Kenosha, Wisconsin

Kenosha (/kɛˈnoʊˌʃə/) is a city in and the county seat of Kenosha County, Wisconsin, United States.[8] Kenosha is on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan. With an estimated population of 99,944 as of July 1, 2019,[9] it is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin and the fourth-largest city on Lake Michigan. Although closer to Milwaukee, the city is part of the United States Census Bureau's Chicago combined statistical area (CSA)[10] and metropolitan statistical area.

Not to be confused with Keshena, Wisconsin.

Kenosha, Wisconsin
City
Kenosha's Lakefront
Seal
Location of Kenosha in Kenosha County, Wisconsin.
Kenosha
Location within Wisconsin
Kenosha
Location within the United States
Kenosha
Kenosha (North America)
Coordinates: 42°34′56″N 87°50′44″W
Country United States
State Wisconsin
CountyKenosha
SettledPike Creek, 1835
IncorporatedKenosha, February 8, 1850[1]
Government
 • TypeMunicipality
 • MayorJohn Antaramian[2]
 • City Admin.Ed Saint Peter[2]
Area
 • City28.45 sq mi (73.69 km2)
 • Land28.36 sq mi (73.46 km2)
 • Water0.09 sq mi (0.23 km2)
Elevation
604 ft (184 m)
Population
 • City99,218
 • Estimate 
(2019)[5]
99,944
 • RankUS: 294th
 • Density3,523.62/sq mi (1,360.46/km2)
 • Urban
124,064 (US: 256th)
Demonym(s)Kenoshan
Time zoneUTC−6 (CST)
 • Summer (DST)UTC−5 (CDT)
ZIP Codes
53140–53144
Area code(s)262
FIPS code55-39225[6]
GNIS feature ID1567416[7]
Websitewww.kenosha.org

History

Early archaeological sites have been discovered in the Kenosha vicinity; the discoverer of two sites believes they antedate the Clovis culture, making them contemporaneous with the ice age.[11] Paleo Indians settled in the area at least 13,500 years ago.[12]

The Potawatomi originally named the area Kenozia (also transcribed ginoozhe, kinoje) "place of the pike".[13]

The early name by the Ojibwa Indians is reported as Masu-kinoja. This describes the place of spawning trout as "trout (pike) come all at same time". Thousands of fish were entering the rivers from Lake Michigan. Harvesting these fish provided food for the coming months.

The land was ceded by the Potawatomi in 1833, when they sold the last of their land in Illinois and Wisconsin to the United States. They had hoped to protect their land claims by fighting alongside the United States in the Black Hawk War of 1832, but growing poverty forced them to sell their land in exchange for territory in Iowa and economic investments in schools and agriculture.[14]

The first white settlers, part of the Western Emigration Company, arrived immediately following the land cession in the early 1830s from Hannibal and Troy, New York, led by John Bullen, Jr., who sought to purchase enough land for a town. Thwarted in Milwaukee and Racine, the group arrived at Pike Creek on 6 June 1835, building log homes at first and, later, homes of frame, native stone, and brick. The first school and churches followed by 1835, with platting completed in 1836.[15] As more settlers arrived and the first post office was established, the community was first known as Pike Creek in 1836.[16] In the ensuing years, the area became an important Great Lakes shipping port, and in 1837, the village was renamed[16] Southport, a name which lives on as a southeast-side neighborhood, park, and elementary school, and has been adopted by several businesses.

