Baraboo ( ) is the county seat of Sauk County, Wisconsin, United States, located along the Baraboo River. The population was 12,556 at the 2020 census. The most populous city in the county, Baraboo is the principal city of the Baraboo micropolitan statistical area which comprises a portion of the Madison combined statistical area.

Baraboo is home to the Circus World Museum and the former headquarters and winter home of the Ringling Brothers Circus. The Al. Ringling Theatre is an active landmark in the city. Baraboo is near Devil's Lake State Park and Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm. The Ho-Chunk Nation of Wisconsin has an active cultural and community presence in the Baraboo area.

History

The area around Baraboo was the site of a Kickapoo village as early as 1665. The current community was established by Abe Wood in 1838, and was originally known as the village of Adams. In 1839 several settlers arrived and started building cabins, and a saw mill. In 1846 it became the county seat of Sauk County after a fierce fight with the nearby village of Reedsburg. In 1852, the village was renamed "Baraboo", after the nearby river. It was incorporated as a village in 1866 and as a city in 1882.

In the 1860s, the city had surpassed a population of 2,000, and many businesses started to form, including grocery stores, banks, and hotels. In 1872, the Chicago and North Western Railway (C&NW) was built. It was later demolished and now the land is a part of the Sauk Prairie Recreation Area.

Cirrus, a manufacturer of single-engine aircraft, was founded in a rural Baraboo barn in 1984 by the Klapmeier brothers. After a few years of designing the VK-30, they relocated to the Baraboo–Dells Airport and in 1994 moved the company to its present-day home in Duluth, Minnesota.

Geography

thumb|right|Baraboo welcome sign on [[Wisconsin Highway 33|WIS 33]]

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water.

West Baraboo, a suburb of Baraboo, borders the city on its west side.

Baraboo gives its name to the Baraboo Syncline, a doubly plunging, asymmetric syncline in Proterozoic-aged Baraboo quartzite. Researchers at the University of Wisconsin, particularly Charles R. Van Hise, used the syncline to demonstrate that small-scale deformational structures in isolated outcrops reflect larger regional structures and that sedimentary structures could indicate the original top-facing direction within elaborately deformed strata. These two principles sparked a global revolution in structural geology during the 1920s.

The nearby Baraboo Hills are designated one of the "Last Great Places" by the Nature Conservancy because of its rare rocks, plants and animals. The hills were created by glacial action, and in some points poke up from the flat terrain to form a stark contrast. Some of these features were created when a glacial pocket was formed during the Wisconsin glaciation where the advance of the glacier halted, along the edge of what is known as the Driftless Area. Devil's Lake State Park, Wisconsin's largest state park, contains large areas of the Baraboo Hills. Pewits Nest is located outside Baraboo.

Climate

According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Baraboo has a warm-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfb" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Baraboo was on July 5–7, 2012, while the coldest temperature recorded was on January 30, 1951.

|source 2 = National Weather Service

Demographics

Baraboo forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Baraboo Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Sauk County (2000 population: 55,225). The Baraboo μSA is just northwest of the Madison metropolitan area, with which it forms the Census Bureau's Baraboo-Madison Consolidated Metropolitan Statistical Area.

2020 census

As of the 2020 census, Baraboo had a population of 12,556. The median age was 39.5 years. 22.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 19.6% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.2 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 93.3 males age 18 and over.

There were 5,442 households in Baraboo, of which 27.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 40.7% were married-couple households, 20.7% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.9% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 35.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.

! Race !! Number !! Percent

|-

| White || 11,045 || 88.0%

|-

| Black or African American || 168 || 1.3%

|-

| American Indian and Alaska Native || 172 || 1.4%

|-

| Asian || 123 || 1.0%

|-

| Native Hawaiian and Other Pacific Islander || 2 || 0.0%

|-

| Some other race || 345 || 2.7%

|-

| Two or more races || 701 || 5.6%

|-

| Hispanic or Latino (of any race) || 745 || 5.9%

|}

2010 census

As of the census of 2010, there were 12,048 people, 5,161 households, and 3,016 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 5,619 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 94.0% White, 1.3% African American, 1.0% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 1.5% from other races, and 1.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.7% of the population.

There were 5,161 households, of which 30.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.1% were married couples living together, 11.8% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 41.6% were non-families. 34.4% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.26 and the average family size was 2.89.

The median age in the city was 38 years. 23.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 8% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 27.5% were from 25 to 44; 25.1% were from 45 to 64; and 15.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.

