Editing Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin

{{short description|Village in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2024}}
{{about|the village of Whitefish Bay in Milwaukee County|the community of the same name|Whitefish Bay, Door County, Wisconsin}}
{{Infobox settlement
|name                     = Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
|settlement_type          = [[Village (Wisconsin)|Village]]

<!-- Images -->
|image_skyline            = Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin 2023 A.jpg
|image_caption            = [[Lake Michigan]] shore in Whitefish Bay
|image_flag               = 
|image_seal               =

<!-- Maps -->
|image_map                = File:Milwaukee County Wisconsin Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Whitefish Bay Highlighted.svg
|mapsize                  = 250x200px
|map_caption              = Location of Whitefish Bay in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.
|image_map1               = 
|map_caption1             =

<!-- Location -->
|subdivision_type         = Country
|subdivision_name         = {{flag|United States}}
|subdivision_type1        = State
|subdivision_name1        = {{flag|Wisconsin}}
|subdivision_type2        = [[List of counties in Wisconsin|County]]
|subdivision_name2        = [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin|Milwaukee]]

<!-- Area -->
|area_footnotes           = <ref name="CenPopGazetteer2019">{{cite web|title=2019 U.S. Gazetteer Files|url=https://www2.census.gov/geo/docs/maps-data/data/gazetteer/2019_Gazetteer/2019_gaz_place_55.txt|publisher=United States Census Bureau|access-date=August 7, 2020}}</ref>
|area_total_km2           = 5.48
|area_land_km2            = 5.48
|area_water_km2           = 0.00
|area_total_sq_mi         = 2.12
|area_land_sq_mi          = 2.12
|area_water_sq_mi         = 0.00
|unit_pref                = Imperial

<!-- Population -->
|population_as_of         = [[2020 United States census|2020]]
|population_total         = 14954
|population_density_sq_mi = 7053
|population_density_km2   = 2728

<!-- General information -->
|timezone                 = [[North American Central Time Zone|Central (CST)]]
|utc_offset               = -6
|timezone_DST             = CDT
|utc_offset_DST           = -5
|elevation_footnotes      = <ref name="GR3">{{cite web|url=http://geonames.usgs.gov|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=US Board on Geographic Names|publisher=[[United States Geological Survey]]|date=October 25, 2007}}</ref>
|elevation_m              = 198
|elevation_ft             = 650
|coordinates              = {{coord|43|6|42|N|87|54|3|W|region:US_type:city|display=inline,title}}
|postal_code_type         = [[ZIP code]]
|postal_code              = 
|area_code_type           = [[North American Numbering Plan|Area code]]
|area_code                = [[Area code 414|414]]  
|blank_name               = [[Federal Information Processing Standards|FIPS code]]
|blank_info               = 55-86700 <ref name="GR2">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=January 31, 2008|title=U.S. Census website}}</ref>
|blank1_name              = [[Geographic Names Information System|GNIS]] feature ID
|blank1_info              = 1576675 <ref name="GR3"/>
|website                  = {{URL|https://www.wfbvillage.gov/}}
|footnotes                = <ref>{{cite web|url= https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/whitefishbayvillagewisconsin/PST045219 |title=Quick Facts:Whitefish Bay village, Wisconsin |accessdate=August 18, 2021|website=census.gov}}</ref>
|pop_est_footnotes =
}}

'''Whitefish Bay''' is a village in [[Milwaukee County, Wisconsin]], United States. The population was 14,954 at the [[2020 United States census|2020 census]]. A suburb north of [[Milwaukee]] along the shore of [[Lake Michigan]], it is part of the [[Milwaukee metropolitan area]].

==History==
In the early 19th century when the first white settlers arrived, the Whitefish Bay area was controlled by Native Americans, including the [[Menominee]], [[Potawatomi]], and [[Sauk people]]. The area came under the control of the United States Federal Government in 1832 when the Menominee surrendered their claims to the land by signing the ''[[Treaty of Washington, with Menominee (1831)|Treaty of Washington]]''.<ref>{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Native Milwaukee |url=https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/native-milwaukee/ |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee|access-date=June 29, 2021}}</ref> The land was organized as part of the [[Milwaukee (town), Wisconsin|Town of Milwaukee]] in 1835,<ref name="University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee">{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Milwaukee County |url=https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/milwaukee-county/ |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee|access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref> and for much of the 19th century, the community's main economic activities were farming and fishing. Many of the early settlers were German immigrants.<ref name="history">{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia of Milwaukee: Whitefish Bay |url=https://emke.uwm.edu/entry/whitefish-bay/ |publisher=University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee|access-date=June 29, 2021}}</ref>