In 1850, another change brought the growing city (and later Kenosha County) its current name, adapted from the Chippewa word Kinoje, which means pike or pickerel.[17]

Between 1902 and 1988, Kenosha produced millions of automobiles and trucks[18] under marques such as Jeffery, Rambler, Nash, Hudson, LaFayette, and American Motors Corporation (AMC). A prototype steam car was built in Kenosha by the Sullivan-Becker engineering firm in 1900. Two years later, the Thomas B. Jeffery Company, builders of the Sterling bicycle, began production of the Rambler runabout. In 1902, Rambler and Oldsmobile were the first cars to employ mass-production techniques. The 1902 Rambler was also the first automobile to use a steering wheel, rather than the then-common tiller-controlled steering. Auto executive Charles W. Nash purchased Jeffrey in 1916 and the new company became Nash Motors. In May 1954, Nash acquired Detroit-based Hudson and the new firm was named American Motors Corporation. A 47-acre (190,000 m2) west side park and an elementary school are named for Charles W. Nash.[19]

In 1973, residents in the Town of Pleasant Prairie sought to have territory annexed and rezoned to allow for the industrial development of agricultural property.[20] In the ensuing legal battle between the City and Pleasant Prairie, the town had accused the city of improperly coercing agricultural property owners into filing for rezoning and annexation as a means of developing property. One of the motivating factors behind this annexation was the fact that the city could provide infrastructure services, such as water and electric, that could not be provided by the town at levels needed to sustain industrial development. One of the town's arguments was that industrial development would jeopardize their residential nature. The court found that the annexation was proper and there was no "bribes" or improper conduct on the part of the city to facilitate the annexation.

Harborpark

In partnership with French automaker Renault, AMC manufactured several models in Kenosha in the early 1980s, including the Alliance, which won the 1983 "Car of The Year" award from Motor Trend. Two decades earlier, AMC's 1963 Rambler Classic had also received the award. In 1987, Renault sold its controlling interest in AMC to Chrysler Corporation, which had already contracted with AMC for the production of its M-body midsized cars at the Kenosha plant. The AMC Lakefront plant (1960–88), a smaller facility, was demolished in 1990 (a chimney-demolition ceremony that June drew 10,000 spectators) and was redeveloped into HarborPark.[21] The area now hosts lakeside condominiums, a large recreational marina, numerous parks and promenades, sculptures, fountains, the Kenosha Public Museum, and the Civil War Museum, all of which are connected by the Kenosha Electric Railway streetcar system.

From the start of the 20th century through the 1930s, Italian, Irish, Polish, and German immigrants, many of them skilled craftsmen, made their way to the city and contributed to the city's construction, culture, architecture, music, and literature.

Kenosha has 21 locations and three districts listed on the National Register of Historic Places[22] including the Library Park, Third Avenue, and the Civic Center historic districts. The city has a Kenosha Landmarks Commission, and among the many local city-designated landmarks are the 1929 YMCA at 711 59th Place, the Manor House at 6536 Third Avenue, the John McCaffary House at 5732 13th Court, the St. Matthew Episcopal Church at 5900 Seventh Avenue, the Washington Park Clubhouse at 2205 Washington Road, and the Justin Weed House at 3509 Washington Road.

In June 1993, the city installed reproductions of the historic Sheridan LeGrande street lights that were specially designed for Kenosha by Westinghouse Electric in 1928; these can be seen on Sixth Avenue between 54th Street and 59th Place. A classic two-mile (3.2 km) downtown electric streetcar system was opened on June 17, 2000, and on September 22, 2014, the Kenosha city council approved a crosstown extension of the system incorporating the existing route between 48th and 61st Streets on both 6th and 8th Avenues.[23]

Geography

Kenosha is in southeastern Wisconsin at 42°34′56″N 87°50′44″W (42.582220, -87.845624).[24] It is bordered by Lake Michigan to the east, the Town of Somers to the north, the village of Bristol to the west, and the village of Pleasant Prairie to the south. Kenosha's passenger train station is the last stop on Chicago's Union Pacific North Metra Line. Kenosha is 32 miles south of Milwaukee and 49 miles north of Chicago.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 27.03 square miles (70.01 km2), of which, 26.93 square miles (69.75 km2) is land and 0.10 square miles (0.26 km2) is water.[25]

Climate

Kenosha has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb, bordering on Dfa) with warm summers and cold winters. The record high is 105 °F (41 °C), set in July 2012. The record low is −31 °F (−35 °C) set in January 1985.[26]

