Sheboygan () is a city in

Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Sheboygan County () is a county (United States), county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is named after the Sheboygan River. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 118,034. Its county seat is Sheboygan, Wisconsi ...

, United States, and its

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

. The population was 49,929 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Sheboygan

metropolitan area A metropolitan area or metro is a region consisting of a densely populated urban area, urban agglomeration and its surrounding territories which share Industry (economics), industries, commercial areas, Transport infrastructure, transport network ...

, which has a population of 118,034. The city is 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 ...

at the mouth of the Sheboygan River, about north of

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

and south of Green Bay.

History

Sheboygan Civil War Monument Wisconsin 2020-1235

Before its settlement by

European Americans European Americans are Americans of European ancestry. This term includes both people who descend from the first European settlers in the area of the present-day United States and people who descend from more recent European arrivals. Since th ...

, the Sheboygan area was home to Native Americans, including members of the

Potawatomi The Potawatomi (), also spelled Pottawatomi and Pottawatomie (among many variations), are a Native American tribe of the Great Plains, upper Mississippi River, and western Great Lakes region. They traditionally speak the Potawatomi language, ...

, Chippewa,

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

, Winnebago, and

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 ...

tribes. In the Menominee language, the place is known as ''Sāpīwǣhekaneh,'' "at a hearing distance in the woods". The Menominee ceded this land to the United States in the 1831 Treaty of Washington. Following the treaty, the land became available for sale to American settlers. Migrants from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, and

New England New England is a region consisting of 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 ...

were among the first new Americans to settle this area in the 1830s, though the French had been present in the region since the 17th century and had intermarried with local people. One 19th century

settler A settler or a colonist is a person who establishes or joins a permanent presence that is separate to existing communities. The entity that a settler establishes is a Human settlement, settlement. A settler is called a pioneer if they are among ...

remarked: "Nearly all the settlers were from the New England states and New York." Lumbering was the first major industry, as trees were harvested and shipped to eastern markets through the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

. Although Sheboygan was officially incorporated in 1846, much of the town had been

platted In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bear ...

in 1836, when property investors laid out more than one thousand lots. By 1849, a wave of liberal,

middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

immigration triggered by the

revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

had made the community known for its

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

population. As Major William Williams wrote on June 26, 1849: "Arrived at Sheboigin on the Wisconsin side, a small town, population purhaps from 700 to 1000. This is a promising place. There are a great many best class of Germans settling around it. 'Tis all along this Lake so far quite an interesting country." Between 1840 and 1890,

Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...

Dutch immigrants also settled in the area, as did Irish refugees fleeing the Great Famine. A neighborhood in northwestern Sheboygan (between Martin Avenue and Alexander Court) was settled by Slovenian immigrants and acquired the name '' Laibach''; it was also known as ''Vollrath's Division''. According to a local Optimist member's account in 1963, in 1887 Sheboygan adopted a

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

ordinance, banning African Americans from living there, though city leaders denied that any such ordinance was in effect. In the spring of 1898, Sheboygan elected Fred C. Haack and August L. Mohr as

aldermen An alderman is a member of a municipal assembly or council in many jurisdictions founded upon English law with similar officials existing in the Netherlands (wethouder) and Belgium (schepen). The term may be titular, denoting a high-ranking membe ...

, making them the first two

Social Democratic Party The name Social Democratic Party or Social Democrats has been used by many political parties in various countries around the world. Such parties are most commonly aligned to social democracy as their political ideology. Active parties Form ...

candidates to be elected to public office in the United States. Haack had originally been elected in 1897 as a member of the Populist Party but joined the Social Democrats after they organized locally. Haack served as alderman for sixteen years before moving to

and being elected as a Socialist alderman there. At the 1932

Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of th ...

convention, Haack received recognition as the first Socialist officeholder in America. In the early 20th century, many Orthodox Greeks, Catholic Slavs and Lithuanians immigrated to Sheboygan. In the late 20th century, Hmong refugees from

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

and

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

settled there.

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 city has a total area of , of which, is land and is water. It is located at latitude 43°45' north, longitude 87°44' west.

