Appleton, Wisconsin

Appleton is a city in Outagamie, Calumet, and Winnebago Counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is situated on the Fox River, 30 miles (48 km) southwest of Green Bay and 100 miles (161 km) north of Milwaukee. Appleton is the county seat of Outagamie County. The population was 78,086 at the 2010 census. Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton, Wisconsin Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Appleton-Oshkosh-Neenah, Wisconsin Combined Statistical Area. The cities of Appleton, Neenah, Menasha, Little Chute, Kimberly, Combined Locks, and Kaukauna are collectively called the Fox Cities.

History
Fur traders seeking to do business with Fox River Valley Indians were the first European settlers in Appleton. Hippolyte Grignon built the White Heron in 1835 to house his family and serve as an inn and trading post.

Appleton was settled in 1847 and incorporated as a village in 1853. John F. Johnston was the first resident and village president. Home to Lawrence University, Appleton grew along with the school. With the financial backing of Amos A. Lawrence, the Lawrence Institute was chartered in 1847. Samuel Appleton, Lawrence's father-in-law, donated $10,000 to the newly founded college library, and his name was given to the community in appreciation.

The community was incorporated as a city on March 2, 1857, with Amos Storey as its first mayor. Early in the 20th century, it adopted the commission form of government. In 1890, 11,869 people lived in Appleton; in 1900, there were 15,085; in 1910, 16,773; in 1920, 19,571; and in 1940, 28,436.

The paper industry, beginning with the building of the first paper mill in the city in 1853, has been at the forefront of the development of Appleton. In order to provide electricity to the paper industry, the nation's first hydro-electric central station, the Vulcan Street Plant on the Fox River, began operation on September 30, 1882. The power plant also powered the Hearthstone House, the first residence in the world powered by a centrally located hydroelectric station using the Edison system.

Shortly thereafter, in August 1886, Appleton was the site for another national first, the operation of a commercially successful electric streetcar company. Electric lights replaced gas lamps on College Avenue in 1912. Appleton also had the first telephone in Wisconsin, and the first incandescent light in any city outside of the East Coast.

Appleton's Valley Fair Shopping Center, built in 1954, laid claim to being the first enclosed shopping mall in the United States, although this claim is disputed by other malls. In 2007 most of the structure was demolished, leaving only its east wing and a movie theater. A Copps food store now stands in its place.

Demographics


Appleton is the principal city of the Appleton–Oshkosh–Neenah CSA, a Combined Statistical Area which includes the Appleton (Calumet and Outagamie counties) and Oshkosh–Neenah (Winnebago County) metropolitan areas, which had a combined population of 367,365 at the 2010 census.

As of the census of 2010, there were 78,086 people, 32,864 households, and 20,676 families residing in the city. The population density was 3455.9 /sqmi. There were 32,736 housing units at an average density of 1328.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the city was 77.48% White; 8.99% African American; 1.57% Native American; 6.61% Asian; 1.03% Pacific Islander; 1.05% from other races, and 3.27% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.53% of the population.

There were 32,864 households out of which 35.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.9% were married couples living together, 12.7% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.2% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.52 and the average family size was 4.13.

In the city the population was spread out with 27.4% under the age of 18; 12.7% from 18 to 24; 33.8% from 25 to 44; 17.7% from 45 to 64, and 7.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 31 years. For every 100 females there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.7 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $39,285, and the median income for a family was $44,097. Males had a median income of $36,459 versus $22,890 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,478. About 7.3% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.1% of those under age 18 and 4.8% of those age 65 or over.

Crime
FBI crime statistics for 2009 list the crime rate (per 100,000 population) for Appleton as follows:

Government
Appleton is governed via the mayor-council system. The mayor is elected in a citywide vote. The council, known as the common council, consists of 16 members, all of whom are elected from individual districts.The current mayor of Appleton is Timothy Hanna.

Transportation
The city is the owner of Valley Transit, a network of bus lines serving the Fox Valley. There are also several taxi operators in the city.

Rail
Appleton is criss-crossed by the former main lines of the Chicago and North Western Railway (southwest-northeast) and the Milwaukee, Lake Shore and Western (roughly southeast-northwest, and now largely abandoned except for local service to area paper mills and other industries). A north-south branch of the former Wisconsin Central Railroad passes on the west side of the city. All rail service is now operated by Canadian National Railway. Appleton has no intercity passenger rail service, although studies are being undertaken on the feasibility of extending Amtrak service to the Fox Cities and Green Bay.

Airport
Outagamie Co. Reg. Airport is located at the west end of College Ave 2 miles west of US 41 or 6 miles west of downtown. It has commercial airline service on Allegiant Airlines (serving Orlando Sanford, Phoenix Mesa and Las Vegas), Delta-Comair (serving Atlanta, Detroit, and Minneapolis) and United Express (serving Chicago O'Hare).

Education
Appleton is served by the Appleton Area School District, which has three high schools, six middle schools, seventeen elementary schools, and sixteen charter schools. The district's main public high schools are Appleton East, Appleton North, and Appleton West. The city also has three parochial high schools: Roman Catholic Xavier High School, Fox Valley Lutheran High School, and Appleton Christian School.

