City of Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit Water Tower, constructed in 1889.
Flag
Nickname: Gateway To Wisconsin or "Petunia City"
Location of Beloit in Wisconsin
Coordinates: 42°30′30″N 89°01′54″W / 42.50833, -89.03167
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Rock
Founded	1836
Incorporated	February 24, 1846 (village) March 31, 1856 (city)
Government
- Manager	Larry Arft
- City Attorney	Tom Casper
- City Council	Martin Densch (President) Kevin Leavy (V. President) Terrence T. Monahan Joel Patch Douglas Eddy Chad Murry
Area
- Total	16.7 sq mi (43.2 km²)
- Land	16.4 sq mi (42.6 km²)
- Water	0.2 sq mi (0.6 km²)
Elevation	751 ft (228.9 m)
Population (2000)
- Total	35,775
- Density	2,176.6/sq mi (840.2/km²)
Time zone	CST (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
Website: www.ci.beloit.wi.us

Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2007 census estimate Beloit has a population of 37,710 people. Beloit is the location of Beloit College. Beloit is home to a Hormel plant, the world's largest can of chili,^[1] and the Beloit Snappers baseball club of the Midwest League. Beloit lays claim to such inventions as the speedometer,^{[citation needed]} Korn Kurls^{[citation needed]} and Appleby's twine binder.^{[citation needed]} Korn Kurls are credited for the founding of the snack food industry, and resemble present day Cheetos.

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 16.7 square miles (43.2 km²), of which, 16.4 square miles (42.6 km²) of it is land and 0.2 square miles (0.6 km²) of it is water. The total area is 1.38% water. Location: 42°30′30″N, 89°01′54″W.

The city is located adjacent to the Town of Beloit, Town of Turtle, and the Illinois municipality of South Beloit. There is very little agricultural land remaining between Beloit and Janesville or between Beloit and Rockford, Illinois. The city is normally considered part of the Janesville MSA.

Most of Beloit's development is occurring on the east side, adjacent to Interstates 39/90 and Interstate 43, where the city annexed rural land for the extensive Beloit Gateway Industrial Park, as well as in the newly revitalized downtown.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there are 35,775 people, 13,370 households, and 8,904 families residing in the city. The population density is 840.2/km² (2,176.6/sq mi). There are 14,262 housing units at an average density of 335.0 persons/km² (867.7 persons/sq mi). The racial makeup of the city is 75.57% White, 15.37% African American, 0.38% Native American, 1.16% Asian, 0.07% Pacific Islander, 4.62% from other races, and 2.85% from two or more races. 9.10% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There are 13,370 households out of which 34.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 44.5% are married couples living together, 16.6% have a woman whose husband does not live with her, and 33.4% are non-families. 27.5% of all households are made up of individuals and 11.3% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.57 and the average family size is 3.10.

In the city the population is spread out with 27.7% under the age of 18, 11.5% from 18 to 24, 28.5% from 25 to 44, 19.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.0% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 33 years. For every 100 females there are 92.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 87.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city is $36,414, and the median income for a family is $42,083. Males have a median income of $32,870 versus $23,925 for females. The per capita income for the city is $16,912. 12.5% of the population and 9.6% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total people living in poverty, 16.4% are under the age of 18 and 6.3% are 65 or older.

Recreation and Development

Beloiters enjoy a large variety of recreational activities, in part because of the city's uncommon diversity. Beloit is home to a professional minor league baseball team, the Beloit Snappers, as well as a lively riverfront popular to many city dwellers. The downtown, home to many small shops and boutiques has seen a recent renewal, after decades of lost business due to Interstates 90 and 43. Up-scale downtown condominiums are now visible, with the additions of such venues as Heritage View and the Beloit Inn. Opportunity and easy access to other communities have led to a spurt of growth in the area, some calling it a renaissance of sorts.

Downtown Beloit Assosiation

Recognition

• Beloit is the only city in the state of Wisconsin to be home to 3 multi-billion dollar international companies.
• ABC Supply Company
• Regal-Beloit
• Kerry Ingredients

• In 2007, America in Bloom, a national competition between cities declared Beloit as "the best-kept secret of the midwest."
• In September, America in Bloom named Beloit the overall winner in its population class, Beloit also received top honors for any sized city in the category of landscaping.
• Anthropologist Margaret Mead described Beloit as, "America in microcosm."
• Beloit has been a Tree City for the past 19 years, earning its place as one of the longest running tree cities in the state, and nation.
• In February 2008 Beloit resident Keely Givhan served six days in jail for failing to return overdue books to the Public Library.^[2]

Beloit Festivals

Beloit's main festivals include:

• Beloit Riverfest "Largest Rock Festival of the Midwest"
• Beloit International Film Festival
• Winterfest
• Festival's at Harry's Place
• Music at Harry's Place
• Movie's at Harry's Place
• ArtWalk
• Hollidazzle
• Hog Hula
• Christmas Lights Parade and Festival
• Thunder on the Rock
• Pops on the Rock-4th of July Festival
• Gospel in the Park
• Celebrate! & Grand Prix Race
• Beloit Farmers Market
• Southern Wisconsin AirFest
• Beloit Heritage Days
• Beloit Autorama

Businesses/Organizations

Beloit's Major Industry

• ABC Supply Company†
• Fairbanks-Morse
• Patch Products†
• Regal-Beloit†
• Alcoa Wheel Products
• Frito Lay
• Kerry Group (Headquarters of Kerry Ingredients)†
• Genecor International Wisconsin, Inc. (A Danisco Division)
• Broaster Company†
• Hormel
• Metso
• Kettle Foods
• Staples, Inc. Online Fulfillment Center

A † indicates Beloit is home to the company's World Headquarters.

Education

• Beloit College, a liberal arts college with undergraduate enrollment around 1,300. The campus is notable for numerous prehistoric Indian mounds.
  

  

  Beloit College, Prehistoric indian mounds along with the Middle College
• Blackhawk Technical College, which has its main campus between Beloit and Janesville, has an adult education center in downtown Beloit.
• Beloit Memorial High School is the city's public high school. The school is part of the School District of Beloit.

F.J. Turner High School is a public high school that enrolls 381 students from grades 9-12.

Notable people

• Eugene Lee, Tony Award Winning Set Designer, Wicked, Saturday Night Live
• Roy Chapman Andrews, adventurer naturalist
• Thomas Chrowder Chamberlin, geologist
• Franklin Clarke, Dallas Cowboys (1960-1967) and Cleveland Browns (1957-1959)
• Betty Everett, rock and jazz singer ("The Shoop Shoop Song")
• Jonathan Harr, journalist and author (A Civil Action)
• Ken Hendricks, founder of ABC Supply, listed on the Forbes 400
• Jerry Kenney, New York Yankees (1967, 1969-1972) and Cleveland Indians (1973)
• Tiara Purifoy, former American Idol contestant
• Judy Robson, former Majority Leader, Wisconsin State Senate
• Robin Zander, musician (Cheap Trick)

Trivia

• Beloit is the only city in the state of Wisconsin to be home to 3 multi-billion dollar international companies.
  • ABC Supply Company
  • Regal-Beloit
  • Kerry Ingredients^{[citation needed]}
• Beloit's Famous Water Tower Place went under demolition in 1935, but was halted shortly after because of the sheer cost of tearing down the tower.
• Beloit College is the oldest, continuously operating college in Wisconsin, and has been known as "the Yale of the Midwest" because it was founded in the nineteenth century by Yale graduates.
• Beloit lays claim to such nicknames as "petunia city", "snack foods central", "Paper-making capital of the world" and "the Gateway to Wisconsin."
• Beloit is known as the horseshoeing capital of the world.
• Abraham Lincoln spoke to the citizens of Beloit on October 1, 1859 at Hanchett's Hall.
• In 1974 the Beloit Fire Dept. became the first in the United States to have personnel trained at the paramedic level in a city of under 50,000 people.

Fairbanks-Morse complex

Construction along riverfront, downtown Beloit

Athletic championships

References

External links

• Official City Webpage
• Greater Beloit Chamber of Commerce
• Visit Beloit Beloit's Convention and Visitor Center.
• Beloit as an Ecosystem An exploration of the land, water, and society of Beloit, Wisconsin.
• Beloit Public Library Be sure the check out the Beloit Area link in the top menu bar.
• Beloit Historical Society Articles and images from Beloit's early years.
• Beloit Snappers Our very own class A minor league ball club.
• School District of Beloit The School District of Beloit's official homepage.
• City-Data Beloit Wisconsin Webpage Data on the City of Beloit aggregated by City-data.
• Yahoo City of Beloit Club Search Unofficial Beloit and Stateline area search portal.

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Janesville, Wisconsin Surrounding communities (over 10,000) Beloit° (under 10,000) Edgerton° | Fulton* | Harmony* | La Prairie* | Milton° | Rock* | Janesville* | Milton* | S. Beloit, IL° | Beloit* | Turtle* Counties Rock County *town °city

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Municipalities and communities of Rock County, Wisconsin County seat: Janesville Cities Beloit | Brodhead | Edgerton | Evansville | Janesville | Milton Towns Avon | Beloit | Bradford | Center | Clinton | Fulton | Harmony | Janesville | Johnstown | La Prairie | Lima | Magnolia | Milton | Newark | Plymouth | Porter | Rock | Spring Valley | Turtle | Union Villages Clinton | Footville | Orfordville Communities Afton | Albion | Crestview

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Coordinates: 42°30′30″N, 89°01′54″W