Chilton

History

The first residents of Chilton were African-American former slave Moses Stanton and his Native-American wife, Catherine, who arrived in January 1845. The city formed around his saw mill and a grist mill a few years later. The village was originally called Stantonville. He sent a verbal message to have the name change recorded in Stockbridge, then the county seat. Because the middle ing in the name was accidentally omitted, the municipality was recorded as Chilton. Both are located on the edge of the Chiltern Hills, a limestone escarpment similar to the Niagara Escarpment near Chilton, Wisconsin. "Chilt," when used in a place name in England, is thought to have derived from the Old English word for chalk or limestone ("cealc"), while "ton" derives from the Old English word for town ("tun"). Between 1838-1852, when John Marygold lived in England, all records of births, marriages and deaths of people named Marygold were concentrated around just three cities: Marygold's hometown of Birmingham (18 records), Oxford (10 records), and London (7 records). Oxford being just 80 miles from Birmingham, it's plausible that Marygold had family members there and knew of the two nearby Chiltons. The county seat was changed to Chilton in December 1853 and the county's first courthouse was built. Most Chilton residents in the 19th century had German heritage. Chilton annexed the unincorporated community of Gravesville in the late twentieth century. Gravesville was founded 1849 by Leroy Graves and the community was named after him. By 1881, it was one of the largest communities in the county behind Chilton and Stockbridge.

Geography

Chilton is located at (44.030745, -88.158704), along the South Branch of the Manitowoc River. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has an area of , of which, is land and is water.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  4,384
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,128
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  4,082
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,065
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,594
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  3,502
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,346
• American Goldfinch

  Spinus tristis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  3,332

Largest nearby schools

• New Holstein Elementary
  Elementary · New Holstein · 463 students · 16.5:1 ratio
• Chilton Elementary
  Elementary · Chilton · 401 students · 13.4:1 ratio
• Chilton High
  High · Chilton · 399 students · 14.3:1 ratio
• Chilton Middle
  Middle · Chilton · 337 students · 13:1 ratio
• New Holstein High
  High · New Holstein · 321 students · 14:1 ratio
• New Holstein Middle
  Middle · New Holstein · 235 students · 14.7:1 ratio
• Hilbert Elementary
  Elementary · Hilbert · 169 students · 13:1 ratio
• Hilbert Middle
  Middle · Hilbert · 159 students · 15.9:1 ratio