Climate

Sheboygan has a warm-summer

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 cold ...

typical of Wisconsin. In spite of its position on

there are vast temperature differences between seasons, although it is somewhat moderated compared with areas farther inland.

Demographics

2020 census

As of the census of 2020, the population was 49,929. 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 22,605 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 72.3%

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 ...

, 11.1% Asian, 3.3%

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 ...

, 0.6% Native American, 4.8% from other races, and 7.9% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 12.5%

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 and 68.9%

Non-Hispanic White Non-Hispanic Whites, also referred to as White Anglo Americans or Non-Latino Whites, are White Americans who are classified by the United States census as "White" and not of Hispanic or Latino origin. According to annual estimates from the Unit ...

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 49,288 people, 20,308 households, and 12,219 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 22,339 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 82.5%

, 1.8%

, 0.5% Native American, 9.0% Asian, 3.6% from other races, and 2.5% from two or more races.

or Latino of any race were 9.9% of the population. There were 20,308 households, of which 30.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 43.4% were married couples living together, 11.7% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 39.8% were non-families. Of all households 33.4% were made up of individuals, and 12.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.38 and the average family size was 3.06. The median age in the city was 36.2 years. 25.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 8.7% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.2% were from 25 to 44; 24.8% were from 45 to 64; and 13.9% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.5% male and 50.5% female.

Ethnic communities

In 1976, the first three Hmong families settled in Sheboygan with the help of local refugee agencies such as the Grace Episcopal Church and Trinity Lutheran Church. They were refugees from

. By 1990, the city had 2,000 residents of Hmong descent, and by December 1999, there were around 5,000 Hmong and Hmong American residents in Sheboygan, 65% of whom were under the age of 18.Kaiser, Robert L.
After 25 Years In U.S., Hmong Still Feel Isolated
, ''

Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...

'', December 27, 1999. Retrieved April 14, 2012. In 2006, the Sheboygan Hmong Memorial was installed in the lakefront Deland Park to honor Hmong military and civilian contributions to the Secret War in

. The 2010 U.S. Census showed the number of Hmong citizens to be around 4,100 people, putting it fourth in Wisconsin for Hmong populations. Per the 2022

American Community Survey The American Community Survey (ACS) is an annual demographics survey program conducted by the United States Census Bureau. It regularly gathers information previously contained only in the long form of the United States census, decennial census ...

five-year estimates, the Hmong American population was 5,002, the largest Hmong community in Wisconsin after Milwaukee. They are the second largest ethnic group in Sheboygan after those of German descent. Sheboygan is known for its large ethnic German population comprising roughly 40% of the population. Per the 2022 American Community Survey five-year estimates, the

German American German Americans (, ) are Americans who have full or partial German ancestry. According to the United States Census Bureau's figures from 2022, German Americans make up roughly 41 million people in the US, which is approximately 12% of the pop ...

population was 19,694. The

Mexican American Mexican Americans are Americans of full or partial Mexico, Mexican descent. In 2022, Mexican Americans comprised 11.2% of the US population and 58.9% of all Hispanic and Latino Americans. In 2019, 71% of Mexican Americans were born in the Unite ...

population was 4,589 comprising over 80% of the Latino population.

Arts and culture

Museums in Sheboygan include the Above & Beyond Children's Museum and Sheboygan County Historical Museum. The Sheboygan Hmong Memorial recognizes the service and sacrifice of the

Hmong people The Hmong people ( RPA: , CHV: ''Hmôngz'', Nyiakeng Puachue: , Pahawh Hmong: , , zh, c=苗族蒙人) are an indigenous group in East Asia and Southeast Asia. In China, the Hmong people are classified as a sub-group of the Miao people. Th ...

who fought for the

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 ...

during the Secret War from 1961 to 1975, part of the

Laotian Civil War The Laotian Civil War was waged between the Communist Pathet Lao and the Royal Lao Government from 23 May 1959 to 2 December 1975. The Kingdom of Laos was a covert Theatre (warfare), theater during the Vietnam War with both sides receiving heavy ...