Climate data for Kenosha, WI (1981–2010 normals, extremes 1944–present)
Month Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Year
Record high °F (°C) 65
(18)		 69
(21)		 83
(28)		 90
(32)		 94
(34)		 102
(39)		 105
(41)		 102
(39)		 100
(38)		 89
(32)		 81
(27)		 70
(21)		 105
(41)
Average high °F (°C) 30.4
(−0.9)		 33.7
(0.9)		 42.8
(6.0)		 52.8
(11.6)		 62.7
(17.1)		 73.3
(22.9)		 79.3
(26.3)		 78.1
(25.6)		 71.0
(21.7)		 59.7
(15.4)		 47.1
(8.4)		 34.3
(1.3)		 55.4
(13.0)
Average low °F (°C) 16.4
(−8.7)		 20.2
(−6.6)		 28.2
(−2.1)		 37.5
(3.1)		 46.3
(7.9)		 56.6
(13.7)		 63.5
(17.5)		 63.4
(17.4)		 55.4
(13.0)		 43.9
(6.6)		 32.8
(0.4)		 20.7
(−6.3)		 40.4
(4.7)
Record low °F (°C) −31
(−35)		 −23
(−31)		 −9
(−23)		 10
(−12)		 26
(−3)		 33
(1)		 41
(5)		 40
(4)		 30
(−1)		 20
(−7)		 −5
(−21)		 −29
(−34)		 −31
(−35)
Average precipitation inches (mm) 1.76
(45)		 1.39
(35)		 2.57
(65)		 3.77
(96)		 3.94
(100)		 3.63
(92)		 3.63
(92)		 4.05
(103)		 3.47
(88)		 2.99
(76)		 2.82
(72)		 2.12
(54)		 36.14
(918)
Average snowfall inches (cm) 12.0
(30)		 8.8
(22)		 5.0
(13)		 0.7
(1.8)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.0
(0.0)		 0.1
(0.25)		 1.0
(2.5)		 8.2
(21)		 35.8
(91)
Source: [27]

Demographics
Historical population
CensusPop.%±
18503,455—
18603,99015.5%
18704,3098.0%
18804,039−6.3%
18906,53261.7%
190011,60677.7%
191021,37184.1%
192040,47289.4%
193050,26224.2%
194048,765−3.0%
195054,36811.5%
196067,89924.9%
197078,80516.1%
198077,685−1.4%
199080,3523.4%
200090,35212.4%
201099,2189.8%
Est. 201999,944[5]0.7%
U.S. Decennial Census[28]
2018 Estimate[29]

2010 census

As of the census[4] of 2010, there were 99,218 people, 37,376 households, and 24,090 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,684.3 inhabitants per square mile (1,422.5/km2). There were 40,643 housing units at an average density of 1,509.2 per square mile (582.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 77.1% White, 10.0% African American, 0.6% Native American, 1.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 6.8% from other races, and 3.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.3% of the population.

There were 37,376 households of which 36.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.9% were married couples living together, 15.9% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.7% had a male householder with no wife present, and 35.5% were non-families. 28.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.7% 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 3.17.

The median age in the city was 33.5 years. 26.8% of residents were under the age of 18; 10.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 28.3% were from 25 to 44; 23.2% were from 45 to 64; and 10.8% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 49.1% male and 50.9% female.

The 2010 census reported that the city's population were mainly newcomers, with 51 percent of Kenosha residents having moved from other cities and states. The Chamber of Commerce attributed this to the city's museums, lakeshore attractions, cultural and work opportunities, its public-school system, transportation amenities, and relatively lower costs-of-living.[30]

The importance of manufacturing jobs in Kenosha continues to diminish with only 11.7 percent or 7,769 of the total workforce of 66,362 area residents involved, a decline of 22 percent since 1990 and much lower than the statewide percentage of 16.4 percent.[31]

The biggest surge in Kenosha employment by percentage has been in the white-collar workforce. In 1990, 3.2 percent of Kenosha's workforce worked in the business and professional services sector. By 2017, that number had grown by over 490 percent to more than 7,700, or over 11 percent of Kenosha's workforce - which far outpaced statewide growth of professional jobs - and which was largely fueled by new office developments in and near Kenosha.[32]

