Portage, Wisconsin
Portage, Wisconsin Location of Portage, Wisconsin Location of Portage, Wisconsin State Wisconsin Portage is a town/city in and the governmental center of county of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States. The populace was 10,662 at the 2010 census making it the biggest city in Columbia County.
Portage was titled for the Fox-Wisconsin Waterway, a overland between the Fox River and the Wisconsin River, which was recognized by Jacques Marquette and Louis Joliet amid their discernment of a route to the Mississippi River in 1673.
Wisconsin in 1718, Guillaume de L'Isle map, showing the historic portage.
The Native American tribes that once lived here, and later the European traders and settlers, took favor of the lowlands between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers as a natural "portage".
From there, they were told to overland their canoes a distance of slightly less than two miles through marsh and oak plains to the Wisconsin River.
As a portage, this improve advanced as a center of commerce and trade; later, a canal was constructed to facilitate this trade.
Portage emerged at this place because of its unique position along the one and a half mile strip of marshy floodplain between the Fox and Wisconsin Rivers.
By the end of the 17th century, the Fox-Wisconsin waterway, linked at The Portage, served as the primary fur trade thoroughfare between Green Bay and Prairie du Chien.
In the early 19th century Portage was primarily populated by Metis. In 1828, the federal government recognized the strategic economic importance of The Portage and assembled Fort Winnebago at the Fox River end.
After 15 years of controversy, Winnebago settlement (now Portage) won the governmental center of county in 1851.
The improve incorporated as Portage City in 1854.
The Portage company precinct lies along a hill that overlooks the Portage Canal.
The buildings now in the city's downtown were once part of a bustling, urban commercial center serving a large region athwart north central Wisconsin.
Wisconsin American Legion Museum and Learning Center Historic Portage Canal Wisconsin State Historical Markers in Portage Aerial view of Portage, Wisconsin Portage lies in the Wisconsin River valley.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 9.62 square miles (24.92 km2), of which, 8.82 square miles (22.84 km2) is territory and 0.80 square miles (2.07 km2) is water. The locale of the town at the split of the Wisconsin and Fox river is what gives it the name "Portage", which means carrying a boat of its cargo between two navigable waters.
The northern side of the town/city thus looks different from the central city, with the ordered grid street fitness giving way to a more suburban streetscape with a lower housing density.
Historical landmarks of the town/city include the Museum at the Portage, the Indian Agency home, and the Surgeons Quarters.
The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 90.9% White, 5.0% African American, 0.9% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 0.7% from other competitions, and 1.6% from two or more competitions.
There were 4,060 homeholds of which 31.0% had kids under the age of 18 residing with them, 40.5% were married couples residing together, 11.9% had a female homeholder with no husband present, 5.4% had a male homeholder with no wife present, and 42.1% were non-families.
The median age in the town/city was 37.2 years.
The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 92.76% White, 3.90% African American, 0.51% Native American, 0.71% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 0.85% from other competitions, and 1.21% from two or more competitions.
There were 3,770 homeholds out of which 30.1% had kids under the age of 18 residing with them, 44.5% were married couples residing together, 10.7% had a female homeholder with no husband present, and 40.9% were non-families.
In the city, the populace was spread out with 23.3% under the age of 18, 10.6% from 18 to 24, 31.7% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 15.2% who were 65 years of age or older.
The median income for a homehold in the town/city was $35,815, and the median income for a family was $44,804.
Portage High School, 1911 Portage Community School District serves Portage.
Portage High School (Wisconsin) was recently upgraded to a larger building, with the older high school building now housing the Wayne E.
Portage has three elementary schools: John Muir, Woodridge, and Rusch.
The Madison Area Technical College, also has a ground located in Portage.
Wisconsin Department of Corrections operates the Columbia Correctional Institution.
Three interstate highways, Interstate 94, Interstate 90, and Interstate 39 run past Portage, giving the town/city a 30-minute commute to Madison and 15-minute commute to Wisconsin Dells.
Portage is served by Amtrak's Empire Builder between Chicago and Seattle, with a train stopping there in each direction every day.
Portage is served by intercity bus from Milwaukee via Madison and to Wisconsin Rapids via Stevens Point, with a bus stopping in each direction everyday at the Portage station. Portage Municipal Airport (C47) serves the town/city and encircling communities.
Alvin Alden, Wisconsin politician Barden, Wisconsin politician Everett Bidwell, Wisconsin politician Ben Brancel, Wisconsin politician Brannan, Wisconsin politician and journal editor Corning, Wisconsin politician Falconer, Wisconsin politician Charles Randall Gallett, Wisconsin politician Frank Goodell, Wisconsin politician Herman Lange, Wisconsin politician Hugh Mc - Farlane, Wisconsin politician William Owen, Wisconsin politician Joan Wade, Wisconsin politician Wisconsin Historical Society.
Official List of Wisconsin's State Historic Markers The Legislative Manual of the State of Wisconsin: Comprising the Constitution of the United States and of the State of Wisconsin, Jefferson's Manual, Forms and Laws for the Regulation of Business, etc.
'Wisconsin Blue Book 1899,' Biographical Sketch of Jabez H.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Portage, Wisconsin.
City of Portage Municipalities and communities of Columbia County, Wisconsin, United States County seat: Portage Columbus Lodi Portage Wisconsin Dells
Categories:
Portage, Wisconsin - Cities in Wisconsin - Cities in Columbia County, Wisconsin - Portages in the United States - County seats in Wisconsin - Populated places established in 1854
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