Racine is a city located in Racine County, Wisconsin. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 81,855. It is the county seat of Racine County⁶.

Geography

Racine is located at 42°43'34" North, 87°48'21" West (42.726052, -87.805873)¹.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 48.4 km² (18.7 mi²). 40.2 km² (15.5 mi²) of it is land and 8.1 km² (3.1 mi²) of it is water. The total area is 16.76% water.

Demographics

As of the census² of 2000, there are 81,855 people, 31,449 households, and 20,410 families residing in the city. The population density is 2,033.7/km² (5,267.6/mi²). There are 33,414 housing units at an average density of 830.2/km² (2,150.3/mi²). The racial makeup of the city is 68.91% White, 20.32% African American, 0.40% Native American, 0.61% Asian, 0.05% Pacific Islander, 7.14% from other races, and 2.57% from two or more races. 13.95% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 31,449 households out of which 33.9% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 42.2% are married couples living together, 17.9% have a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% are non-families. 29.4% of all households are made up of individuals and 10.5% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.54 and the average family size is 3.15.

In the city the population is spread out with 28.7% under the age of 18, 9.9% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 19.2% from 45 to 64, and 12.2% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 95.0 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $37,164, and the median income for a family is $45,150. Males have a median income of $35,079 versus $24,279 for females. The per capita income for the city is $17,705. 13.9% of the population and 10.8% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 20.6% of those under the age of 18 and 6.6% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

History

Racine was founded by Yankees from upstate New York, looking for new horizons for their entrepreneurial urges, but they were soon followed by waves of immigrants, including Danes, Germans and Czechs. Racine was a factory town almost from the very beginning, and had its share of captains of industry, including J.I. Case, Johnson Wax, Secor, Horlick, and many others.

The garbage disposer was invented in 1927 by Architect John Hammes of Racine, WI. He founded the company In-Sink-Erator in Racine and which is still at work making millions of garbage disposers a year.

Racine claims to be the largest North American settlement of Danes outside of Greenland.

External links

• Maps and aerial photos
  • Street map from Mapquest (http://www.mapquest.com/maps/map.adp?latlongtype=decimal&latitude=42.726052&longitude=-87.805873&zoom=6)
  • Topographic map from Topozone (http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.726052&lon=-87.805873&s=200&size=m&layer=DRG100)
  • Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver.microsoft.com/map.aspx?t=1&s=14&lon=-87.805873&lat=42.726052&w=750&h=500)

• Racine History websites
  • Racine Heritage Museum (http://www.racineheritagemuseum.org/)
  • Racine History (lots of postcards) (http://www.vindustries.com/racine/)

• Racine newspapers
  • Racine Journal Times (http://www.journaltimes.com/)
  • Racine Insider (http://racineinsider.com/)