. The monument is located within Deland Park along the

shoreline of Sheboygan, which contains one of the larger Hmong communities in the United States. In April 1894, the schooner ''Lottie Cooper'' wrecked just off Sheboygan in a

gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface wind moving at a speed between .

. The wreckage was found buried in the harbor during the construction of the Harbor Centre Marina and is now on display in Deland Park, on Sheboygan's lakefront. The free display is the only one of its kind on the

. The Wisconsin Shipwreck Coast National Marine Sanctuary, established in 2021 and the site of a large number of historically significant

shipwreck A shipwreck is the wreckage of a ship that is located either beached on land or sunken to the bottom of a body of water. It results from the event of ''shipwrecking'', which may be intentional or unintentional. There were approximately thre ...

s, lies in the waters of Lake Michigan off Sheboygan. The John Michael Kohler Arts Center is a contemporary

art museum An art museum or art gallery is a building or space for the display of art, usually from the museum's own Collection (artwork), collection. It might be in public or private ownership, be accessible to all, or have restrictions in place. Although ...

and performing arts complex located in Sheboygan. The center preserves and exhibits artist-built environments and contemporary art. In 2021, the center opened the Art Preserve, a satellite museum space dedicated to art environments. The city is also home to the historic Stefanie H. Weill Center for the Performing Arts. Sheboygan was the home of

The Chordettes The Chordettes were an American female vocal quartet, specializing in traditional pop music. They are best known for their 1950s hit singles " Mr. Sandman" and " Lollipop", both of which sold over a million copies. Career The group organized i ...

, a 1950s female group, as well as the thrash metal band Morbid Saint.

Brat Days

Sheboygan County is well known for its

bratwurst ''Bratwurst'' () is a type of German sausage made from pork or, less commonly, beef or veal. The name is derived from the Old High German , from , finely chopped meat, and , sausage, although in modern German it is often associated with the ver ...

. The Sheboygan Jaycees sponsor Brat Days, an annual fund-raising festival that includes the Johnsonville World Bratwurst Eating Championship.

Parks and recreation

Sheboygan is a notable surfing destination and has been called the " Malibu of the Midwest". Sheboygan is considered to be one of the best places to surf in the

region. Sheboygan hosted the annual Dairyland Surf Classic from 1988 to 2012, the largest

lake surfing Lake surfing is surfing on any lake with sufficient surface area for wind to produce waves. As with ocean surfing, ideal wave conditions are when the wind switches offshore. However, when this occurs over a lake the waves generated by previous on ...

competition in the world. Sheboygan's surfing culture was discussed in the 2003 surfing documentary, '' Step into Liquid''. Notable parks in Sheboygan include Ellwood H. May Environmental Park, the Sheboygan Indian Mound Park, and Quarry Beach. Blue Harbor Resort is a resort,

water park A water park (also waterpark, water world, or aquapark) is an amusement park that features water play areas such as swimming pools, water slides, splash pads, water playgrounds, and lazy rivers, as well as areas for floating, bathing, swimming ...

and

conference center A convention center (American English; or conference centre in British English) is a large building that is designed to hold a convention, where individuals and groups gather to promote and share common interests. Convention centers typica ...

in Sheboygan located on

at the mouth of the Sheboygan River. It opened in June 2004 after being built by Great Wolf Resorts.Losses don't dim future of Blue Harbor, CEO asserts
February 21, 2008 ''

Sheboygan Press ''The Sheboygan Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', ''Green Bay Press-Gazette'' ...

'', Eric Litke; Retrieved April 8, 2008

Trails

The city has a trail along the Highway 23 corridor leading to the Old Plank Road Trail to the west of Sheboygan that uses dedicated paths and bike lanes, along with a lakefront trail between Pennsylvania and Park avenues along Broughton Drive. Several bike routes are marked in the city using existing streets and roads to demarcate separate

bike lane Bike lanes (US) or cycle lanes (UK) are types of bikeways (cycleways) with lanes on the roadway for cyclists only. In the United Kingdom, an on-road cycle-lane can be firmly restricted to cycles (marked with a solid white line, entry by motor ...

s. Since 2018, Sheboygan has held a bronze-level bicycle-friendly community award from the

League of American Bicyclists League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football * ''League of Legends'', a 2009 multiplayer online battle a ...

. A 2013 project created a north-south trail using the former Chicago & Northwestern Railroad right-of-way known as the "Shoreline 400" between Pennsylvania and North avenues, with future expansion to the south planned. A 2016 project added a trail along the Taylor Drive corridor, and improvements to the south to allow an eventual connection to the Ozaukee Interurban Trail are proposed for a future date.

Government

Local government

Sheboygan has a mayor–council form of government. The full-time mayor is elected by general election for a term of four years, with no term limits and to an officially

non-partisan Nonpartisanship, also known as nonpartisanism, is a lack of affiliation with a political party and a lack of political bias. While an ''Oxford English Dictionary'' definition of ''partisan'' includes adherents of a party, cause, person, etc., ...

position. The Common Council consists of ten alderpersons representing the city's ten aldermanic districts with a council president and vice-president presiding over them. A City Administrator oversees the day-to-day administration of the city and is appointed by the Common Council. Sheboygan's 1916-built City Hall was remodeled throughout 2018 and into 2019, being re-dedicated on September 3, 2019, with a new north frontage becoming the building's new main entrance and making the building's vintage three-story staircase its most prominent feature within a new atrium. The Sheboygan Police Department is the law enforcement agency in the city. Civil and criminal law cases are heard in the Sheboygan County Circuit Court, with municipal citations for Sheboygan and Kohler handled through the city's municipal court within the police headquarters building. The Sheboygan Fire Department provides fire suppression and emergency medical services, operating out of five fire stations throughout the city.

State and federal representation

Sheboygan is represented in the Wisconsin State Assembly as part of both the 26th ( Terry Katsma, R–

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 27th ( Tyler Vorpagel, R–

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

) districts, whose boundaries split the city along Geele Avenue from the west until North 18th Street, then Superior Avenue from North 18th Street to Lake Michigan. The city is also represented in the State Senate as part of the 9th district ( Devin LeMahieu, R–Oostburg). Sheboygan is in the 6th congressional district of Wisconsin, which is represented by Republican congressman

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 ...

Education

Sheboygan public schools are administered by the Sheboygan Area School District.

High schools

High schools within the city include: * Sheboygan North High School * Sheboygan South High School * Sheboygan Area Lutheran High School * George D. Warriner High School * Sheboygan Christian School * Étude High School * Sheboygan Central High School The school district was the first in Wisconsin to operate an FM radio station, WSHS (91.7). Since 1996, Sheboygan has had a high school program, Rockets for Schools, where students build and launch rockets.

Colleges

University of Wisconsin–Green Bay The University of Wisconsin–Green Bay (UW–Green Bay, UWGB, or Green Bay) is a public university in Green Bay, Wisconsin, United States. Founded in 1965, it is part of the University of Wisconsin System. As of fall 2024, student enrollment h ...

Sheboygan Campus * Lakeshore Technical College (satellite campus)

Media

The city's daily newspaper is

Gannett Gannett Co., Inc. ( ) is an American mass media holding company headquartered in New York City. It is the largest U.S. newspaper publisher as measured by total daily circulation. It owns the national newspaper ''USA Today'', as well as several ...

's ''

The Sheboygan Press ''The Sheboygan Press'' is a daily newspaper based in Sheboygan, Wisconsin, United States. It is one of a number of newspapers in the state of Wisconsin owned by Gannett, including the ''Milwaukee Journal Sentinel'', '' Green Bay Press-Gazette'' ...

'', which has been published since 1907. The ''Sheboygan Sun'' also provides local news coverage through its website, while the ''Beacon'' is published by the same company as ''The Plymouth Review'' and ''Sheboygan Falls News''; the latter two have print editions mailed out weekly to all residents. The Gannett-owned ''Shoreline Chronicle'' contains Press "best-of" content, and is door-delivered and is also distributed with the Wednesday ''Press''. The city is served by television and radio stations in Green Bay and Milwaukee. Nielsen's television division places Sheboygan within the Milwaukee market, although Green Bay stations also report news, events, and weather warnings pertaining to Sheboygan and target the city with advertising.

Nielsen Audio Nielsen Audio (formerly Arbitron) is a consumer research company in the United States that collects listener data on radio broadcasting audiences. It was founded as the American Research Bureau by Jim Seiler in 1949 and became national by mergin ...

places Sheboygan and Sheboygan County within one radio market, and several stations serve the area.

Midwest Communications Midwest Communications, Inc. is a Wausau, Wisconsin–based radio broadcasting company. It owns 82 radio stations located primarily within the Midwest United States, in Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Il ...

owns four stations within the county, including talk station WHBL (1330, with a translator station at 101.5 FM which transmits strongly due to its high tower height across most its service area;

country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. When referring to a specific polity, the term "country" may refer to a sovereign state, state with limited recognition, constituent country, ...

station WBFM (93.7); CHR/Top 40 WXER (104.5 from Plymouth, with a translator at 96.1 FM in Sheboygan); and

active rock Active rock is a radio format used by many commercial radio stations across the United States and Canada. Active rock stations play a balance of new hard rock songs with valued classic rock favorites, normally with an emphasis on the harder edge o ...

Sheboygan Falls-licensed WHBZ (106.5). WCLB (950, translated on 107.3) also serves the city from its Sheboygan Falls transmitter, repeating Plymouth's WGXI (1420, translated on 98.5), a classic country station. The Sheboygan Area School District's

high school radio High school radio are radio stations located at high schools and usually operated by its students with faculty supervision. The oldest extant high school AM radio station is AM 1450 KBPS in Portland, Oregon. Portland radio station KBPS, first li ...

station, WSHS (91.7), provides school programming and the

Wisconsin Public Radio Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) is a network of 38 public radio radio station, stations in the state of Wisconsin. WPR's network is divided into two distinct services, the ''WPR News Network'' and the ''WPR Music Network''. History Wisconsin Publ ...

Music Network. Various

religious Religion is a range of social- cultural systems, including designated behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics, or organizations, that generally relate humanity to supernatural ...

stations originating from Milwaukee and north of Green Bay and a translator for Kiel's WSTM (91.3), and

NOAA Weather Radio NOAA Weather Radio (NWR), also known as NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, is an automated 24-hour network of Very high frequency, VHF Frequency modulation, FM weather radio stations in the United States which broadcast weather information direct ...

station WWG91 broadcast from several towers in the city, mainly from a tower along Interstate 43 north of Superior Avenue, with a WVCY-FM translator at 9.49 broadcasting from the county-owned communications tower atop Taylor Hill by the Sheboygan County Historical Museum. WYVM acts as a full-power relay of Suring's WRVN (102.7), which has a religious teaching format. The city is served by

Spectrum A spectrum (: spectra or spectrums) is a set of related ideas, objects, or properties whose features overlap such that they blend to form a continuum. The word ''spectrum'' was first used scientifically in optics to describe the rainbow of co ...

and U-verse, with

public-access television Public-access television (sometimes called community-access television) is traditionally a form of non-commercial mass media where the general public can create content television programming which is Narrowcasting, narrowcast through cable tele ...

cable TV Cable television is a system of delivering television broadcast programming, programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This ...

programming provided to both systems from "WSCS", and "SASD-TV" features school board meetings, with both channels featuring meetings and other content through their websites and

YouTube YouTube is an American social media and online video sharing platform owned by Google. YouTube was founded on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim who were three former employees of PayPal. Headquartered in ...

. The city at one time had a translator of the

Trinity Broadcasting Network The Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN; legally Trinity Broadcasting of Texas, Inc.) is an international Christian-based broadcast television network and the world's largest religious television network. TBN solicits donations on its Web site, a ...

, WPVS-LP (channel 16/20 analog), which went off the air following the digital switchover and has since moved to Milwaukee; WHBL also attempted to establish a television sister station several times, without success.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Roads

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 ...

is the primary north-south transportation route into Sheboygan, and forms the west boundary of the city. U.S. Route 141 was the primary north-south route into Sheboygan before Interstate 43 was built, and its former route is a major north-south route through the center of the city that is referred to as Calumet Drive coming into the city from the north, and South Business Drive/Sauk Trail Road from the south; between Superior and Georgia Avenues within the city's original

plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Survey System, Public Lands Surveys to ...

, the highway is known as 14th Street. Four-lane Highway 23 is the primary west route into the city, and leads into the city up to North 25th Street as a freeway as Kohler Memorial Drive. Other state highways in the city include Highway 42, Highway 28, which both run mostly along the former inner-city routing of U.S. 141. Secondary county highways include County Trunk Highway DL (CTH-DL) and the decommissioned CTH-LS to the north; CTH-J, CTH-O, CTH-PP, and CTH-EE to the west; and CTH-KK to the south. For addressing purposes, the city's north-south zero point is Pennsylvania Avenue (increasing from 500 past that line in both directions), while west addressing zeroes out at the extreme eastern point of Superior Avenue at Lake Michigan (Sheboygan and Sheboygan County have no east addresses, and the little land existing northeast of that point stretches out the six '100 blocks' eastward with x50-x90 numbers not otherwise used in most other addresses in Sheboygan).

Public transit

Shoreline Metro provides public bus transit throughout the city, as well as in Kohler and Sheboygan Falls. All routes depart from the Metro Center, more commonly known as the "Transfer Point" located in the downtown.

Jefferson Lines Jefferson Lines (JL or JLI) is a regional intercity bus company operating in 14 states in the Midwest and the West of the United States. History The company is operated by Jefferson Partners L.P., located in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Jefferson P ...

and Indian Trails serve Sheboygan at the Metro Center, providing transportation to

(and an

Amtrak Thruway Amtrak Thruway is a system of through-ticketed transportation services to connect passengers with areas not served by Amtrak trains. In most cases these are dedicated motorcoach routes, but can also be non-dedicated intercity bus services, transi ...

connection to the

Milwaukee Intermodal Station Milwaukee Intermodal Station is an intercity bus and train station in downtown Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Amtrak service at Milwaukee includes the daily ''Empire Builder'', the daily '' Borealis'', and the six daily ''Hiawatha'' round trips. It is A ...

) and Green Bay.

Rail

Historically the city was connected to Milwaukee, Chicago and Green Bay via the Milwaukee Interurban Lines, the Chicago & North Western Railroad and the

Milwaukee Road The Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (CMStP&P), better known as the Milwaukee Road , was a Class I railroad that operated in the Midwestern United States, Midwest and Pacific Northwest, Northwest of the United States from 1847 ...

. These railroads' passenger services were abandoned during the mid-20th century but in 2008 the Wisconsin Department of Transportation proposed to reestablish passenger service to Milwaukee and Green Bay via Fond du Lac and the cities along Lake Winnebago's west shore, though political complications in the 2010s have since mothballed rail expansion in Wisconsin.

Airport

Sheboygan is served by the county-owned non-commercial Sheboygan County Memorial Airport (KSBM) three miles northwest of the city.

Water

Sheboygan is bounded on the east by

. The city has no active port in the 21st century. Blue Harbor Resort is located on a

peninsula A peninsula is a landform that extends from a mainland and is only connected to land on one side. Peninsulas exist on each continent. The largest peninsula in the world is the Arabian Peninsula. Etymology The word ''peninsula'' derives , . T ...

between the lake and the Sheboygan River's last bend. This site was formerly used as the headquarters of the C. Reiss Coal Company (now a

Koch Industries Koch, Inc. () is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation based in Wichita, Kansas, and is the second-largest privately held company in the United States, after Cargill. Its subsidiarie ...

division). It was their base of operations for ships to load and unload

coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other Chemical element, elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal i ...

for delivery along the peninsula. The Sheboygan River passes through the city, but dams in Sheboygan Falls prevent navigation upriver. Tall-masted boats are confined to the river downstream of the Pennsylvania Avenue bridge. Commercial charter fishing boats dock near the mouth of the river.

Hospitals

Two hospitals serve the city. Aurora Medical Center - Sheboygan County opened in July 2022 under Aurora Health Care. St. Nicholas Hospital operates as part of the Hospital Sisters Health System.

Notable people

* Peter Bartzen, Wisconsin State Representative * James Baumgart, Wisconsin state senator * Theodore Benfey, Wisconsin state senator * Thomas M. Blackstock, politician and businessman *

Archie Bleyer Archibald Martin Bleyer (June 12, 1909 – March 20, 1989) was an American song arranger, bandleader, and record company executive. Early life Bleyer was born in the Corona section of the New York City borough of Queens. His father was a well-k ...

, music director * Helen Boatwright, opera singer and

educator A teacher, also called a schoolteacher or formally an educator, is a person who helps students to acquire knowledge, competence, or virtue, via the practice of teaching. ''Informally'' the role of teacher may be taken on by anyone (e.g. w ...

* Vernon R. Boeckmann, Wisconsin State Representative and sheriff * Ray Buivid,

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player * Charles Burhop, politician * Elijah Fox Cook, Wisconsin state senator *

, singing quartet * Valentine Detling, Wisconsin State Representative and businessman * Sam Dekker, professional basketball player * Ambrose Delos DeLand, Wisconsin legislator * Fred A. Dennett, Wisconsin state senator * John M. Detling, Wisconsin State Representative * Theodore Dieckmann, Wisconsin legislator * John Dittrich, NFL player * Jerry Donohue, major contributor toward

DNA Deoxyribonucleic acid (; DNA) is a polymer composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix. The polymer carries genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of al ...

identification * Bill Dwyre, editor and columnist, ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' * John W. Eber, Speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly * Simon Gillen, Wisconsin State Representative and jurist * Bernard O. Gruenke, artist * Fred C. Haack, one of two first Socialist candidates (with August Mohr) elected to office in America * Lorenzo D. Harvey, Superintendent of Public Instruction of Wisconsin * Timothy Hasenstein, painter * Joe Hauser,

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

player * Herman Heinecke, Wisconsin state assembly * Henry A. Hillemann, Wisconsin State Representative and lawyer * Harrison Carroll Hobart, Union Army general * William E. Hoehle, Wisconsin State Representative * Curt W. Janke, Wisconsin State Representative * Marvin John Jensen, U.S. Navy admiral * John H. Jones, Wisconsin state senator * Jacob Jung, Wisconsin State Representative and businessman * William G. Kaufmann, politician and businessman * Edward J. Kempf, Wisconsin State Representative * Ernest Keppler, politician and jurist * John J. Koepsell, Wisconsin State Representative and businessman * John Michael Kohler, industrialist, founder of

Kohler Company Kohler Co., is an American manufacturing company founded in 1873 by John Michael Kohler, based in Kohler, Wisconsin. Kohler is best known for its plumbing products, but the company also manufactures furniture, cabinetry, tile, engines, and El ...

and mayor of Sheboygan * Terry Jodok Kohler, industrialist * Walter J. Kohler Jr.,

Governor of Wisconsin The governor of Wisconsin is the head of government of Wisconsin and the commander-in-chief of the state's Wisconsin Army National Guard, army and Wisconsin Air National Guard, air forces. The governor has a duty to enforce state laws, and the ...

* Walter J. Kohler Sr., Governor of Wisconsin * Conrad Krez, Union Army general, Wisconsin State Representative * Frederick W. Krez, Wisconsin State Representative * Eloise Kummer, actress * Imogen LaChance, social reformer * Wesley Lau, actor * Joe Leibham, lobbyist and former Wisconsin State Senator *

Debbie Lesko Debra Kay Lesko ( ; née Lorenz; born November 14, 1958) is an American politician from the state of Arizona. Lesko, a member of the Arizona Republican Party, Republican Party, serves on the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors representing the 4 ...

, U.S. Representative from

Arizona Arizona is a U.S. state, state in the Southwestern United States, Southwestern region of the United States, sharing the Four Corners region of the western United States with Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. It also borders Nevada to the nort ...

* Frank J. Lingelbach, Wisconsin State Representative * Rick Majerus, NCAA and NBA basketball coach * Anthony Martin,

escape artist Escapology is the practice of escaping from physical restraint, restraints or other traps. Escapologists (also classified as escape artists) escape from handcuffs, straitjackets, Cage (enclosure), cages, coffins, steel boxes, barrels, bags, bu ...

* Jackie Mason,

comedian A comedian (feminine comedienne) or comic is a person who seeks to entertainment, entertain an audience by making them laughter, laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolishly (as in slapstick), or employing prop c ...

and actor * Pat Matzdorf, high jump world record holder * Don McNeill, radio host of " The Breakfast Club" * Doxie Moore, former

NBA The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada). The NBA is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Ca ...

head coach for the Sheboygan Red Skins * Charles E. Morris, Wisconsin State Representative * Martha Nause, golfer * Otto C. Neumeister, Wisconsin State Representative * Fred E. Nuernberg, Wisconsin State Representative * William J. Nuss, Wisconsin State Representative * Carl Otte, Wisconsin legislator * Benjamin Hoskins Paddock, father of Stephen Paddock, perpetrator of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting * Dennis T. Phalen, Wisconsin state senator * Roy Pirrung, marathon runner and motivational speaker * Cora Scott Pond Pope, teacher, scriptwriter, real estate developer * Calvin Potter, Wisconsin state senator * Valentine P. Rath, Wisconsin State Representative * Henry Otto Reinnoldt, Wisconsin State Representative * Wilbur M. Root, Wisconsin State Representative * George Sauer Jr., NFL player * John Schneider Jr., Wisconsin State Representative * Bill Schroeder, football player (wide receiver) * Bill Schroeder, professional football player (halfback) * Carl Schuette, NFL player * David N. Senty, U.S. Air Force Major General * James McMillan Shafter, jurist and legislator * E. E. Smith, science fiction author * Horatio N. Smith, Wisconsin state senator * Ernest A. Sonnemann, Wisconsin State Representative * Adolphus Frederic St. Sure, judge * David Taylor, judge * Joseph M. Theisen, Wisconsin State Representative * Michelle Tuzee, ABC news anchor, Los Angeles * Edward Voigt, U.S. Representative * Jacob Vollrath, industrialist * Joseph Wedig, Wisconsin State Representative * Gustavis A. Willard, Wisconsin State Representative * William Te Winkle, Wisconsin state senator * George W. Wolff, Wisconsin State Representative and senator * Helen Sumner Woodbury Economist, academic, historian and public official * Carl Zillier, Wisconsin State Representative

In popular culture

* '' The Creature That Ate Sheboygan'' is a science fiction board game released in 1979 by Simulations Publications. * In the movie

Home Alone ''Home Alone'' is a 1990 American Christmas comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dar ...

, the Kenosha Kickers (a polka band) takes Kate McCallister back home, mentioning that they are "very big in Sheboygan." * In the movie '' Surf's Up'', Chicken Joe is shown to be from Sheboygan, referencing Great Lake surfing culture.

Sister cities

Sheboygan's

sister cities A sister city or a twin town relationship is International relations, a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there ar ...

are: *

Esslingen am Neckar Esslingen am Neckar (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Esslenga am Neckor''; until 16 October 1964 officially '' Eßlingen am Neckar'') is a town in the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany, seat of the Esslingen (district), Distri ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany * Tsubame, Niigata, Japan Sheboygan has student exchanges with Esslingen and has had student exchanges with Tsubame in the past.

References

External links

City of Sheboygan

Sheboygan County Chamber of Commerce
* Sanborn fire insurance maps
1884188718911903
{{Authority control Cities in Sheboygan County, Wisconsin Cities in Wisconsin County seats in Wisconsin German-American culture in Wisconsin Lake surfing Wisconsin populated places on Lake Michigan Surfing locations in the United States Sundown towns in Wisconsin