McFarland, Wisconsin
Location of McFarland, Wisconsin
Coordinates: 43°1′7″N 89°17′28″W / 43.01861, -89.29111
Country	United States
State	Wisconsin
County	Dane
Area
- Total	3.5 sq mi (9.0 km²)
- Land	3.5 sq mi (9.0 km²)
- Water	0.0 sq mi (0.0 km²)
Elevation [1]	869 ft (265 m)
Population (2005)
- Total	7,383
- Density	1,839.3/sq mi (710.1/km²)
Time zone	Central (CST) (UTC-6)
- Summer (DST)	CDT (UTC-5)
FIPS code	55-46850[2]
GNIS feature ID	1569214[1]

McFarland is a village in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States, on the eastern shore of Lake Waubesa. The population was 7,383 at the 2005 census.

McFarland is a suburb of Madison.

Geography

McFarland is located at 43°1′7″N, 89°17′28″W (43.018480, -89.291116)^[3].

According to the United States Census Bureau, the village has a total area of 3.5 square miles (9.0 km²), all of it land.

Demographics

As of the census^[2] of 2000, there were 6,416 people, 2,434 households, and 1,769 families residing in the village. The population density was 1,839.3 people per square mile (709.8/km²). There were 2,491 housing units at an average density of 714.1/sq mi (275.6/km²). The racial makeup of the village was 97.21% White, 0.34% Black, 0.39% Native American, 0.69% Asian, 0.03% Pacific Islander, 0.50% from other races, and 0.84% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.14% of the population.

There were 2,434 households out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.6% were married couples living together, 9.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.3% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.8% 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 3.10.

In the village the population was spread out with 29.3% under the age of 1, 6.0% from 18 to 24, 1.0% from 25 to 44, 6.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 100.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.2 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $62,969, and the median income for a family was $71,218. Males had a median income of $43,208 versus $31,133 for females. The per capita income for the village was $26,625. About 1.2% of families and 3.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 1.5% of those under age 18 and 10.2% of those age 65 or over.

History

McFarland was founded in 1856 by William H. McFarland. In July, 2006, McFarland celebrated its sesquicentennial (150th year anniversary). It celebrated with such activities as the Taste of McFarland and live music at the Gazebo located near downtown McFarland. Plaques of "Then and Now" covering McFarland's 150 years of history are located at the McFarland High School, the local Culver's restaurant, and the E.D. Locke Public Library, among various other places.

Early industries in the village included harvesting winter ice and fish on nearby Lake Waubesa for rail shipment to markets in Chicago. Later a small resort industry developed in an area called "Edwards Park" near the lake. After WWII, the village became a bedroom community for Madison. In the 1960's, a lawyer named Lloyd Schneider (father of Jana Schneider) led an effort to have petroleum tank farms north of the village that are part of the Koch pipeline included in the village's tax base. This enabled the McFarland School District to fund construction of a new high school building, which has dominated the cultural life of the village ever since. In 1989 a major highway project in nearby Madison called the "beltline" made commuting to the village much easier and has enabled rapid residential growth since. On June 17th, 1992 a tornado destroyed several dozen homes and injured several people in Waubesa Heights, a nearby housing development in the town of Dunn, but within the McFarland School District.

Notable people

• Jana Schneider, actress and journalist.
• Conrad Elvehjem, biochemist.

Education

The McFarland School District operates McFarland High School. It is an accredited North Central High School and had a 2006 enrollment of 620 students. [1] The school is said to excel in non-traditional sports such as Cross-Country and Track under the reputable coaching of Bruce Fischer and Boys Swimming, under Larry Baeder from 2002-2006 and with former assistant head coach Nick Weiss becoming head coach in 2006. Boys swimming has since won two Div. II state titles in a row, in both 2007 and 2008 under head coach Nick Weiss and assistant head coach Neal Weiss. Also, girls swimming in McFarland excels under the coaching of Heidi Ackley. Boy's golf is another sport in which McFarland has excelled in. McFarland has earned the title of state champion once and runner-up twice in the last five years, and it was home to the number one golfer in the state of Wisconsin, Nick Engen, in 2005. The school falls behind in the traditional sports such as football and basketball, with the football program posting a 3-6 record for the 2006 season. Other sports include: for boys, Baseball, Golf, Hockey, Soccer, and Tennis; for girls, Golf, Soccer, Softball, Tennis, and Volleyball. The McFarland High Golf Team has been in the state tournament the last 9 years. They also won the sectional golf tournament the last 3 out of 4 years.

At McFarland High School, marching band is a very popular activity. The 2006 marching band is one of the largest in the state with over 240 musicians (about a third of the students attending McFarland High School). The band is directed by Bill Garvey, Dave Heilman, and Brian Vanderblomen.

Clubs at the McFarland High School include Academic Decathlon, Ambassadors, D.E.C.A., Drama, Musical, Tech Crew, Model United Nations, National Honor Society, Newspaper, Driftwood, Science Olympiad, T.A.D.A., Art Club, Techno Club, and Yearbook.

The school's mascot is the Spartan.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} US Board on Geographic Names. United States Geological Survey (2007-10-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
2. ^ ^{a b} American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
3. ^ US Gazetteer files: 2000 and 1990. United States Census Bureau (2005-05-03). Retrieved on 2008-01-31.

External links

• Village of McFarland
• McFarland School District
• McFarland Chamber of Commerce
• McFarland Historical Society

• McFarland, Wisconsin is at coordinates 43°01′07″N 89°17′28″W / 43.01848, -89.291116 (McFarland, Wisconsin)Coordinates: 43°01′07″N 89°17′28″W / 43.01848, -89.291116 (McFarland, Wisconsin)

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Madison, Wisconsin Surrounding communities (over 10,000) Fitchburg° | Middleton° | Stoughton° | Sun Prairie° (under 10,000) Ashton Corners* | Blooming Grove* | Bristol* | Burke* | Cottage Grove‡ | De Forest‡ | Dunkirk* | Dunn* | Hope* | Maple Bluff‡ | McFarland‡ | Mt Horeb | Monona° | Oregon‡ | Pleasant Springs | Shorewood Hills‡ | Springfield* | Town of Madison* | Verona° | Waunakee‡ | Westport* | Windsor* Counties Dane County, Wisconsin *town ‡village °city §CDP

v â€¢ d â€¢ e Municipalities and communities of Dane County, Wisconsin County seat: Madison Cities Fitchburg | Madison | Middleton | Monona | Stoughton | Sun Prairie | Verona Towns Albion | Berry | Black Earth | Blooming Grove | Blue Mounds | Bristol | Burke | Christiana | Cottage Grove | Cross Plains | Dane | Deerfield | Dunkirk | Dunn | Madison | Mazomanie | Medina | Middleton | Montrose | Oregon | Perry | Pleasant Springs | Primrose | Roxbury | Rutland | Springdale | Springfield | Sun Prairie | Vermont | Verona | Vienna | Westport | Windsor | York Villages Belleville | Black Earth | Blue Mounds | Brooklyn | Cambridge | Cottage Grove | Cross Plains | Dane | Deerfield | De Forest | Maple Bluff | Marshall | Mazomanie | McFarland | Mount Horeb | Oregon | Rockdale | Shorewood Hills | Waunakee CDP Windsor Unincorporated communities Ashton Corners | Hope | Morrisonville | Mount Vernon | Utica