2000 census

As of the census[6] of 2000, there were 90,352 people, 34,411 households, and 22,539 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,795.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,465.3/km2). There were 36,004 housing units at an average density of 1,512.3 per square mile (583.9/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 83.64% White, 7.68% African American, 0.44% Native American, 0.99% Asian, 0.04% Pacific Islander, 4.83% from other races and 2.38% from two or more races. 9.96% of the population were Hispanic of any race. 25.5% were of German, 11.5% Italian, 7.1% Irish and 6.6% Polish ancestry.

There were 34,411 households out of which 34.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them: 47.1% were married couples living together, 13.9% had a female householder with no husband present and 34.5% were non-families. 28.4% of all households were made up of individuals and 10.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.54 and the average family size was 3.13.

In the city, the population included 27.2% under the age of 18, 10.1% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 19.0% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.2 males.

Law and government

Kenosha has an elected mayor, who is the chief executive, and an appointed city administrator, who is the chief operating officer. The mayor is elected every four years. The city's Common Council consists of 17 aldermen from Kenosha's 17 districts (each district having several wards), elected for two-year terms in even-numbered years.

The mayor of Kenosha is John Martin Antaramian, the longest-serving chief executive in the city's history over four terms between 1992 and 2008. Antaramian was re-elected on April 5, 2016.[33]

Kenosha is represented by Bryan Steil (R) in the United States House of Representatives, and by Ron Johnson (R) and Tammy Baldwin (D) in the United States Senate. Robert Wirch (D) represents Kenosha in the Wisconsin State Senate, and Tip McGuire (D) and Tod Ohnstad (D) represent Kenosha in the Wisconsin State Assembly.

Economy
Big Star Drive-In Restaurant
House of Gerhard German-American Restaurant
6th Ave Downtown Kenosha

Kenosha, decades ago a bustling hub of manufacturing, is today a bedroom community because of the ease of access to the Chicago-Milwaukee corridor. According to county statistics, 49% of Kenosha's workforce commutes outside of Kenosha County to their positions. Many travel northward towards Milwaukee or south into the Chicago area.[34] The 2016 Kenosha County Out-Commuter Analysis, underwritten by the Kenosha Area Business Alliance (www.kaba.org) and an adjunct to the coincidental Labor Analysis of Kenosha County, found that Kenosha's "out-commuters most likely work for positions in healthcare, manufacturing, professional/scientific and technical services. The majority of occupations included management, business/financial, and office/administrative support position" and that 73 percent of out-commuters have a bachelor's degree or a higher level of education.[35]

A June 2009 study by the Milken Institute reported that Kenosha placed in the national top-50 high-tech economies.[36]

Jockey International Inc.

Business and industry

Snap-on Tools world headquarters and Jockey International corporate headquarters are in Kenosha. Kenosha has a number of light industrial and distribution companies in outlying business parks.

Tourism

Tourists spent an estimated $196.6 million in Kenosha County in 2015, with the county ranking fourth in the state in tourist money generated.[37]

The Kenosha Public Museum System includes the main Kenosha Public Museum, the Dinosaur Discovery Museum in association with Carthage College and the Smithsonian, and the Kenosha Civil War Museum. On Simmons Island, the Kenosha History Center and adjacent Maritime Museum offer memorabilia from the city's nautical past.

Other popular tourism sites include the Jelly Belly Visitor Center store and factory tours located in Pleasant Prairie, and the Mars Cheese Castle with Wisconsin-related products.

The Kenosha HarborMarket is a European-style Farmer's Market held mid-May through mid-October on Second Avenue bisected by the 56th Street boulevard streetcar line. It hosts stalls with local food products and artisans' creations. In winter, the market moves indoors to the lobby of the 1927 Rhode Center of the Arts.

