Fort Atkinson

History

Fort Atkinson was named after General Henry Atkinson, the commander of U.S. forces in the area during the Black Hawk War (1832) against a mixed band of Sauk, Meskwaki and Kickapoo peoples. The city developed at the site of Fort Koshkonong, which was used during that war. A replica of the original 1832 stockade has been built just outside town, although not at the original site. The fort was located to control the confluence of the Rock and Bark rivers. The settlement grew rapidly in the mid-19th century, after the migration of pioneers from the east, especially New York State and the northern tier. They were among the many migrants carrying New England Yankee culture west across the northern tier of states. The history and natural history of Fort Atkinson and the surrounding area are presented at the Hoard Historical Museum and National Dairy Shrine Museum. William Dempster Hoard founded the nationally distributed dairy farm magazine Hoard's Dairyman in Fort Atkinson in 1885. The museums include the Frank and Luella Hoard House, the Dwight and Almira Foster House, and the Knox Research Library and Archive. The Dairy Shrine portion of the complex portrays the past, present, and future of the dairy industry. The oldest manmade features near Fort Atkinson are a cluster of prehistoric earthworks indigenous mounds just south of town. Early European settlers named them the General Atkinson Mound Group. The mounds are a remnant of the Woodland Period in present-day Wisconsin. They are effigy and geometric mounds, different from the platform mounds at nearby Aztalan State Park, built by peoples of the Mississippian culture, which reached its peak around 1300. They had settlements throughout the Mississippi Valley and its tributaries, extending from central Illinois…

Geography

Fort Atkinson is located at (42.927091, −88.840446). According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. The city developed along the river, which provided the earliest transportation pathways for trade and travel. Occasionally, the downtown area is flooded when the Rock River exceeds its banks. Just east of the city, the Bark River enters the Rock River and can add considerable volume in certain seasons. The Rock River is a tributary of the Mississippi River, which it joins at Rock Island, Illinois.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,929
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  6,512
• Red-winged Blackbird

  Agelaius phoeniceus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,350
• Canada Goose (canadensis Group)

  Branta canadensis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  6,200
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  6,041
• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  5,862
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,795
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,163

Largest nearby schools

• Fort Atkinson High
  High · Fort Atkinson · 960 students · 14.8:1 ratio
• Jefferson High
  High · Jefferson · 607 students · 13.2:1 ratio
• Fort Atkinson Middle
  Middle · Fort Atkinson · 504 students · 9.5:1 ratio
• Jefferson Middle
  Middle · Jefferson · 389 students · 12.5:1 ratio
• East Elementary
  Elementary · Jefferson · 308 students · 14:1 ratio
• West Elementary
  Elementary · Jefferson · 270 students · 11.3:1 ratio
• Purdy Elementary
  Elementary · Fort Atkinson · 268 students · 10.3:1 ratio
• Rockwell Elementary
  Elementary · Fort Atkinson · 231 students · 11:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.9 — 2015-03-25
  3 km WNW of Lake in the Hills, Illinois