West Bend (Wisconsin)

Washington County

55-85350

West Bend is a city ( with the status of city) and county seat of Washington County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. In 2010, West Bend had 31 078 inhabitants.

West Bend is part of the Milwaukee metropolitan area.

Geography

West Bend is located on both sides of the Milwaukee River at 43 ° 25'17 " north latitude and 88 ° 10'58 " west longitude. The city covers 33.02 km ², spread over 32.51 km ² land and 0.51 km ² water surface.

To the west of the city center runs in a north -south direction of the four-lane U.S. Highway 45 in downtown Wisconsin Highways 33 and 144, and a number of minor roads meet together.

By West Bend also performs coming from Milwaukee extending in a northwesterly direction line of the Union Pacific Railroad.

The nearest major cities are Milwaukee (54,5 km to the southeast ), Waukesha ( 52.5 km to the south), Wisconsin's capital, Madison (120 km west-southwest ), Fond du Lac (48,3 km to the northwest ), Green Bay (147 km north ) and Sheboygan ( 60.6 kilometers north-east ) and Port Washington (24,4 km to the east ) on Lake Michigan.

History

Before the arrival of white settlers lived in the area of the present town as the entire southeastern Wisconsin Indian tribes of the Potawatomi and Menominee.

In 1845 the Parliament of the Wisconsin Territory approved the construction of a road from Milwaukee to Fond du Lac. Those responsible for the construction of the road looking for a suitable location for a resting place for travelers on the half way and found it at the site of the present town of West Bend. Increased with increasing traffic also use the rest area, around which a settlement developed gradually. Its name alludes to the western source river of the Milwaukee River (English: West Bend ), which is crossed at this point. The river was also used to power for mills and sawmills. 1873 the railroad came to West Bend, creating even more settlers, and in particular came from Germany. At the same time, the industrialization of the region began. During this time the settlement grew quickly and as she was in 1885 awarded the status of City.

Village of Barton

1845 was the settler Barton Salisbury few miles above the present city of a location where the flow downslope offered, so he built a sawmill there. Gradually, as the place was Barton, who was incorporated in 1961 in the city of West Bend.

Population

According to the census in 2010 lived in West Bend 31 078 people in 12,769 households. The population density was 956.2 inhabitants per square kilometer. In the 12,769 households lived statistically 2.39 per person.

The racial the population was composed of 94.8 percent white, 1.0 percent African American, 0.4 percent Native American, 0.8 percent Asian and 1.4 percent from other ethnic groups; 1.7 percent were descended from two or more races. Regardless of ethnicity or 3.9 percent of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

24.7 percent of the population were under 18 years old, 60.7 percent were between 18 and 64 and 14.6 percent were 65 years or older. 51.7 percent of the population was female.

The median annual income for a household was $ 54,579. The per capita income was $ 27,373. 8.8 percent of the population lived below the poverty line.

Economy

Although today many residents of West Bend work in neighboring communities, West Bend also has a service and industrial history. The still existing insurance company West Bend Mutual Insurance Company was founded in 1894 in West Bend. The West &bsp; Bend Savings Bank, which merged with Continental Savings Bank for Westbury Bank in 2009, was 1926. 1911, Bernhardt C. Ziegler, the West Bend Aluminum Company, which existed until 2003 as the West Bend Company. 1915 Robert H. Rolf opened in downtown West Bend a leather goods business, which was developed under the name Amity Leather one of the largest manufacturers of wallets. The company left in 1996, the city and settled overseas. Began in 1949 in a garage in West Bend, the history of printing Serigraph, Inc., which operates the world today. Founded in West Bend 1859 Gehl Company, a manufacturer of agricultural and construction equipment, is today still located in West Bend.

Twin Cities

  • Bulgaria Pazardzhik, Bulgaria
  • Germany Heppenheim, Germany
  • Japan Aisho, Japan

Memorable people

  • Samuel S. Barney (1846-1919) - Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1895-1903) - lived as a student in West Bend
  • Ward Christensen - developer of the first CBBS e- mail system - born in West Bend
  • John DeMerit (born 1936) - baseball player ( MLB - Milwaukee Braves, New York Mets ) - Born in West Bend
  • Fred H. Hildebrandt (1874-1956) - Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1833-1939) - Born in West Bend
  • Ken Jungels (1916-1975) - baseball player ( MLB - Cleveland Indians, Pittsburgh Pirates) - died in West Bend
  • Florian Lampert (1863-1930) - Member of the U.S. House of Representatives (1818-1930) - Born in West Bend
  • Andrew P. O'Meara (1907-2005) - Four-star general in the U.S. Army - Born in West Bend
  • Ryan Rohlinger (born 1983) - baseball player ( MLB - San Francisco Giants ) - Born in West Bend
  • Dave Steckel (born 1982) - hockey player (NHL - Washington Capitals )
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