What also attracts tourists to Kenosha is the food. Franks Diner , for example, has been a main attraction in downtown Kenosha since 1926. The restaurant is based out of an old train car and still has original features. It has been on multiple TV shows such as Guy Fieri's "Diners, Drive ins, and Dives".

Real estate and housing

The number of households in Kenosha County increased by nearly 25% from 1990 to 2005.[38]

A Kenosha neighborhood

Number of households:

  • 1990: 47,029
  • 2000: 56,057
  • 2005: 58,715

2005 housing statistics:

  • Total housing units: 67,568
  • Owner occupied: 42,197
  • Median value of homes: $167,500
  • Renter occupied: 16,518
  • Median rent paid: $722
  • Rental vacancy rate: 11.1%

A 2015 WalletHub survey listed Kenosha among the top 100 American cities for first-time home buyers.[39]

Transportation
Kenosha, 11:23:40 PM CDT in 2012 during Expedition 30 at the International Space Station
See also: Streetcars in Kenosha, Wisconsin

Kenosha has been served by rail service to and from Chicago since May 19, 1855,[40] when the predecessors to the Chicago and North Western Railway, the Milwaukee and Chicago Railway Company (originally the Illinois Parallel Railroad) and the original "Lake Shore Railroad" (later the Green Bay, Milwaukee and Chicago Railway) were officially joined with great ceremony just south of today's 52nd Street.

Kenosha has the only Metra station in Wisconsin, with nine inbound and nine outbound trains each weekday. Passenger ridership on the Kenosha line was up by a slight 0.06% in 2009, while elsewhere on the 11-route Metra system, passenger counts dropped by 5.2 percent. Not all Union Pacific/North Line trains terminate and originate in Kenosha; most terminate at Waukegan, Illinois, to the south of Kenosha.[41]

Since June 2000, a 2-mile (3.2 km) streetcar line has served the downtown area and HarborPark, connecting the Metra station with downtown and several area parks. Kenosha is one of the smallest cities in America with any type of streetcar system today.[42]

In addition to its streetcar line, Kenosha has a city bus network with eight routes. Kenosha was the first city to color-code transit routes (with the Blue, Green, Red, and Orange Lines), and also the first city to use electric trolley buses in full transit service, both occurring on February 14, 1932.[43]

Kenosha Regional Airport (KENW) serves the city and surrounding communities.

  • Union Pacific Railroad tracks on Bain Station Road
  • Kenosha Metra Station pedestrian tunnel
  • Kenosha Electric Railway PCC streetcar 4608 'Pittsburgh'.

Education

Public schools

The Kenosha Unified School District operates 23 public elementary schools, five middle schools, seven charter schools, and six high schools:[44] Mary D. Bradford High School, George Nelson Tremper High School, Indian Trail High School and Academy, LakeView Technology Academy, Reuther Central High School, and Harborside Academy, the latter a research school that uses the Expeditionary Learning Outward Bound model; it was funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.[45]

Private schools

Kenosha's private schools include St. Joseph Catholic Academy, All Saints Catholic School, Bethany Lutheran School, Friedens Lutheran School, Christ Lutheran Academy, Kenosha Montessori School, Shoreland Lutheran High School, and Christian Life School. At the beginning of the 2011–2012 school year, St. Mary's and Our Lady of the Holy Rosary of Pompeii schools became campuses of All Saints Catholic School. Both campuses operate as the same school with the same principal. St. Mark's and St. Joseph High School have also conjoined into Saint Joseph Catholic Academy.

Higher education

Kenosha is home to the University of Wisconsin-Parkside with over 4,000 students,[46] Carthage College with over 2,500 students,[47] and the Kenosha campus of Gateway Technical College.

Concordia University Wisconsin, Cardinal Stritch University, National-Louis University, and Herzing University maintain campuses in Kenosha. Journey Ministry College, a cohort of SUM Bible College and Seminary, was established in 2011.

