcher plants and are formed by specialized ...

, and round-leafed sundews. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also considers the Cedarburg Bog to be an important habitat for the endangered Hine's emerald dragonfly. Other bogs in the town include

black spruce ''Picea mariana'', the black spruce, is a North American species of spruce tree in the pine family. It is widespread across Canada, found in all 10 provinces and all 3 territories. It is the official tree of Newfoundland and Labrador and is tha ...

swamps, which rarely occur at such southerly latitudes. Other bog plants that occur in Saukville include leatherleaf, snakemouth orchids, grass-pink orchids,

bog-rosemary ''Andromeda polifolia'', common name bog-rosemary, is a species of flowering plant in the heath family Ericaceae, native to northern parts of the Northern Hemisphere. It is the only member of the genus ''Andromeda'', and is only found in bogs in ...

winterberry ''Ilex verticillata'', the winterberry, is a species of holly native to eastern North America in the United States and southeast Canada, from Newfoundland west to Ontario and Minnesota, and south to Alabama. Other names that have been used incl ...

blueberry Blueberries are a widely distributed and widespread group of perennial flowering plants with blue or purple berries. They are classified in the section ''Cyanococcus'' with the genus ''Vaccinium''. Commercial blueberries—both wild (lowbush) ...

, and

cranberry Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. Cranberries are low, creeping shrubs or vines up to long and in height; they have slender stems that are not th ...

. The town is also a habitat for the threatened

forked aster ''Eurybia furcata'', commonly called forked aster, is an herbaceous perennial in the family Asteraceae. It is Indigenous (ecology), native primarily to the Great Lakes region and the Ozark Mountains in the United States. It is uncommon throughout ...

plant and the

American gromwell ''Lithospermum latifolium'' is a species of flowering plant in the borage family known by the common names American gromwell and American stoneseed. Its native range is centered in the Midwestern United States, where it is found in calcareous for ...

, which is a state-designated special concern plant species. As land development continues to reduce wild areas, wildlife is forced into closer proximity with human communities like Saukville. Large mammals, including

white-tailed deer The white-tailed deer (''Odocoileus virginianus''), also known Common name, commonly as the whitetail and the Virginia deer, is a medium-sized species of deer native to North America, North, Central America, Central and South America. It is the ...

coyotes The coyote (''Canis latrans''), also known as the American jackal, prairie wolf, or brush wolf, is a species of canine native to North America. It is smaller than its close relative, the gray wolf, and slightly smaller than the closely relat ...

North American river otter The North American river otter (''Lontra canadensis''), also known as the northern river otter and river otter, is a semiaquatic mammal that endemism, lives only on the North American continent throughout most of Canada, along the coasts of the U ...

s and

red fox The red fox (''Vulpes vulpes'') is the largest of the true foxes and one of the most widely distributed members of the order Carnivora, being present across the entire Northern Hemisphere including most of North America, Europe and Asia, plus ...

es can be seen in the town. Many birds, including

great blue heron The great blue heron (''Ardea herodias'') is a large wading bird in the heron family Ardeidae, common near the shores of open water and in wetlands over most of North and Central America, as well as far northwestern South America, the Caribbea ...

s and

wild turkey The wild turkey (''Meleagris gallopavo'') is an upland game bird native to North America, one of two extant species of Turkey (bird), turkey and the heaviest member of the order Galliformes. It is the ancestor to the domestic turkey (''M. g. dom ...

s are found in the town with the many swamps and bogs providing a habit birds such as the

osprey The osprey (; ''Pandion haliaetus''), historically known as sea hawk, river hawk, and fish hawk, is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range. It is a large raptor, reaching more than in length and a wingspan of . It ...

