Grant County, Wisconsin

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Grant County, Wisconsin
Grant County Courthouse, Armand D. Koch, architect, 1902
Location in the state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location in the U.S.
Founded	1837
Seat	Lancaster
Largest city	Platteville
Area  - Total  - Land  - Water	1,183 sq mi (3,064 km²) 1,147 sq mi (2,971 km²) 36 sq mi (93 km²), 3.1
Population  - (2020)  - Density	51,938
Congressional district	3rd
Time zone	Central: UTC-6/-5
Website	www.co.grant.wi.gov/

Grant County is a county located in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 51,938. Its county seat is Lancaster. Grant County comprises the Platteville, WI Micropolitan Statistical Area. It is in the tri-state area of Illinois, Iowa, and Wisconsin, and is crossed by travelers commuting to Madison from a number of eastern Iowan cities, and by residents of northern Illinois traveling to the Twin Cities or La Crosse, Wisconsin.

History

Indian presence

What is now Grant County was largely uninhabited prior to contact with Europeans, as it was a border region between the territories of the Kickapoo, Menominee, and Illinois tribes. The only Native Americans to have a permanent settlement in the area were the Fox tribe, who had a temporary village in what is now the extreme northeast of the county during the mid-1700s.

Colonial period

Between 1520 and 1620 this area was nominally ruled by Spain, although the lack of explorers left the region completely untouched by Spanish authority. The first Frenchmen to reach what is now Grant County were Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet, who explored the region in the spring of 1673, after setting out from what would later become Green Bay. No permanent settlement was made. In 1680 Louis Hennepin also passed through the region that would later become Grant County, also making no permanent settlement. In 1689 Nicholas Perrot passed through the territory and claimed it for the King of France. The first settlement was a temporary trading post that Pierre Marin founded in 1725.

The British technically ruled the region during the period between the French and Indian War and the American Revolution, though no effort was made to settle or administer the region. After the abandonment of Marin's trading post, the region went unvisited until the expedition of Jonathan Carver, a Connecticut Yankee who passed through what is now Grant County in 1766 during an attempt to discover the Pacific Ocean.

American period

In 1783, the British government acknowledged the jurisdiction of the United States over the land east of the Mississippi River, including what is now Grant County. American and European traders visiting the region over the next decades were yet as nomadic as the Indians, and no records survive. Grant County was created as part of Wisconsin Territory in 1837. It was named after an Indian trader; his first name, origins, and eventual fate are all unknown.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,183 square miles (3,060 km²), of which 1,147 square miles (2,970 km²) is land and 36 square miles (93 km²) (3.1%) is water.

Major highways

• U.S. Highway 18
• U.S. Highway 61
• U.S. Highway 151
• Highway 11 (Wisconsin)
• Highway 35 (Wisconsin)
• Highway 80 (Wisconsin)
• Highway 81 (Wisconsin)
• Highway 133 (Wisconsin)

Railroads

• BNSF
• Wisconsin and Southern Railroad

Buses

• Platteville Public Transportation
• List of intercity bus stops in Wisconsin

Airports

• KOVS - Boscobel Municipal Airport
• KPVB - Platteville Municipal Airport serves the county and surrounding communities.
• 73C - Lancaster Municipal Airport enhances county service.
• C74 - Cassville Municipal Airport

Adjacent counties

• Crawford County, Wisconsin - north
• Richland County, Wisconsin - northeast
• Iowa County, Wisconsin - east
• Lafayette County, Wisconsin - east
• Jo Daviess County, Illinois - southeast
• Dubuque County, Iowa - south
• Clayton County, Iowa - west

Demographics

Historical populations
Census	Pop.		%±
1840	3,926		—
1850	16,169		311.8%
1860	31,189		92.9%
1870	37,979		21.8%
1880	37,852		−0.3%
1890	36,651		−3.2%
1900	38,881		6.1%
1910	39,007		0.3%
1920	39,044		0.1%
1930	38,469		−1.5%
1940	40,639		5.6%
1950	41,460		2.0%
1960	44,419		7.1%
1970	48,398		9.0%
1980	51,736		6.9%
1990	49,264		−4.8%
2000	49,597		0.7%
2010	51,208		3.2%
U.S. Decennial Census 1790–1960 1900–1990 1990–2000 2010–2020

2000 Census Age Pyramid for Grant County.

As of the census of 2000, there were 49,597 people, 18,465 households, and 12,390 families residing in the county. The population density was 43 people per square mile (17/km²). There were 19,940 housing units at an average density of 17 per square mile (7/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 98.23% White, 0.52% Black or African American, 0.13% Native American, 0.46% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.14% from other races, and 0.50% from two or more races. 0.56% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 52.0% were of German, 9.2% English, 8.8% Irish, 6.6% American and 6.4% Norwegian ancestry.

There were 18,465 households, out of which 30.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 56.10% were married couples living together, 7.50% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.90% were non-families. 26.00% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.10% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the county, the population was spread out, with 23.70% under the age of 18, 14.60% from 18 to 24, 24.80% from 25 to 44, 21.60% from 45 to 64, and 15.30% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 36 years. For every 100 females there were 103.00 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.00 males.

Politics

Grant County has been a reliably Republican county at the federal level for most of its existence. Starting in 1992 however, it voted for the Democratic candidate for President six elections in a row before shifting back to the GOP in 2016.