Libraries
Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library

The Kenosha Public Library, which is part of the Kenosha County Library System,[48] operates in four locations throughout the city: Northside Neighborhood Library, Southwest Neighborhood Library, Uptown Neighborhood Library, and Simmons Neighborhood Library. Daniel H. Burnham designed the 1900 Beaux-Arts Gilbert M. Simmons Memorial Library, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.[49]

Health care

Kenosha has two hospitals: the Froedert South Kenosha Medical Center Campus downtown and the Aurora Medical Center at the extreme western edge of the city limits. Just outside of the city limits is the Froedert South St. Catherine's Medical Center Campus, which opened in 2002 and has a heart institute named in honor of cardiac surgeon Michael E. DeBakey.[50]

  • Kenosha Hospital & Medical Center
  • Kenosha Hospital's Palmer Recovery Unit
  • Former Mayer Drugs building with the sign still on the roof, in downtown Kenosha.

Media

The primary newspaper of Kenosha County is the Kenosha News, a broadsheet with circulation of around 23,000 copies. Happenings Magazine is an ad supported entertainment publication distributed at local businesses since 1978, they also publish The Smart Reader, Homes Plus, as well as other seasonal event-orientated magazines.

Kenosha News Building

Kenosha is considered as part of the Milwaukee television market by A.C. Nielsen. However, due to the large number of commuters to Chicago, Charter Spectrum's Kenosha system carries both Milwaukee and Chicago stations. Arbitron classifies Kenosha as part of the Chicago radio market. Five major radio stations broadcast from Kenosha: WLIP (CBS Radio) 1050 AM, Gateway Technical College's WGTD (91.1 FM), a member station of the Wisconsin Public Radio News & Classical Music Network, rock WIIL (95.1 FM) and classic hits WWDV (96.9 FM), which simulcasts Chicago-based WDRV (97.1 FM). The Kenosha Convention and Visitors Bureau operates WPUR937 (1180 AM), a low-power tourist information station. Most of the AM and FM radio stations from Milwaukee and Chicago are clearly audible in Kenosha.[51]

WPXE (Channel 55), the Ion Television owned-and-operated station for the Milwaukee market, is Kenosha's only locally-licensed television station, though in reality it only mentions Kenosha in its legal IDs. Its transmitter is located with the Milwaukee PBS tower on Milwaukee's north side, and its studios are based in suburban Glendale, thus it serves the entire Milwaukee television market.

Culture
Civil War Museum

Kenosha's four downtown museums, the Kenosha Public Museum, the Civil War Museum and the Dinosaur Discovery Museum, and the Kenosha Historical Center are Smithsonian Institution affiliates.[52]

Completed in 2001, the Kenosha Public Museum is on the Lake Michigan shoreline. Its main exhibit is a prehistoric woolly mammoth skeleton uncovered in western Kenosha in 1992. Cut-marks on its bones indicate that the animals were butchered by humans using stone tools. Carbon dating indicates their age to be 12,500 radiocarbon years old or 14,500 calendar years old, one thousand radiocarbon years earlier than the previously-accepted presence of humans in the Americas. The museum also displays other ice age and fine art exhibits.[53]

The Kenosha History Center is in the 1917 city water treatment plant on Simmons Island adjoining the 1866 Kenosha Light Station. It showcases the history of Kenosha from the time of Native American settlements and the first European settlements to the present day. The 1906 Kenosha North Pier Light is nearby.

Kenosha's 59,000-square-foot (5,500 m2) Civil War Museum opened on June 13, 2008. The main exhibit, "The Fiery Trial", opened September 15, 2008. It is a 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m2) exhibit offering an interactive experience of the role of six Midwestern states before, during, and after the American Civil War.[54]

The Dinosaur Discovery Museum, designated a federal repository, opened in August 2006 in the historic Old Post Office adjoining the 56th Street streetcar line at Tenth Avenue, and includes an on-site paleontology laboratory operated through the Carthage College Institute of Paleontology.[55]

The Kenosha Transit Carhouse at 724 54th Street, which houses Kenosha's historic fleet of PCC streetcars, is occasionally open for guided tours.

