Kenosha (pronounced /kəˈnoʊʃə/ ) is a city in and the county seat of Kenosha County, United States. With an estimated 2008 population of 96,950, Kenosha is the fourth-largest city in Wisconsin. The city lies on the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan, 32 miles (51 km) south of Milwaukee. Kenosha is part of the U.S. Census Bureau's Chicago-Naperville-Joliet, IL-IN-WI Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Geography
Kenosha is located in the Southeastern corner of Wisconsin at 42°34′56″N 87°50′44″W / 42.58222°N 87.84556°W / 42.58222; -87.84556 (42.582220, -87.845624).. Kenosha's eastern boundary is Lake Michigan. It is bordered by the Town of Somers to the north, 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 Metra North Line and is conveniently located almost halfway between Milwaukee and Chicago.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 24.0 square miles (62.1 km²), of which, 23.8 square miles (61.7 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.4 km²) of it (0.63%) is water.
Demographics
As of the census 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 people per square mile (1,465.1/km²). There were 36,004 housing units at an average density of 1,512.3/sq mi (583.8/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 or Latino of any race. 25.5% were of German, 11.5% Italian, 7.1% Irish and 6.6% Polish ancestry according to Census 2000.
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 is 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.
On October 10, 2008, the Wisconsin Department of Administration reported that Kenosha's population had grown by 6.2 percent since the 2000 census, and Kenosha County's population grew by 8.4 percent, a gain of 12,517 within that same period.
History
The greater Kenosha area has attracted archeological interest since the discovery of pre-Clovis culture settlements in the late 20th century. These prehistoric settlements date approximately to the era of the Wisconsin glaciation. Paleo Indians first settled in the area at least 13,500 years ago.
The Potawatomi originally named the area gnozhé ("place of the pike").
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". There were thousands of fish entering the rivers from Lake Michigan. Harvesting these fish provided food for the coming months. There is also a town of Masu-kegan in Michigan.
The first white settlers were part of the Western Emigration Company. They arrived 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 and later frame homes. The first school and churches followed by 1835, with platting completed in 1836. As more settlers arrived and the first post office was established, the community was first known as Pike in 1836. In the ensuing years the area became an important Great Lakes shipping port, and the village was once again renamed, this time to Southport . (This is still the name of a southeast-side neighborhood, park, and elementary school, as well as several businesses).
In 1850, another change brought the growing city (and later Kenosha County) its current title, an Anglicized version of the early name gnozhé . Kenoshans often refer affectionately to their city as "K-Town" and "Keno" (the latter often adopted over the decades on various local businesses and on Kenosha's historic 1949 Keno Family Outdoor Theatre, Wisconsin's oldest drive-in theatre).
Between 1902 and 1988 Kenosha produced millions of automobiles and trucks under such well-remembered marques 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 incorporate a steering wheel, rather than use the then-common tiller-controlled steering. In 1916 Jeffery was purchased by auto executive Charles W. Nash and became Nash Motors. In May 1954, Nash acquired Detroit-based Hudson and the new firm was named American Motors Corporation. A 47-acre west side park and an elementary school are named after Nash.
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 magazine. 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, who had already contracted with AMC for the production of its M-body mid-sized cars at the Kenosha plant. Chrysler continues to build some of its engines in the original AMC facility today. 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 upscale HarborPark, with its rambling lakeside condominiums, large recreational marina, water park and promenades, artworks, sculptures, fountains (including the 2007 Christopher Columbus fountain), the Kenosha Public Museum, which opened in 2000, and the Civil War Museum, which opened in 2008.
From the turn of the century through the 1930s many 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 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 and 59th Streets. A classic two-mile downtown electric streetcar system was opened on June 17, 2000.
Law and government
Kenosha has a mayor, who is the chief executive, and a 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 two wards), elected for two-year terms in even-numbered years.
The mayor of Kenosha for four terms beginning in April 1992 was John Martin Antaramian, the longest-serving mayor in the city's history. In late 2006, Antaramian was awarded the Robert B. Bell, Sr. Best Public Partner Award for his advocacy towards quality real estate development. He was a member of the Mayors Against Illegal Guns Coalition, a bi-partisan group with a stated goal of "making the public safer by getting illegal guns off the streets." The Coalition is co-chaired by Boston Mayor Thomas Menino and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Mayor Antaramian announced during 2007 that he would not seek reelection in 2008. Former alderman and local businessman Keith Bosman was elected mayor for a four-year term with a landslide victory in the April 2008 spring elections.
Economy
Years ago a busy center of manufacturing, Kenosha is today often thought of as a "bedroom community" within the Chicago-Milwaukee megalopol
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