. The region struggles with many invasive species, including the

emerald ash borer The emerald ash borer (''Agrilus planipennis''), also known by the abbreviation EAB, is a green buprestid or jewel beetle native to north-eastern Asia that feeds on ash trees, ash species (''Fraxinus'' spp.). Females lay eggs in bark crevices o ...

common carp The common carp (''Cyprinus carpio''), also known as European carp, Eurasian carp, or simply carp, is a widespread freshwater fish of eutrophic waters in lakes and large rivers in Europe and Asia.Fishbase''Cyprinus carpio'' Linnaeus, 1758/ref>Ark ...

reed canary grass ''Phalaris arundinacea'', or reed canary grass, is a tall, perennial bunchgrass that commonly forms extensive single-species stands along the margins of lakes and streams and in wet open areas, with a wide distribution in Europe, Asia, northern ...

, the

common reed ''Phragmites australis'', known as the common reed, is a species of flowering plant in the grass family Poaceae. It is a wetland grass that can grow up to tall and has a cosmopolitan distribution worldwide. Description ''Phragmites australis' ...

purple loosestrife ''Lythrum salicaria'' or purple loosestrifeFlora of NW Europe''Lythrum salicaria'' is a flowering plant belonging to the family Lythraceae. It should not be confused with other plants sharing the name loosestrife that are members of the family Pr ...

garlic mustard ''Alliaria petiolata'', or garlic mustard, is a biennial flowering plant in the mustard family (Brassicaceae). It is native to Europe, western and central Asia, north-western Africa, Morocco, Iberia and the British Isles, north to northern S ...

, Eurasian buckthorns, and

honeysuckle Honeysuckles are arching shrubs or Vine#Twining vines, twining vines in the genus ''Lonicera'' () of the family Caprifoliaceae. The genus includes 158 species native to northern latitudes in North America, Eurasia, and North Africa. Widely kno ...

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 1,755 people, 622 households, and 518 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 53.7 people per square mile (20.7/km²). There were 644 housing units at an average density of 19.7 per square mile (7.6/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 98.29%

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 ...

, 0.28%

Black Black is a color that results from the absence or complete absorption of visible light. It is an achromatic color, without chroma, like white and grey. It is often used symbolically or figuratively to represent darkness.Eva Heller, ''P ...

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 ...

, 0.40% Native American, 0.23% Asian, 0.57% from other races, and 0.23% from two or more races. 1.31% 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 622 households, out of which 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 76.2% 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, 4.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.6% were non-families. 12.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 4.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.82 and the average family size was 3.11. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.5% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 28.3% from 25 to 44, 28.4% from 45 to 64, and 11.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40 years. For every 100 females, there were 107.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.2 males. The median income for a household in the town was $60,435, and the median income for a family was $64,821. Males had a median income of $46,552 versus $31,406 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 $24,522. About 1.9% of families and 2.6% 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 none of those under age 18 and 8.4% of those age 65 or over.

Law and government

Saukville is organized as a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

governed by an elected board, comprising a chairman and two supervisors. The current chairman is Kevin Kimmes. As part of

Wisconsin's 6th congressional district Wisconsin's 6th congressional district is a congressional district of the United States House of Representatives in eastern Wisconsin. It is based in the rural, suburban and exurban communities between Madison, Milwaukee, and Green Bay. It also ...

, the town is represented by

Glenn Grothman Glenn Sholes Grothman ( ; born July 3, 1955) is an American attorney and politician serving as the U.S. representative from Wisconsin's 6th congressional district. A member of the Republican Party, he was first elected to his seat in 2014. Gro ...

(R) in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, and by

Ron Johnson Ronald Harold Johnson (born April 8, 1955) is an American businessman and politician serving as the Seniority in the United States Senate, senior United States Senate, United States senator from Wisconsin, a seat he has held since 2011. A Rep ...

(R) and

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party (United Stat ...

(D) in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

Duey Stroebel Sherburn Duane "Duey" Stroebel Jr. (born September 1, 1959) is an American realtor and Republican politician from Cedarburg, Wisconsin. He served 10 years as a member of the Wisconsin Senate, representing Wisconsin's 20th Senate district from ...

(R) represents Saukville 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 ...