A Maritime Museum has been created within the restored 1866 Southport Light and Lighthouse Keeper's cottage on Simmons Island.[56]

  • The Kenosha Public Museum.
  • Lighthouse overlooking beach on Simmons Island

Music

Summer band performances are traditionally put on by the Kenosha American Legion Band (renamed the Kenosha Concert Band in 1963 and now called the Kenosha Pops Concert Band). Since 1988 the concerts have been at Kenosha's Sesquicentennial Bandshell in Pennoyer Park.

The Kenosha Lakeshore Youth Philharmonic offers an intensive orchestral experience to middle school and high school musicians.

Southeast Wisconsin Performing Arts (SEWPA) sponsors the Opera à la Carte evening concert series featuring middle school, high school and college singers.

The Music of the Stars radio program, heard worldwide over WLIP, has originated from Kenosha since 1992.[57]

The Kenosha Symphony Orchestra presents concerts in the acoustically-correct Reuther Central Auditorium (listed on the National Register of Historic Places) at Walter Reuther Central High School in downtown Kenosha. Film composer and orchestrator Lucien Cailliet, orchestrator for The Ten Commandments, was the KSO conductor until 1960.

Since 2002, the outdoor Peanut Butter and Jam Concert Series[58] has been held every Thursday in July and August at Veterans Memorial Park.

Lincoln Park Live! concerts began in 2005 on the Lincoln Park lawns near the Warren Taylor Memorial Gardens.

A number of outdoor jazz events are offered throughout the summer months, most often at Veterans' Memorial Park and the historic Kemper Center.

Bands that have originated in Kenosha include the Pat Crawford Big Band, the Jazz Wave, the Parkside Reunion Big Band, Reminiscing (defunct), Electric Hellfire Club, Lazarus A.D., Jungle Rot, Product of Hate, and PATH.

Festivals

Kenosha is home to a number of summer festivals, with the Outta Sight Kite Flight, Taste of Wisconsin, Pike River Rendezvous (a historical reenactment of Kenosha in the past), the Kenosha Classic Cruise-In Car Show, Celebrate America, Food Folks & Spokes, and Cheese-A-Palooza and others occurring in 2018.[59] Starting in 2017, Kenosha has been the host of Tribute Island. A three-day music festival featuring many of the top tribute bands in the area. Featuring rock, country, and more. With over 50 acts each year on four stages each year, this festival has quickly become the nation's biggest tribute band music festival.

Recreation

Parks

Kenosha has 8 miles (13 km) of Lake Michigan shoreline frontage, nearly all of which is public. The city has 74 municipal parks, totaling 781.52 acres (3.1627 km2).[60]

Kenosha's Washington Park includes the oldest operating velodrome in the United States (opened in 1927) at Washington Bowl.[61] The Kenosha Velodrome Association sponsors American Track Cycling sanctioned races and training sessions at the "Bowl" throughout the summer. Races are held on Tuesday evenings from mid-May through August. Free seating is available on the inside of the track, and on important race days concessions are available.

Petrifying Springs Park, which flanks the Pike River, was developed in the 1930s on the northwestern edge of the city. It is named for its artesian mineral water. Over 10 miles (16 km) of trails wind through the wooded park, which also contains an 18-hole golf course.

Hawthorn Hollow Nature Sanctuary and Arboretum has three historic buildings and several trails for hiking.

Library Park is home to a statue of Abraham Lincoln by Charles Henry Niehaus as well as a veterans-memorial statue ("Winged Victory") by the Italian sculptor Decco.[62]

Kenosha has been a Tree City USA since 1982.[63]

  • Petrifying Springs Park in October
  • Eichelman Park in September
  • Newman Park in September
  • Wolfenbüttel Park, so named for Kenosha's sister city in Germany.
  • Simmons Island Beach, with the Kenosha Pierhead Lighthouse in the distance.
  • HarborPark overlooking Kenosha Harbor

Golf

Kenosha has a number of golf courses.[64] Petrifying Springs Golf Course was named the "No. 1 Sporty Course in Wisconsin".[65] The Washington Park Golf Course was dedicated on February 18, 1922, and its 1937 English-cottage clubhouse is a city landmark.[66] Most recently, new private courses have opened, including Strawberry Creek.