United States presidential election results for Grant County, Wisconsin

Year	Republican		Democratic		Third party
	No.	%	No.	%	No.	%
2020	14,142	55.22%	10,998	42.95%	468	1.83%
2016	12,350	50.68%	10,051	41.25%	1,967	8.07%
2012	10,255	42.29%	13,594	56.06%	399	1.65%
2008	9,068	37.29%	14,875	61.16%	377	1.55%
2004	12,208	48.32%	12,864	50.92%	192	0.76%
2000	10,240	46.64%	10,691	48.69%	1,025	4.67%
1996	7,021	36.54%	9,203	47.89%	2,991	15.57%
1992	7,678	33.16%	8,914	38.49%	6,565	28.35%
1988	10,049	51.32%	9,421	48.12%	110	0.56%
1984	13,430	62.58%	7,892	36.78%	138	0.64%
1980	13,298	55.82%	8,406	35.28%	2,120	8.90%
1976	12,016	54.11%	9,639	43.41%	552	2.49%
1972	11,873	62.29%	6,915	36.28%	273	1.43%
1968	10,789	62.49%	5,414	31.36%	1,061	6.15%
1964	7,872	45.74%	9,309	54.09%	30	0.17%
1960	11,564	60.05%	7,678	39.87%	16	0.08%
1956	11,648	68.69%	5,208	30.71%	102	0.60%
1952	14,327	77.21%	4,197	22.62%	32	0.17%
1948	8,299	55.00%	6,575	43.57%	215	1.42%
1944	10,226	62.56%	6,091	37.27%	28	0.17%
1940	11,143	59.40%	7,458	39.76%	158	0.84%
1936	7,196	41.11%	9,170	52.39%	1,137	6.50%
1932	5,986	37.60%	9,701	60.94%	232	1.46%
1928	10,052	59.85%	6,630	39.48%	112	0.67%
1924	5,714	40.33%	1,518	10.71%	6,937	48.96%
1920	9,638	80.92%	1,971	16.55%	302	2.54%
1916	4,718	56.29%	3,459	41.27%	205	2.45%
1912	3,283	41.63%	3,615	45.84%	988	12.53%
1908	4,989	55.09%	3,696	40.81%	371	4.10%
1904	5,804	64.52%	2,886	32.08%	305	3.39%
1900	5,609	61.15%	3,254	35.48%	309	3.37%
1896	5,315	57.40%	3,683	39.77%	262	2.83%
1892	4,217	50.23%	3,685	43.89%	494	5.88%

Communities

Cities

• Boscobel
• Cuba City (partly in Lafayette County)
• Fennimore
• Lancaster (county seat)
• Platteville

Villages

• Bagley
• Bloomington
• Blue River
• Cassville
• Dickeyville
• Hazel Green (partly in Lafayette County)
• Livingston (partly in Iowa County)
• Montfort (partly in Iowa County)
• Muscoda (partly in Iowa County)
• Mount Hope
• Patch Grove
• Potosi
• Tennyson
• Woodman

Towns

• Beetown
• Bloomington
• Cassville
• Castle Rock
• Clifton
• Ellenboro
• Fennimore
• Glen Haven
• Harrison
• Hazel Green
• Hickory Grove
• Jamestown
• Liberty
• Lima
• Little Grant
• Marion
• Millville
• Mount Hope
• Mount Ida
• Muscoda
• North Lancaster
• Paris
• Patch Grove
• Platteville
• Potosi
• Smelser
• South Lancaster
• Waterloo
• Watterstown
• Wingville
• Woodman
• Wyalusing

Census-designated places

• Glen Haven
• Kieler
• Sandy Hook

Unincorporated communities

• Annaton
• Arthur
• Beetown
• Bigpatch
• British Hollow
• Brodtville
• Buena Vista
• Burton
• Castle Rock
• Centerville
• Cornelia
• Diamond Grove
• Ellenboro
• Elmo
• Fair Play
• Five Points
• Flora Fountain
• Georgetown
• Hickory Grove
• Homer
• Hurricane
• Lancaster Junction
• Louisburg
• McCartney
• Millville
• Mount Ida
• North Andover
• Prairie Corners
• Preston
• Rockville
• Rutledge
• Saint Rose
• Shady Dell
• Sinsinawa
• Stitzer
• Union
• Van Buren
• Werley
• Wyalusing

Ghost town/neighborhood

• Pleasant Ridge
• Sinnipee

Notable people

• Willard H. Burney, member of the Nebraska House of Representatives
• B. W. Countryman, member of the South Dakota House of Representatives
• John Lewis Dyer, Methodist circuit rider missionary in Minnesota and Colorado; lead miner in Grant County prior to 1848
• William Garner Waddel, member of the South Dakota Senate

Pop culture

Music

"Prayer for Bagley John" is a song written by Wisconsin singer / songwriter Tom Thiel. The song is based on the story of a hermit who had lived near Bagley in Grant county, WI. The story was that John Bagley (Bagley John) would pass notes to the townspeople of Bagley and no one had ever heard him speak in all the years he lived nearby on the banks of the Mississippi river. John Bagley would often pay in gold pieces and so it was rumoured he had a large inheritance or had been involved in a robbery. John Bagley mysteriously disappeared without a trace. The song was included on Tom Thiel's 2017 album "Old Shadows" and the following year Thiel was named singer / songwriter of the year by the Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI).

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Grant County, Wisconsin
• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

Further reading

• Commemorative Biographical Record of the Counties of Rock, Green, Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette, Wisconsin, Containing Biographical Sketches of Prominent and Representative Citizens, and of Many of the Early Settled Families. Chicago: J. H. Beers and Co., 1901.
• History of Grant County, Wisconsin. Chicago: Western Historical Company, 1881.

External links

• Grant County Official Government Website
• Grant County map from the Wisconsin Department of Transportation
• Grant County Health and Demographic Data
• Grant County Sheriff's Office