Ripon

History

Ripon was founded in 1849 by David P. Mapes, a former New York steamboat captain. Within two years the city had absorbed the nearby commune of Ceresco, established in 1844 by the Wisconsin Phalanx, a group of settlers inspired by the communitarian socialist philosophy of Charles Fourier. Mapes was a founder of Ripon College, originally incorporated as Brockway College in 1851. The city was named for the English cathedral city of Ripon, North Yorkshire, by John S. Horner, one of the community's original settlers, because that was where his immigrant ancestors originated. Horner also named most of the streets. His house is still standing today. Meeting at a school house in Ripon on March 20, 1854, some 30 opponents of the Kansas–Nebraska Act called for the organization of a new political party (to link their cause with the Declaration of Independence). The group also took a leading role in the creation of the Republican Party in many northern states during the summer of 1854. While conservatives and many moderates were content merely to call for the restoration of the Missouri Compromise or a prohibition of slavery extension, the group insisted that no further political compromise with slavery was possible. The February 1854 meeting was the first political meeting of the group that would become the Republican Party. The modern Ripon Society, a Republican think tank, takes its name from Ripon, Wisconsin. Crawfordsville, Iowa and Jackson, Michigan also claim to be the true birthplace of the Republican Party.

Geography

Ripon is located in the northwestern corner of Fond du Lac County. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and is water. Ripon lies in the Sinnipee Group, a geologic formation composed primarily of dolomite, with limestone as a secondary rock type. Ripon's bedrock is primarily limestone. The limestone indicates that Ripon's location was once a shallow sea. Since Ripon is on the Sinnipee Group, it is a Karst environment. Ripon also lies in an area that was affected by several glaciation periods. The area has relatively gentle relief and is part of the Fox River (Wisconsin) watershed.

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  6,414
• Northern Cardinal

  Cardinalis cardinalis (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,993
• Mourning Dove

  Zenaida macroura (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,429
• Blue Jay

  Cyanocitta cristata (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  5,280
• American Robin

  Turdus migratorius Linnaeus, 1766 · Aves
  5,248
• Black-capped Chickadee

  Poecile atricapillus (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  5,149
• White-breasted Nuthatch

  Sitta carolinensis Latham, 1790 · Aves
  4,925
• Downy Woodpecker

  Dryobates pubescens (Linnaeus, 1766) · Aves
  4,846