In 1889, [[Pabst Brewing Company]]-owner [[Frederick Pabst]] purchased land in the Whitefish Bay area which he developed into the Whitefish Bay Pabst Resort, which included a hotel, restaurant, beer garden, and bandshell. He later added a [[Ferris wheel]] and a [[carousel]], as well.<ref>{{cite web|title=Wisconsin 101: Milwaukee Resort Towns |date=October 2014 |url=https://wi101.wisc.edu/2014/10/01/milwaukee-resort-towns/ |publisher=University of Wisconsin Department of History |access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref> At its height, the park hosted as many as 15,000 visitors each weekend, and was once visited by President [[Theodore Roosevelt]].<ref name="University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee"/> Some leisure seekers travelled to the park from Milwaukee via steam boats that docked at Whitefish Bay's lakeshore; others took the Milwaukee & Whitefish Bay Railroad, a steam-powered [[tram]] that began running to Whitefish Bay in 1886 and was replaced by the electric streetcars of [[the Milwaukee Electric Railway and Light Company]] in 1898.<ref>{{cite web|title=Whitefish Bay Historical Society: Transportation Access and the Development of Whitefish Bay |url=https://wfbhistoricalsociety.webs.com/apps/blog/show/14007101-transportation-access-and-the-development-of-whitefish-bay |publisher=Whitefish Bay Historical Society |access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref>

In the early 1890s, the area's residents lobbied the Town of Milwaukee for a local school; the nearest school was seven miles from Whitefish Bay. The town did not acquiesce to the residents' demands, and in 1892, the local residents responded by incorporating as the Village of Whitefish Bay and forming a school district independent of the Town of Milwaukee. At the time, it was the first village in Milwaukee County.<ref name="history"/><ref name="about">{{cite web|title=Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin: About Whitefish Bay |url=https://www.wfbvillage.org/232/About-Whitefish-Bay |publisher=Village of Whitefish Bay |access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref>

In the early 20th century, the village developed as a [[streetcar suburb]], with the population growing from 512 in 1900 to 9651 in 1940. As the population grew, real estate developers constructed new residential subdivisions. Even though the Whitefish Bay Pabst Resort closed in 1914,<ref name="history" /> the lakeshore land it occupied was redeveloped into seventeen lakefront residential lots,<ref name="about" /> including the [[National Register of Historic Places]]-listed [[Herman Uihlein House|Herman Uihlein Mansion]], constructed between 1917 and 1919 for one of the sons of the president of the [[Joseph Schlitz Brewing Company]]. In the first decades of the 1900s, eastern Whitefish Bay became part of the "gold coast" area that developed along the lakeshore north of Milwaukee and attracted some of the city's most affluent families.<ref>{{cite web|title=Whitefish Bay Historical Society |url=https://wfbhistoricalsociety.webs.com/ |publisher=Whitefish Bay Historical Society |access-date=June 22, 2021}}</ref>

Whitefish Bay continued to grow during the suburbanization that followed [[World War II]], reaching a peak population of 18,390 in 1960, before the population began to slowly decline, stabilizing at approximately 14,000 at the turn of the 21st century.<ref name="history"/>

==Geography==
Whitefish Bay is located at {{coord|43|6|42|N|87|54|3|W|type:city}} (43.111711, −87.900762).<ref name="GR1">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/geographies/reference-files/time-series/geo/gazetteer-files.html|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=April 23, 2011|date=February 12, 2011|title=US Gazetteer files: 2010, 2000, and 1990}}</ref>  According to the [[United States Census Bureau]], the village has a total area of {{convert|2.13|sqmi|sqkm|2}}, all of it land.<ref name ="Gazetteer files">{{cite web|title=US Gazetteer files 2010|url=https://www.census.gov/geo/www/gazetteer/files/Gaz_places_national.txt|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=November 18, 2012}}</ref>

==Demographics==
{{US Census population
|1900= 512
|1910= 542
|1920= 882
|1930= 5362
|1940= 9651
|1950= 14665
|1960= 18390
|1970= 17402
|1980= 14930
|1990= 14272
|2000= 14163
|2010= 14110
|2020= 14954
|estyear=
|estimate=
|estref=
|footnote=U.S. Decennial Census<ref name="DecennialCensus">{{cite web|url=https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census.html|title=Census of Population and Housing|publisher=Census.gov|access-date=June 4, 2015}}</ref>
<ref>{{Cite web |title=U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts: Whitefish Bay village, Wisconsin |url=https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/fact/table/whitefishbayvillagewisconsin/PST045219 |access-date=August 16, 2021 |website=[[United States Census Bureau]]}}</ref>
}}

===2010 census===
As of the [[census]]<ref name ="wwwcensusgov">{{cite web|title=U.S. Census website|url=https://www.census.gov|publisher=[[United States Census Bureau]]|access-date=November 18, 2012}}</ref> of 2010, there were 14,110 people, 5,355 households, and 3,944 families residing in the village. The [[population density]] was {{convert|6624.4|PD/sqmi|PD/km2|1}}. There were 5,553 housing units at an average density of {{convert|2607.0|/sqmi|/km2|1}}. The racial makeup of the village was 91.9% [[White (U.S. Census)|White]], 1.9% [[African American (U.S. Census)|African American]], 0.1% [[Native American (U.S. Census)|Native American]], 3.7% [[Asian (U.S. Census)|Asian]], 0.5% from [[Race (U.S. Census)|other races]], and 1.9% from two or more races. [[Hispanic (U.S. Census)|Hispanic]] or [[Latino (U.S. Census)|Latino]] of any race were 2.8% of the population.