Cycling

Kenosha's Library Park is the home of Food Folks and Spokes, a festival with food booths, entertainment, and a bicycle race that is currently the first leg of the Tour of America's Dairyland.[67] It was formerly part of the International Cycling Classic's "Superweek". Kenosha is home to the Washington Park Velodrome, the longest-operating 333-meter track; it opened in 1927.

Sports

The Kenosha Yacht Club was established in 1912.

Kenosha was home to the short lived Kenosha Maroons NFL franchise in 1924. They folded after going 0-4-1.[68] It was also the home of the Kenosha Cardinals, a semi-professional football team between 1937 and 1941[69] which played at Lake Front Stadium at 58th Street and Third Avenue.

The Kenosha Cougars are a semi-professional football team that plays home games at Ameche Field.[70]

The Kenosha Comets were charter members of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and played in the league from 1943–1951.

The Kenosha Kingfish, a baseball team in the Northwoods League, played its first game at historic Simmons Field on May 31, 2014 with a sold-out crowd of 3,218 fans,[71] and in 2015 won their first championship.[72] Prior to the Kingfish, Kenosha was home to the Frontier League Mammoths in 2003, and the Single-A Kenosha Twins from 1984–1992.[73]

Notable people
Main article: List of people from Kenosha, Wisconsin

Sister cities

Kenosha's sister cities are:

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See also

References
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  2. City of Kenosha (2010), 'Mayor/Administration', accessed October 22nd from http://www.kenosha.org/mayor/index.html
  3. "2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  4. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2012-11-18.
  5. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". United States Census Bureau. May 24, 2020. Retrieved May 27, 2020.
  6. "U.S. Census website". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  7. "US Board on Geographic Names". United States Geological Survey. 2007-10-25. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
  8. "Find a County". National Association of Counties. Archived from the original on 2011-05-31. Retrieved 2011-06-07.
  9. "Population and Housing Unit Estimates". Retrieved May 21, 2020.
  10. "Census Quick Facts". census.gov. 2011-08-02. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  11. Wasion, David. "The Mammoth Hunter: David Wasion's Quest for Pre-Clovis People in North America" The Citizen Scientist, 11 February 2005. Accessed 8 April 2005.
  12. Falk, Terrence. "Bones to Pick" Milwaukee Magazine, April 2004
    • Bright, William. 2004. Native American Placenames of the United States. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, p. 213.
    • Vogel, Virgil J. 1991. Indian Names on Wisconsin's Map. Madison: Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, pp. 154, 266.
    • Hosmanek, John J. 2006. Kenosha. Charleston, SC: Arcadia.
    • Nestor, Sandy. 2004. 'Indian Placenames in America. Jefferson, NC: McFarland, p. 184.
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  16. "Town of Southport No More". Kenosha Democrat. March 11, 1853. p. 3. Retrieved August 13, 2014 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Origin of Kenosha, Wisconsin". Wisconsinhistory.org. Retrieved 2017-08-27.
  18. City's auto history reaches back more than 100 years
  19. "Kenosha Unified School District". Nash.kusd.edu. Archived from the original on 2011-07-19. Retrieved 2011-08-02.
  20. Town of Pleasant Prairie v. City of Kenosha, 75 Wis. 2d 322, 249 N.W.2d 581 (1977)
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  29. "Population Estimates". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved June 8, 2018.
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  31. Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development figures, 2017 as quoted in the Kenosha News, "Factory town no more" by Deneen Smith, December 24, 2018
  32. Kenosha News, "Factory town no more" by Deneen Smith, December 24, 2018
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  42. Diners, drive-in theater, streetcars and a tiki bar: Wisconsin city offers charm aplenty just 50 miles from Chicago
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Further reading
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