Just south of town is a historic marker for the Half-Way Tree, a bur oak supposedly identified by Native Americans as the halfway point on a foot trail between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi River.[5]
The railroad track that runs east and west through town features a small museum with a train and army tank on display, adjacent to the park and bandstand pavilion. The museum curator said that the railroad was being wooed by two different towns and decided to split the difference and created Brodhead in the spring of 1856.
The town was named in honor of the chief engineer of the Milwaukee and Mississippi Railroad, Edward Hallock Brodhead (1809-1890), who was among the earliest promoters of the railway depot. The initial street names of the town were platted after the surnames of the landowners, eventually changed to numerical titles to reflect practical purposes.[6]
Other cofounders include: Edmund Deacon Clinton (1804-1885), Isaac Foster Mack (1806-1886), John P. Dixon, John Lucas Vischer Thomas (1825-1917), John L. McNair (1809-1877), Edmund Abbott West (1823-1922) and Erastus M. Smith.
A nearby raceway was dredged off of a branch of the Sugar River that diverted a long canal to a hydroelectric generator that supplied electricity to the town. This gave Brodhead the distinction of having electrical service before other larger cities such as Chicago, and perhaps the first electrical service in Wisconsin.[citation needed]
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 1.84 square miles (4.77 km2), all of it land.[8]
Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Brodhead has a hot-summer humid continental climate, abbreviated "Dfa" on climate maps. The hottest temperature recorded in Brodhead was 111 °F (43.9 °C) on July 21, 1901 and July 12–14, 1936, while the coldest temperature recorded was −36 °F (−37.8 °C) on January 30, 1951.[9]
Climate data for Brodhead, Wisconsin, 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1897–present
As of 2000 the median income for a household in the city was $36,506, and the median income for a family was $46,199. Males had a median income of $32,031 versus $24,442 for females. The per capita income for the city was $17,455. About 6.6% of families and 7.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.1% of those under age 18 and 5.8% of those age 65 or over.
2010 census
As of the census[3] of 2010, there were 3,293 people, 1,346 households, and 851 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,789.7 inhabitants per square mile (691.0/km2). There were 1,452 housing units at an average density of 789.1 per square mile (304.7/km2). The racial makeup of the city was 96.4% White, 0.1% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 1.9% from other races, and 0.8% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 3.8% of the population.
There were 1,346 households, of which 32.3% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.8% were married couples living together, 11.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.1% had a male householder with no wife present, and 36.8% were non-families. 31.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 14% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.01.
The median age in the city was 38.4 years. 25% of residents were under the age of 18; 7.9% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 26.1% were from 25 to 44; 23.3% were from 45 to 64, and 17.6% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 47.3% male and 52.7% female.
Education
Brodhead is served by the Brodhead School District. Grades Pre-K through 5 attend Albrecht Elementary school. Grades 6 through 8 attend Brodhead Middle School. Brodhead High School is the local high school.[12]
United States
Wisconsin