, and

Robert Brooks Robert, Bob or Bobby Brooks may refer to: Business * Robert A. Brooks (1932–2000), American telecommunications entrepreneur * Robert H. Brooks (1937–2006), founder of Hooters of America * Robert Brooks, chairman of English auction house Bonham ...

(R) represents Saukville in the

Wisconsin State Assembly The Wisconsin State Assembly is the lower house of the Wisconsin Legislature. Together with the smaller Wisconsin Senate, the two constitute the legislative branch of the U.S. state of Wisconsin. The Assembly is controlled by the Republican ...

Education

The Town of Saukville is served by two public school districts: the joint

Port Washington-Saukville School District Port Washington-Saukville School District (PWSSD) is a school district headquartered in Port Washington, Wisconsin. It serves that community and Saukville. Prior to 2013 the school building served as polling sites. This was scrapped for securi ...

and the

Northern Ozaukee School District Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

, which also covers Fredonia, Newburg, and parts of the Town of Belgium. Students in the Port Washington-Saukville School District attend Saukville Elementary School for kindergarten through fourth grade, Thomas Jefferson Middle School for fifth through eighth grades, and Port Washington High School for ninth through twelfth grades. Students in the Northern Ozaukee School District attend Ozaukee Elementary School for kindergarten through fifth grade, Ozaukee Middle School for sixth through eighth grades, and Ozaukee High School for grades nine through twelve. Additionally, the Riveredge School is a tuition-free, public elementary

charter school A charter school is a school that receives government funding but operates independently of the established state school system in which it is located. It is independent in the sense that it operates according to the basic principle of autono ...

authorized by the Northern Ozaukee School District. Located at the Riveredge Nature Center in the northwestern Town of Saukville near the municipal boundary with the Village of Newburg, the school serves children from kindergarten through fifth grade. The

University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee The University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee (UW–Milwaukee, UWM, or Milwaukee) is a Public university, public Urban university, urban research university in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States. It is the largest university in the Milwaukee metropo ...

Field Station is a 320-acre nature preserve and laboratory adjacent to the

State Natural Area in the town. The field station grounds and laboratories are not open to the general public, but are used by university students and faculty to conduct biological and ecological research.

Transportation

Interstate 43 Interstate 43 (I-43) is a Interstate Highway located entirely within the US state of Wisconsin, connecting I-39/I-90 in Beloit with Milwaukee and I-41, U.S. Highway 41 (US 41) and US 141 in Green Bay. State Trunk Highw ...

passes through the southeastern part of the Town of Saukville with Exit 96 servicing the Village of Saukville.

Wisconsin Highway 57 Wisconsin Highway 57 (often called Highway 57, STH-57 or WIS 57) is a state highway in Wisconsin, United States. It runs from its southern terminus at WIS 59 in Milwaukee to its northern terminus at WIS 42 in Sister Bay. Much ...

and

Wisconsin Highway 33 State Trunk Highway 33 (often called Highway 33, STH-33 or WIS 33) is a Wisconsin state highway running east–west across central Wisconsin. It is in length. Route description La Crosse to Baraboo WIS 33 begins east of the Mississip ...

also pass through the town. Saukville has limited public transit compared with larger cities. Ozaukee County and the

Milwaukee County Transit System The Milwaukee County Transit System (MCTS) is the largest transit agency in Wisconsin, and is the primary transit provider for Milwaukee County. It ranks among the top 50 transit agencies in the United States for total passenger trips. Milwauke ...

run the Route 143 commuter bus, also known as the "Ozaukee County Express," to Milwaukee via Interstate 43. The bus stops in the Saukville

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores in the United States and 23 other ...

parking lot, near I-43 Exit 96. The stop is the route's northern terminus. The bus operates Monday through Friday with limited hours corresponding to peak commute times. Ozaukee County Transit Services' Shared Ride Taxi is the public transit option for traveling to sites not directly accessible from the interstate. The taxis operate seven days a week and make connections to Washington County Transit and Milwaukee County Routes 12, 49 and 42u. The

Wisconsin and Southern Railroad The Wisconsin and Southern Railroad is a Class II regional railroad in Southern Wisconsin and Northeastern Illinois currently operated by Watco. It operates former Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road) and ...

operates a freight line passing through the eastern part of the town. The community currently does not have a passenger train station.

