Dodge County, Wisconsin

{{Infobox U.S. county

| county = Dodge County

| state = Wisconsin

| seal =

| founded year = 1844

| founded date =

| seat wl = Juneau

| largest city wl = Beaver Dam

| area_total_sq_mi = 907

| area_land_sq_mi = 876

| area_water_sq_mi = 31

| area percentage = 3.5

| population_as_of = 2020

| population_total = 89396

| population_density_sq_mi = 102.1

| population_footnotes =

| pop_est_as_of = 2023

| population_est = 88231 {{loss}}

| time zone = Central

| footnotes =

| web = www.co.dodge.wi.gov

| named for = Henry Dodge

| ex image = DodgeCountyWisconsinAdministrationBuilding.jpg

| ex image cap = Dodge County Administration building

| district = 5th

| district2 = 6th

}}

Dodge County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 89,396.{{cite web|title=State & County QuickFacts|url=http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/55027.html|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=January 18, 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606145718/http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/55/55027.html|archive-date=June 6, 2011}} Its county seat is Juneau.{{cite web|url=http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |access-date=June 7, 2011 |title=Find a County |publisher=National Association of Counties |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110531210815/http://www.naco.org/Counties/Pages/FindACounty.aspx |archive-date=May 31, 2011 }} The county was created from the Wisconsin Territory in 1836 and organized in 1844.{{cite web|url=http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|title=Wisconsin: Individual County Chronologies|website=Wisconsin Atlas of Historical County Boundaries|publisher=The Newberry Library|date=2007|access-date=August 13, 2015|archive-date=April 14, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170414132220/http://publications.newberry.org/ahcbp/documents/WI_Individual_County_Chronologies.htm|url-status=dead}}

Dodge County comprises the Beaver Dam, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area, which is included in the Milwaukee–Racine–Waukesha, WI Combined Statistical Area.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of {{convert|907|sqmi}}, of which {{convert|876|sqmi}} is land and {{convert|31|sqmi}} (3.5%) is water.{{cite web|url=http://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/counties_list_55.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 4, 2015|date=August 22, 2012|title=2010 Census Gazetteer Files}}

The 6,718 acre Beaver Dam Lake and the 2,713 acre Fox Lake are found within the county.

=Adjacent counties=

Fond du Lac County – northeast
Washington County – east
Waukesha County – southeast
Jefferson County – south
Dane County – southwest
Columbia County – west
Green Lake County – northwest

=National protected area=

Horicon National Wildlife Refuge (part)

Climate

{|

|-

|{{climate chart

| Dodge County

| -12| -7| 83

| -14| -5| 80

| -7| 4| 82

| 3| 17| 160

| 6| 22| 122

| 15| 26| 163

| 17| 25| 91

| 17| 24| 95

| 11| 21| 75

| 6| 15| 107

| -3| 7| 62

| -11| -3| 70

|float=left

|clear=left

|source = {{Cite web|url= http://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php|title= NASA Earth Observations Data Set Index|access-date= January 30, 2016|publisher= NASA|archive-date= April 7, 2019|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190407091601/https://neo.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/dataset_index.php|url-status= dead}}

}}

|}

Demographics

{{US Census population

|1840= 67

|1850= 19138

|1860= 42818

|1870= 47035

|1880= 45931

|1890= 44984

|1900= 46631

|1910= 47436

|1920= 49742

|1930= 52092

|1940= 54280

|1950= 57611

|1960= 63170

|1970= 69004

|1980= 75064

|1990= 76559

|2000= 85897

|2010= 88759

|align-fn=center

|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=U.S. Decennial Census|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 4, 2015}}
1790–1960{{cite web|url=http://mapserver.lib.virginia.edu|title=Historical Census Browser|publisher=University of Virginia Library|access-date=August 4, 2015}} 1900–1990{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/cencounts/wi190090.txt|title=Population of Counties by Decennial Census: 1900 to 1990|publisher=United States Census Bureau|editor-last=Forstall|editor-first=Richard L.|date=March 27, 1995|access-date=August 4, 2015}}
1990–2000{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/briefs/phc-t4/tables/tab02.pdf |archive-date=October 9, 2022 |url-status=live|title=Census 2000 PHC-T-4. Ranking Tables for Counties: 1990 and 2000|publisher=United States Census Bureau|date=April 2, 2001|access-date=August 4, 2015}} 2010–2020

|2020=89396}}

=2020 census=

As of the census of 2020,{{cite web|title=2020 Decennial Census: Dodge County, Wisconsin |url=https://data.census.gov/cedsci/table?g=0500000US55027&y=2020&d=DEC%20Redistricting%20Data%20%28PL%2094-171%29 |website=data.census.gov |publisher=U.S. Census Bureau |access-date=July 5, 2022}} the population was 89,396. The population density was {{convert|102.1|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people|}}. There were 38,123 housing units at an average density of {{convert|43.5|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 88.8% White, 3.1% Black or African American, 0.6% Asian, 0.5% Native American, 2.4% from other races, and 4.6% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 6.1% Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Image:DodgeCountyFairgroundsGrandstands.jpg

