Fond du Lac, Wisconsin

Fond du Lac is a city in Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin, United States. The name is French for bottom (or foot) of the lake, for it is located at the bottom (south end) of Lake Winnebago. The population was 43,021 at the 2010 census. The city borders the Town of Fond du Lac, although a small portion borders other adjacent towns.

The city forms the core of the United States Census Bureau's Fond du Lac Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Fond du Lac County (2000 population: 97,296). Fond du Lac is the 342nd largest Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in the United States. The Fond du Lac MSA and the Beaver Dam (city), WI Micropolitan Statistical Area, form the larger Fond du Lac-Beaver Dam, WI Combined Statistical Area. Other large communities in the area include Ripon and Waupun. It was named the safest metropolitan area in the United States in the 2006 edition of City Crime Rankings by Quinto Press.

History
Native American tribes, primarily the Winnebagos but inclusive of the Potawatomi, Kickapoo, and Mascoutin lived or gathered in the area long before European explorers arrived. While there is no way of knowing who was the first white man to explore the southern end of Lake Winnebago, it was probably Claude-Jean Allouez, followed by French fur trappers.

James Doty, a federal judge for the western part of the Michigan Territory, thought that the land at the foot of Lake Winnebago might someday be a great city. Consequently, he and his partners bought land in the area. In 1836, during the Wisconsin Territorial Legislature, John Arndt proposed making Fond du Lac the new capital. The motion failed, and Doty convinced the legislature to choose Madison instead.

Colwert and Fanna Pier were the first white residents of the area. The first school in Fond du Lac was built in 1843. The first railroad came to Fond du Lac in 1852. Logging and milling were primary industries in the late 1880s, with access to the lake as the engine of the industry.

Geography
Fond du Lac is located at 43.775°N, -88.44472°W (43.775139, -88.444907).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.2 square miles (47.1 km²), of which, 16.9 square miles (43.7 km²) of it is land and 1.3 square miles (3.4 km²) of it (7.31%) is water.

Demographics


Fond du Lac is the larger principal city of the Fond du Lac-Beaver Dam CSA, a Combined Statistical Area that includes the Fond du Lac metropolitan area (Fond du Lac County) and the Beaver Dam micropolitan area (Dodge County),  which had a combined population of 183,193 at the 2000 census.

As of the census of 2000, there were 42,203 people, 16,638 households, and 10,282 families residing in the city. The population density was 2,501.3 people per square mile (965.9/km²). There were 17,519 housing units at an average density of 1,038.3 per square mile (401.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 93.59% White, 1.86% Black or African American, 0.51% Native American, 1.52% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 1.27% from other races, and 1.25% from two or more races. 2.92% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 16,638 households out of which 30.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 9.8% had a female householder with no husband present, and 38.2% were non-families. 30.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 12.5% 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 3.00.

In the city the population was spread out with 24.2% under the age of 18, 10.7% from 18 to 24, 29.4% from 25 to 44, 20.4% from 45 to 64, and 15.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 88.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $41,113, and the median income for a family was $50,341. Males had a median income of $35,682 versus $22,492 for females. The per capita income for the city was $18,996. About 4.6% of families and 7.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 7.9% of those under age 18 and 8.9% of those age 65 or over.

Education
Fond du Lac is the home of three colleges: Marian University, a private Catholic four-year university; the University of Wisconsin-Fond du Lac, a two-year college in the University of Wisconsin System; and the main campus for Moraine Park Technical College, a two-year technical college in the Wisconsin Technical College System.

Fond du Lac is served by the Fond du Lac School District that includes:
 * Fond du Lac High School (Over 2,100 students in grades 9-12)
 * Woodworth Middle School (Over 475 students in grades 6-8)
 * Sabish Middle School (Over 500 students in grades 6-8)
 * Theisen Middle School (Over 500 students in grades 6-8)
 * Chegwin Elementary School (Over 350 students in grades K-5)
 * Evans Elementary School (Over 325 students in grades K-5)
 * Lakeshore Elementary School (Over 425 students in grades K-5)
 * Parkside Elementary School (Over 250 students in grades K-5)
 * Pier Elementary School (Over 425 students in grades K-5)
 * Riverside Elementary School (Over 325 students in grades K-5)
 * Roberts Elementary School (Over 425 students in grades K-5)
 * Rosenow Elementary School (Over 425 students in grades K-5)
 * Waters Elementary School (Over 450 students in grades K-5)

Private secondary schools in Fond du Lac include: Winnebago Lutheran Academy, a Lutheran (WELS) high school; St. Mary Springs High School, a Catholic high school; Fond du Lac Christian School, an interdenominational K-12 school; and Trinity Baptist School, a Baptist K-12 school.

