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Grant County, Wisconsin
Grant County Courthouse, Armand D. Koch, architect, 1902
Location in the U.S. state of Wisconsin
Wisconsin's location in the U.S.
Founded	1837
Seat	Lancaster
Largest city	Platteville
Area
• Total	1,183 sq mi (3,064 km2)
• Land	1,147 sq mi (2,971 km2)
• Water	36 sq mi (93 km2), 3.1%
Population
• (2010)	51,208
• Density	45/sq mi (17/km2)
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 2010 census, the population was 51,208.^[1] Its county seat is Lancaster.^[2]

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 Indians 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 1776 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.^[3] It was named after an Indian trader; his first name, origins, and eventual fate are all unknown.^[4]

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.^[5]

Major highways

Airports

• KPVB - Platteville Municipal Airport serves the county and surrounding communities.


• 73C - Lancaster Municipal Airport enhances county service.

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

2000 Census Age Pyramid for Grant County.

As of the census^[11] 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 according to Census 2000.

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.

Government and infrastructure

The Wisconsin Secure Program Facility (WSPF), a Wisconsin Department of Corrections prison for men, is located in Boscobel in Grant County.^[12][13]

Politics

Communities

Cities

• Boscobel


• 
  Cuba City (partly in Lafayette County)


• Fennimore


• 
  Lancaster (county seat)


• Platteville

Villages

Towns

Census-designated places

• Glen Haven


• Kieler


• Sandy Hook

Unincorporated communities

Ghost town/neighborhood

• Sinnipee

Notable people

• 
  Willard H. Burney, member of the Nebraska House of Representatives^[15]


• 
  B. W. Countryman, member of the South Dakota House of Representatives^[16]


• 
  John Lewis Dyer, Methodist circuit rider missionary in Minnesota and Colorado; lead miner in Grant County prior to 1848^[17]


• 
  William Garner Waddel, member of the South Dakota Senate^[18]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Grant County, Wisconsin


• Upper Mississippi River National Wildlife and Fish Refuge

Footnotes

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

Coordinates: 42°52′N 90°43′W / 42.86°N 90.71°W / 42.86; -90.71