File:Dodge County Wisconsin Sign Looking Northeast on US 151.jpg]]

=2000 census=

As of the census of 2000,{{cite web |title=U.S. Census website |url=https://www.census.gov |access-date=May 14, 2011 |publisher=United States Census Bureau}} there were 85,897 people, 31,417 households, and 22,313 families residing in the county. The population density was {{convert|97|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|people |people|}}. There were 33,672 housing units at an average density of {{convert|38|/mi2|/km2|disp=preunit|units |units|}}. The racial makeup of the county was 95.28% White, 2.49% Black or African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.34% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.87% from other races, and 0.58% from two or more races. 2.55% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Ancestry-wise, 56.2% were of German, 8.7% Irish, 5.0% English, 4.2% Norwegian and 3.9% selected "United States or American" ancestry. 95.4% spoke English, 2.2% Spanish and 2.0% other Indo-European languages as their language spoken at home.{{cite web|url= http://censtats.census.gov/data/WI/05055027.pdf|title= Dodge County, Wisconsin Demographics tables DP-1, DP-2 Profile of Selected Social Characteristics: 2000|website= US Census|year= 2000|access-date=December 7, 2014|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080706165605/http://censtats.census.gov/data/WI/05055027.pdf|archive-date=July 6, 2008|url-status= dead}}

There were 31,417 households, out of which 33.90% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 59.60% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.00% were non-families. 24.10% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.80% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56 and the average family size was 3.05.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 24.80% under the age of 18, 8.30% from 18 to 24, 31.20% from 25 to 44, 21.90% from 45 to 64, and 14.00% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 109.70 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.80 males.

In 2017, there were 758 births, giving a general fertility rate of 54.0 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the 12th lowest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.{{Cite web |url=https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publication/p01161-2019-tb.xlsx |title=Annual Wisconsin Birth and Infant Mortality Report, 2017 P-01161-19 (June 2019): Detailed Tables |access-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-date=June 19, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190619175940/https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/publication/p01161-2019-tb.xlsx |url-status=dead }}

Transportation

=Major highways=

=Railroads=

=Buses=

=Airport=

Dodge County Airport (KUNU) serves the county and surrounding communities.

Communities

=Cities=

Beaver Dam
Columbus (mostly in Columbia County)
Fox Lake
Hartford (part; mostly in Washington County)
Horicon
Juneau (county seat)
Mayville
Watertown (mostly in Jefferson County)
Waupun (partly in Fond du Lac County)

=Villages=

=Towns=

=Census-designated places=

=Unincorporated communities=

=Ghost town=

Clason Prairie

Gallery

File:Dodge County Fairgrunds Beaver Dam, Wisconsin 4.jpg|Dodge County Fairgrounds

File:Dodge County Historical Society Beaver Dam, Wisconsin.jpg|Dodge County Historical Society

File:Beaver Dam, Wisconsin Downtown.jpg|Downtown Beaver Dam, Wisconsin

File:Watertown River Walk 02.jpg|Watertown Riverwalk

Politics

{{PresHead|place=Dodge County, Wisconsin|source={{Cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS|title=Dave Leip's Atlas of U.S. Presidential Elections|last=Leip|first=David|website=uselectionatlas.org|access-date=November 11, 2020}}}}

{{PresRow|1924|Progressive (Wisconsin)|5,167|2,019|9,785|Wisconsin}}

Since 1940, Dodge County has been a Republican stronghold in presidential elections. It has voted Republican in every election in that span with the exception of the 1964 landslide victory of Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson. Only six other times in that span has the Democratic candidate obtained at least 40% of the vote. In 2024, Donald Trump received over 65% of the vote in Dodge County, the best Republican performance since the 1956 landslide reelection of Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Historically, Dodge County had been a major stronghold of the Democratic Party in Wisconsin, from the establishment of the state, in 1848, until the 1910s, when a combination of {{nowrap|World War I}} and the rise of the progressive faction of Republicans began to eat into the Democratic vote in the county. A significant factor in the switch was the anti-war attitude among the county's large German American population. Democratic president Woodrow Wilson and Wisconsin's Democratic U.S. senator Paul O. Husting (who was actually from Dodge County) supported the declaration of war against Germany in 1917, while progressive Republican leader Robert M. La Follette was one of only six senators who voted against the resolution. In the next presidential election, Dodge County gave 77% of its votes to the Republican nominee—the largest majority the county has given to either party in the last 130 years.

References

External links

[http://www.co.dodge.wi.gov/ Dodge County official website]
[http://wisconsindot.gov/Documents/travel/road/hwy-maps/county-maps/dodge.pdf Dodge County map] from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
[http://www.dodgecounty.com/ Dodge County Tourism Association]
[http://beaverdamchamber.com/ Beaver Dam Area Chamber of Commerce]

{{Geographic Location

|Centre = Dodge County, Wisconsin

|North =

|Northeast = Fond du Lac County

|East = Washington County

|Southeast = Waukesha County

|South = Jefferson County

|Southwest = Dane County

|West = Columbia County

|Northwest = Green Lake County

}}

{{coord|43.42|-88.71|display=title|type:adm2nd_region:US-WI_source:UScensus1990}}