St. Mary's Springs Academy, in addition to the High School, also operates an elementary school and middle school which were formerly under the name Fond du Lac Area Catholic Education System (FACES). Fond du Lac also has four Lutheran primary schools.

Newspapers

 * The Reporter&mdash;Daily newspaper, owned by Gannett Newspapers
 * Action Advertiser&mdash;Free newspaper printed on Wednesdays and Sundays, also owned by Gannett.

Religion
Fond du Lac's population is about one-third Roman Catholic, at one time having seven Catholic churches in the city and surrounding area.

On Monday March 19, 2007, St. Louis Church was discovered to be on fire. By the end of the night, the south spire and the entire roof of the sanctuary had collapsed. The church building has now been demolished and is the home of Attitude Sports. The cause of the fire was never determined.

Since then, the Catholic community has created a focal point called the Holy Family Catholic Church, which is a merger of St. Mary, St. Joseph, Sacred Heart, St. Louis, St. Patrick and St. Peter. Three churches, St. Patrick, St. Joseph and St. Louis, have been closed and a new worship center has been built. Sacred Heart and St. Mary, and St. Peter remain open.

The mother house of the Sisters of Saint Agnes is located in Fond du Lac. They operate Agnesian HealthCare and St. Agnes Hospital in the city.

Fond du Lac is the episcopal see of the Episcopal Diocese of Fond du Lac. St. Paul's Cathedral is the mother church of the Diocese.

Fond du Lac also has a synagogue, Temple Beth Israel. While Jews first came to Fond du Lac in the late 19th century, the first synagogue was not established until 1914.

Business and industry

 * ACNielsen, a division of The Nielsen Company
 * Charter Communications has a regional call center and operations base for the northeastern part of their Wisconsin service area near the city
 * Mercury Marine, a division of the Brunswick Corporation, and the largest maker of outboard motors in the world
 * The Wisconsin division of Wellpoint, operating as Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield has a national call center and office in Fond du Lac

Culture
Fond du Lac is the county seat of Fond du Lac County and the site of the Fond du Lac County Fairgrounds. The Fond du Lac County Fair takes place annually in late July.

Fond du Lac is also host to Walleye Weekend, an annual summer festival centered around the Mercury Marine National Walleye Fishing Tournament. Walleye Weekend, usually hosted on the second weekend in June is a "Free Family Fun Festival" held in Lakeside Park on the south shore of Lake Winnebago.

Also, an annual fall festival is also held in September, called Fondue Fest. The festival was first held in September 2007 when a collaboration project between The Melting Pot and Brenner Tank created and set the Guinness World Record for the world's largest fondue set. The festival has been held since.

The character Vern Roscoe in Upton Sinclair's novel Oil! (the inspiration for the 2007 film There Will Be Blood) is loosely based on Edward L. Doheny, an Irish-American oil tycoon and former Fond du Lac resident.

Fond du Lac is referenced in a number of popular songs, the most notable being "I've Been Everywhere", popularized by Johnny Cash. Other songs include Cheeseheads With Attitude's "(I'm A) Cheesehead Baby" and Ike Reilly's "7 Come 11".

The novel Seventeenth Summer, written by Maureen Daly and published in 1942, takes place in the city of Fond du Lac. The novels Red as in Russia and Measles and Love and Green as in Springtime, a New Life, and God's Will, written by Linda Jane Niedfeldt and published in 1992 and 1994, respectively, describe a Lutheran family's flight from religious persecution in Russia in 1927 to begin a new life in Fond du Lac.

Parks
The largest park in Fond du Lac, Lakeside Park contains more than 400 acre of open recreational space on the south end of Lake Winnebago. Year-round activities include a whitetail deer exhibit. Summer activities include flower displays, boating, picnics, and weddings within the park's picturesque landscape. From April 15 to October 15, the Lakeside Park Lighthouse, built in 1933, and its observation tower are open. Visitors can take rides on a miniature train and an antique carousel. The park also contains four jungle gyms and a petting zoo. A steam locomotive stands at the Main Street entrance to the park, donated by the Soo Line in 1955. Lakeside Park hosts a holiday event featuring a "dancing lights" display, decorations and music.

Buttermilk Creek Park is a large, grassy, hilly park containing an amphitheater, two jungle gyms, and a sledding hill.

Other parks include: Taylor Park and Pool, Butzen (Danbury) Park, Jefferson Park, Fairgrounds Park and Pool, and Playmore Park.

Lottery winnings and the "Miracle Mile"
In the 1990s, several grocery and convenience stores on a stretch of South Main Street in Fond du Lac sold large winning Wisconsin Lottery tickets, resulting in that part of Main Street being dubbed "The Miracle Mile." The first ticket, sold by Sentry Grocery Store (now closed), was for over $100 million and was won on July 6, 1993, by then Sabish Junior High (now middle school) English teacher, Les Robbins, and his then-fiancee, Colleen DeVries.

On August 5, 2006, Ma and Pa's Grocery Express, which is in the heart of the Miracle Mile, sold the only winning Powerball ticket for $209 million. The ticket was claimed on September 22, 2006 by 100 factory workers from Sargento Cheese in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Another group of Sargento employees also won a $10,000 prize in August 2007.

Notable residents

 * William Aldrich, U.S. Representative from Illinois
 * Ed Aspatore, NFL player
 * Jeanne Bice, television personality and founder of the Quaker Factory clothing line
 * Bob Blewett, MLB player
 * Edward S. Bragg, Union Army general, U.S. Representative, U.S. Ambassador
 * Jonathon Brandmeier, Chicago disc jockey on WLUP-FM
 * Warren Braun, Wisconsin State Senator
 * Benjamin Buck, Distinguished Service Cross recipient
 * Thomas Cale, U.S. Congressional Delegate from Alaska Territory
 * Tony Cramp, Distinguished Service Cross recipient
 * Ken Criter, NFL player
 * Charles Henry De Groat, Union Army general
 * Drake Diener, professional basketball player
 * Travis Diener, professional basketball player
 * Jim Dilling, Track & Field high jumper
 * Edward L. Doheny, American oil tycoon
 * F. Ryan Duffy, U.S. Senator and Judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals
 * Charles A. Eldredge, U.S. Representative
 * Paul Erickson, MLB player
 * Rudolph W. E. Fritzke, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
 * Jim Gantner, MLB player
 * Jeanna Giese, first person known to have been successfully treated for rabies without receiving a vaccine.
 * King Camp Gillette, inventor of the safety razor and founder of The Gillette Company.
 * Don Gorske, Big Mac enthusiast
 * J. Herbert Green, Wisconsin State Senator
 * Herbert J. Grover, educator and politician
 * Corwin C. Guell, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
 * E. Harold Hallows, Chief Justice of the Wisconsin Supreme Court
 * Charles Smith Hamilton, Union Army Major General
 * Gordon Hammes, professor
 * Bert Husting, MLB player
 * Paul O. Husting, U.S. Senator
 * Edward H. Jenison, U.S. Representative from Illinois
 * Colin Kaepernick, NFL player
 * Ann Klapperich, professional basketball player
 * Nub Kleinke, MLB player
 * Polly Koch, professional football player
 * John B. Macy, U.S. Representative, drowned on the steamer Niagara
 * Scott McCallum, former Governor of Wisconsin
 * Earl F. McEssy, Wisconsin State Assemblyman
 * Edward McGlachlin, Jr., U.S. Army Major General
 * Hugh J. McGrath, Medal of Honor recipient
 * James Megellas, retired US Army officer who commanded company "H" of the 3rd Battalion, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 82nd Airborne Division in World War II.
 * Charles Henry Morgan, U.S. Representative from Missouri
 * Leo P. O'Brien, Wisconsin State Senator
 * Christian Patterson, artist
 * Tom Petri, current Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives for the 6th District of Wisconsin
 * John Abner Race, U.S. Representative
 * Cory Raymer, retired center for Washington Redskins and San Diego Chargers of the NFL.
 * Michael K. Reilly, U.S. Representative
 * Eric Schafer, professional mixed martial arts fighter in the Ultimate Fighting Championship
 * Thomas Wilson Spence, legislator and lawyer
 * Nathaniel Tallmadge, U.S. Senator from New York
 * David Taylor, judge
 * Darold Treffert, psychiatrist
 * William K. Van Pelt, U.S. Representative
 * Lyman M. Ward, Union Army general
 * Owen A. Wells, U.S. Representative
 * Charles T. Zimmerman, Distinguished Service Cross recipient