Nature preserves, parks and recreation

State natural areas

*Cedarburg Beech Woods: The Cedarburg Beech Woods is a 74-acre nature preserve owned by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, containing tamarack swamps and old-growth beech-maple forests dating to the time before white settlers cleared much of Ozaukee County's forests for agriculture. *

: The Cedarburg Bog State Natural Area is a 2,200-acre

with high biodiversity. The area has hiking trails with views of the largest and best preserved

in eastern Wisconsin and a boardwalk and birdwatching platform on Mud Lake in the center of the preserve. *Riveredge Creek and Ephemeral Pond: The Riveredge Nature Center—a private, nonprofit education facility—maintains a 61-acre nature preserve rich in plant and insect life near the confluence of Riveredge Creek and the Milwaukee River. The nature center contains glacial landforms typical of the

Kettle Moraine Kettle Moraine is a large moraine in the state of Wisconsin, United States. It stretches from Walworth County in the south to Kewaunee County in the north. It has also been referred to as the ''Kettle Range'' and, in geological texts, as th ...

region and 50-foot-high

dolomite bluffs along the river. *Sapa Spruce Bog: The Sapa Spruce Bog is a 24-acre nature preserve owned by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Located in a flooded glacially formed kettle, the bog occurs farther south than other black spruce-tamarack bogs typically do. The Sapa Spruce Bog is more acidic than other bogs in the region, creating a unique ecosystem of flora and fauna—including six species of

Sphagnum ''Sphagnum'' is a genus of approximately 380 accepted species of mosses, commonly known as sphagnum moss, also bog moss and quacker moss (although that term is also sometimes used for peat). Accumulations of ''Sphagnum'' can store water, since ...

moss—not typically seen so far south.

Ozaukee County Parks

*Ehlers Park: A narrow seven-acre park on the east bank of the Milwaukee River, Ehlers Park has 2,200 feet of river front with canoe launches and fishing spots. *Hawthorne Hills Park, H. H. Peters Youth Camp, and Ozaukee County Pioneer Village: Located on the Milwaukee River in northeastern Saukville, these three, sandwiched-together county parks offer a wide range of activities. Hawthorne Hills Park features 57 acres of undeveloped forest with hiking trails on the river as well as an 18-hole golf course. The adjacent H. H. Peters Youth Camp is an additional 40 acres with hiking trails liked to Hawthorne Hills and a camp hall with showers and restrooms. Pioneer Village is directly north of the Hawthorne Hills Golf Course and is an

open-air museum An open-air museum is a museum that exhibits collections of buildings and artifacts outdoors. It is also frequently known as a museum of buildings or a folk museum. Definition Open air is "the unconfined atmosphere ... outside buildings" ...

that preserves twenty-four buildings from the 1840s through the early 1900s, providing a snapshot of village life in early Ozaukee County. *Tendick Nature Park: The 122-acre Tendick Nature Park has a boardwalk through wetlands, a canoe launch on the Milwaukee River, an archery range, and picnic facilities.

Ozaukee Washington Land Trust

*Shannon Preserve: A 34-acre nature preserve with hardwood forests, cattail swamps, and a lake, the Shannon Preserve has hiking trails and opportunities for birdwatching. Additionally, the Blue Heron Wildlife Sanctuary on the Milwaukee River is a private, nonprofit nature center with 92-acres of land, hiking trails, and

wildlife rehabilitation Wildlife rehabilitation is the process of caring for injured, sick, orphaned, or displaced wild animals with the goal of releasing them back into their natural habitat. It involves medical treatment, temporary housing, and specialized care for a ...

facilities.

s have been spotted from the sanctuary's trails. The Town of Saukville is also home to The Bog, a private, 18-hole golf course located east of the Cedarburg Bog.

References

External links

Official website
{{authority control Towns in Ozaukee County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin