Wayne is a town in Washington County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 2,182 at the 2020 census. The unincorporated communities of Kohlsville and Wayne are located in the town.

History

In the early 19th century when the first white settlers arrived in Southeastern Wisconsin, 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, ...

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 ...

Native Americans inhabited the land now occupied by the Town of Wayne. In 1831, the Menominee surrendered their claims to the land to the United States Federal Government through the Treaty of Washington. The Potawatomi surrendered their land claims in 1833 through 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, ...

, which (after being ratified in 1833) required them to leave the area by 1838. While many Native people moved west of the Mississippi River to

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

, some chose to remain, and were referred to as "strolling Potawatomi" in contemporary documents because many of them were migrants who subsisted by

squatting Squatting is the action of occupying an abandoned or unoccupied area of land or a building (usually residential) that the squatter does not own, rent or otherwise have lawful permission to use. The United Nations estimated in 2003 that there wer ...

on their ancestral lands, which were now owned by white settlers. Eventually the Native people who evaded forced removal gathered in northern Wisconsin, where they formed the Forest County Potawatomi Community. The first white settlers arrived in 1846, when the land was part of the Town of Addison and largely covered with dense hardwood forests. The Town of Wayne incorporated on March 11, 1848, and was named for General

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and a Founding Father of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his military expl ...

, who served in the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. The first settlers were mostly Yankees and Irish immigrants, but beginning around 1850 many German immigrants began to settle in the town, and by 1880 the population was almost entirely of German descent. The town population remained small throughout its history. Unlike neighboring towns, Wayne never had any railroad connections, and the hamlets of Kohlsville, St. Kilians, and Wayne Center remained rural communities that served the local farmers, unlike hamlets in neighboring towns which grew and prospered with construction of new railroads. Beginning in the 1970s, Wayne's population began to increase, nearly doubling from 1,214 in 1970 to 2,169 in 2010. However, as of the 2010s, Wayne has the second-lowest housing density in Washington County, and more than 60 percent of the land is zoned agricultural.

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 35.8 square miles (92.7 km²), all of it land.

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 1,727 people, 582 households, and 485 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 48.2 people per square mile (18.6/km²). There were 597 housing units at an average density of 16.7 per square mile (6.4/km²). The racial makeup of the town was 99.25%

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 ...

, 0.23% Native American, 0.12% Asian, 0.06%

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

, and 0.35% from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

or Latino of any race were 0.17% of the population. There were 582 households, out of which 38.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 77.3% 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, 3.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 16.5% were non-families. 10.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.24. In the town, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 7.1% from 18 to 24, 32.4% from 25 to 44, 25.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.7 males. The median income for a household in the town was $61,033, and the median income for a family was $64,297. Males had a median income of $41,200 versus $23,889 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 $21,995. About 0.8% of families and 2.0% 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 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Notable people

* Nicholaus Marx, legislator, lived in the town * Gottlob E. Weiss, legislator, lived in the town'Wisconsin blue Book 1873, Biographical Sketch of Gottlob E. Weiss, pg. 448

References

Sources

External links

Town of Wayne
{{authority control Towns in Washington County, Wisconsin Towns in Wisconsin