There were 5,355 households, of which 40.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 64.1% were married couples living together, 7.3% had a female householder with no husband present, 2.3% had a male householder with no wife present, and 26.3% were non-families. 21.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.63 and the average family size was 3.13.

The median age in the village was 39.6 years. 29.6% of residents were under the age of 18; 4.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 24.8% were from 25 to 44; 30.6% were from 45 to 64; and 10.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the village was 48.1% male and 51.9% female.

==Education==
The [[Whitefish Bay School District]] maintains four public schools and one recreational facility. These facilities include:
* [[Whitefish Bay High School]] &ndash; a [[High school (North America)|high school]] serving children in grades 9–12. In 2024, it was ranked #1 in Milwaukee, #1 in Wisconsin and #164 nationally by U.S. News Rankings.<ref>{{cite web |title=Whitefish Bay High |url=https://www.usnews.com/education/best-high-schools/wisconsin/districts/whitefish-bay-school-district/whitefish-bay-high-21979 |website=U.S. News Education |publisher=U.S. News & World Report L.P. |access-date=July 4, 2024 |date=2021}}</ref>
* Whitefish Bay Middle School &ndash; a [[middle school]]/junior high school serving children in grades 6–8.
* Cumberland Elementary School &ndash; an [[elementary school]] serving children age-4 [[kindergarten]] through grade 5.
* Richards Elementary School &ndash; an elementary school serving children age-4 kindergarten through grade 5.
* Lydell School &ndash; a community recreation facility.

The [[Archdiocese of Milwaukee]] maintains two [[Catholic school]]s in Whitefish Bay: Holy Family School and St. Monica School, each serving kindergarten through grade 8. In addition, the [[Sinsinawa Dominican Sisters]] sponsor [[Dominican High School (Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin)|Dominican High School]].

At the north end of the village are two Jewish grade schools: Milwaukee Jewish Day School and Hillel Academy, sharing the Max and Mary Kohl Education building.

==Notable people==
{{Section citations needed|date=April 2025}}{{div col}}
* [[Kostas Antetokounmpo]], NBA player
* [[Nick Bellore]], [[NFL]] player
* [[Jeff Bridich]], MLB executive
* [[Art Bues]], [[MLB]] player
* [[Evan Conway]], soccer player<ref>{{cite web |title=NCFC signs forward Evan Conway |url=https://www.northcarolinafc.com/news/2023/12/11/ncfc-signs-forward-evan-conway/ |website=[[North Carolina FC]] |access-date=April 24, 2025}}</ref>
* [[Richard W. Conway]], Professor Emeritus, [[Cornell University]]
* [[Craig Counsell]], MLB player and manager
* [[Brad Courtney]], chairman of the [[Republican Party of Wisconsin]]
* [[Rebecca Dallet]], Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice
* [[Randy Dean]], NFL quarterback, Olympic handball player and Director of the Petit National Ice Center
* [[Colleen Dewhurst]], actress
* [[Bernardine Dohrn]], former [[Weather Underground]] leader & retired law professor
* [[Jay Guidinger]], [[NBA]] player
* [[Julius P. Heil]], Governor of [[Wisconsin]]
* [[Ed Hochuli]], NFL referee
* [[Jeffrey Hunter]], Hollywood film actor
* [[Frederick Isenring]], Wisconsin State Representative
* [[Kristen Johnston]], actress
* [[Jack Larscheid]], professional football player
* [[Pat McCurdy]], singer/songwriter
* [[Niels Mueller]], director/writer (film)
* [[Barbara Notestein]], Wisconsin State Representative
* [[Caitlin O'Heaney]], actress
* [[Samuel Page]], actor
* [[Marcus Raskin]], co-founder of the [[Institute for Policy Studies]], father of [[Jamie Raskin]]
* [[Michael Salomon]], music video/film director
* [[Mike Schneck]], NFL player
* [[Donald K. Stitt]], chairman of the Republican Party of Wisconsin
* [[Diamond Stone]], [[NBA]] player
* [[Paul Michael Valley]], actor
* [[Dan Vebber]], writer/producer (TV)
* [[Chip Zien]], actor
{{div col end}}


==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin}}
* [http://www.wfbvillage.org/ Village of Whitefish Bay]

{{Milwaukee County, Wisconsin}}
{{Milwaukee Metropolitan Area}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Villages in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin]]
[[Category:Villages in Wisconsin]]