2000 census

As of the census of 2000, The Sauk County Courthouse is in the center of the district, and it serves the county. Other historic buildings in the city include Carnegie-Schadde Memorial Public Library, William Clark House, Gust Brothers' Store, Island Woolen Company Office Building, Walworth D. Porter Duplex Residence, Al. Ringling Theatre, Albrecht C. Ringling House, Charles Ringling House, Charles and Anna Ruhland House, Seven Gables, Thompson House Hotel, A. G. Tuttle Estate and Jacob Van Orden House.

The Aldo Leopold Shack and Farm near Baraboo was acquired in the 1930s as a family summer retreat by the noted conservationist and writer Aldo Leopold and is the landscape that inspired his conservation ethic and the writing of his best-known work, A Sand County Almanac.

Hank Snow's 1959 song "I've Been Everywhere", covered by Johnny Cash, mentions visiting Baraboo.

Government

thumb|Baraboo City Hall

A city hall building opened in 1967, and another location finished construction in 2018 at a cost of $9 million. A post office opened in 1961. and Community Christian School, serving 4K through high school.

The Baraboo Public Library serves the community. The former Free Congregational Society church was demolished by 1902 for the library's construction.

Transportation

thumb|[[Manchester Street Bridge]]

The Baraboo-Wisconsin Dells Airport (KDLL) serves the city and surrounding communities, and is located on Bus. US 12 3 miles north of the city. State Highways 33, 113, 136, and U.S. 12 pass through Baraboo. There is access to Interstate 90/94 nearby. The Wisconsin & Southern Railroad provides freight rail service to Baraboo via the Reedsburg Subdivision, the nearest Amtrak passenger rail station is in neighboring Wisconsin Dells. Dial-a-ride transit service is available in the city through Baraboo Transit.

Baraboo station was located on the Chicago and North Western Railway and served both passengers and freight traffic as well as housing the Madison Division offices of the C&NW. Passenger service to the depot ended in 1963 with the elimination of the Rochester 400. As of 2022, the Sauk County Historical Society hopes to restore the depot into a museum and community gathering space.

Megabus offers daily bus service from Baraboo to La Crosse and Milwaukee Intermodal Station via Madison.

Notable people

  • Donald R. Atkinson, educator and writer
  • Frank Avery, Wisconsin State Senator
  • Stan Barnes, judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
  • Virgil H. Cady, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Tiny Cahoon (1900 – 1973), NFL player
  • Jorge A. Carow, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Ella D. Crawford, temperance movement organizer
  • John V. Diener, mayor of Green Bay, Wisconsin
  • Evan Alfred Evans, judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
  • Evan Glodell, film director, producer, writer, and actor
  • Elna Jane Hilliard Grahn, educator
  • Henry C. Hansbrough, U.S. Senator from North Dakota
  • John R. Hofstatter, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Guy E. Holmes, musician and composer
  • John J. Jenkins, U.S. Representative
  • Robert J. Keller, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Alan and Dale Klapmeier, founders of Cirrus Aircraft
  • Len Koenecke (1904 – 1935), MLB player
  • Belle Case La Follette, lawyer and activist
  • Nancy Lange, First Lady of Peru
  • Louise M. Lawson (1855–1951), president, Wisconsin State Woman's Christian Temperance Union
  • Aldo Leopold, naturalist
  • Daryl Morey, former general manager of the Houston Rockets (2007–2020), currently the president of basketball operations for the Philadelphia 76ers
  • Mary Mortimer (1816–1877), British-born American educator
  • Beryl Newman, Medal of Honor recipient
  • John Ringling North, president and director of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus
  • Stuart Palmer (1905 – 1968), mystery novelist
  • Delando Pratt, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Mike Reinfeldt, NFL player and executive
  • Cyrus Remington, Wisconsin State Representative and jurist
  • Bradbury Robinson, threw the first forward pass in football history, grew up in Baraboo
  • Lyle Seeman, (born in Baraboo) military engineer, administrator, and commander involved in the Manhattan Project; college football player for the West Point team
  • Algie Martin Simons, socialist newspaper editor, attended high school in Baraboo
  • Terry Stieve, NFL player
  • Walter Terry, Wisconsin legislator
  • John M. True, Wisconsin legislator
  • C. F. Viebahn, Wisconsin State Representative
  • David Vittum, Wisconsin State Senator
  • Lewis N. Wood, Wisconsin State Representative
  • Edwin E. Woodman, Wisconsin State Senator

Notes

  • City of Baraboo