Appleton is home to Lawrence University, a private liberal arts college, Fox Valley Technical College, and Rasmussen College. The University of Wisconsin–Fox Valley, a two-year campus of the University of Wisconsin System, is located in nearby Menasha.

The city and surrounding area are served by the Appleton Public Library, which was chartered by the city in 1897 and as of 2010 has a collection of over 600,000 items.

Largest employers
As of 2009, the largest employers in the city were :

Companies headquartered in Appleton

 * The Boldt Company
 * Luvata Appleton
 * Miller Electric
 * N.W. Mauthe Company, Inc.
 * Omni Associates
 * Pierce Manufacturing
 * Mount Technology Corp.
 * Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
 * Appleton (formerly known as Appleton Papers)
 * SECURA Insurance Companies
 * Novatek Computer Systems, Inc.
 * Appleton Information Technologies, LLC

Health care

 * Appleton Medical Center
 * St. Elizabeth Hospital

Tourism
Appleton tourist attractions include the Hearthstone House, an 1881 four-story mansion that was the first house in the world to be powered by hydroelectricity. The The History Museum at the Castle contains exhibits on Fox River Valley history, including a gallery showcasing Edna Ferber, a Harry Houdini exhibit, and other traveling exhibits. The Paper Discovery Center has historic paper-making machines on display and an exhibit on the history of paper. Fox River Mall is the third-largest mall in Wisconsin.

Parks
The city of Appleton has 24 neighborhood parks and four community parks within its park system. The neighborhood parks range in size from two acres to 16 acres, while the community parks range in size from 25 acres to 139 acres.

Memorial Park is the largest of the community parks, covering 139 acres of land. The park provides a wide variety of facilities that can be found on site including: 7 baseball/softball fields, playground equipment, an indoor ice skating rink, sledding hill, picnic pavilion, a catch and release fishing pond, grills, and a warming shelter. The park also provides the firework display for the Appleton community during the 4th of July holiday.

City Park, established in 1882 is the oldest park within the Appleton park system. The Appleton Art Center utilizes the park for its Art in the Park showcase. The show features over 200 artists that draw over 25,000 art enthusiasts annually.

Notable natives and residents

 * Mary Agria, author
 * Gary Arndt, travel photographer and writer
 * George Baldwin, politician and businessman
 * Myrt Basing, NFL player
 * Rocky Bleier, NFL player, 4-time Super Bowl Champion
 * John Bradley, Iwo Jima Navy flag-raiser
 * Brian Butch, NBA player
 * Mark Catlin, Sr., football coach
 * Mark Catlin, Jr., ex-speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly
 * Cory Chisel, musician
 * Clarence Currie, MLB player
 * Willem Dafoe, actor
 * Helen J. Farabee, mental health activist
 * Royal T. Farrand, physician and college football player
 * Edna Ferber, author
 * Harold Vernon Froehlich, U.S. Representative
 * Edna Garrett, character actress Charlotte Rae played on the popular 1980s sitcom The Facts of Life
 * Henry Golde, author and Holocaust survivor
 * William Norman Grigg, author
 * Theodore Hardeen, magician
 * Walter Havighurst, author
 * J. P. Hayes, PGA golfer
 * George Hogriever, MLB player
 * Harry Houdini, magician


 * Roger Jenkins, hockey player
 * Erik Jensen, NFL player
 * Swede Johnston, NFL player
 * Steve Kagen, U.S. Congressman
 * Cole Konrad, Mixed Martial Artist
 * Ron Kostelnik, football player
 * Tony Kubek, Hall-of-Fame baseball player and announcer
 * Maury Laws, composer
 * Jeff Loomis, guitarist
 * August Knuppel, mason and contractor
 * Garrett Lowney, Olympic medalist
 * Joseph McCarthy, senator
 * Jack Mead, NFL player
 * John S. Mills, U.S. Air Force Major General
 * John Benjamin Murphy, surgeon
 * William Beverly Murphy, president of Campbell Soup Company
 * Chester J. Roberts, head coach of the Miami Redskins football and men's basketball teams
 * William J. Rogers, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
 * George J. Schneider, U.S. Representative
 * William J. Van Ryzin, U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant General
 * Greta Van Susteren, FoxNews television anchor
 * Don Werner, MLB player
 * Walter B. Wriston, banker
 * Terry Zwigoff, filmmaker

Points of interest

 * Appleton Art Center
 * Fox Cities Performing Arts Center
 * Fox River Mall (in nearby Grand Chute)
 * Fox Valley Technical College
 * Gardens of the Fox Cities
 * Goodland Field
 * Hearthstone Historic House Museum
 * The History Museum at the Castle
 * J. B. Courtney Woolen Mills
 * Lawrence University
 * St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church
 * Zion Lutheran Church
 * Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium, home of the Wisconsin Timber Rattlers (Minor League-Class A Midwest League)