Outagamie

Formed January 1, 1851 (35^th county)

Outagamie County (190,710), Appleton (75,681)

The masonry and concrete Art Deco structure was constructed in 1942.  A Justice Center was added in 1992.  The courthouse is on Walnut Street at 6^th Street.  Wisconsin State Highway 125 is three blocks to the north.  Raymond N. Le Vee provided the building designs.  Veteran memorials are on the grounds.  The building was renovated in 2012.  There was also an 1882 courthouse in Appleton.  The county was formed on January 1, 1851 from Brown County as the 35^th county.  Grand Chute was the first county seat until 1852 when Appleton became the seat.  Outagamie County is named for a Native American word meaning “people living on the other shore.”  The county seat was named for the father-in-law of local university founder Amos Lawrence. 

Outagamie County government consists of a sheriff and 36 Supervisors.  Six Circuit Court Judges and Nine Municipal Court Judges serve Outagamie County.  The county is in eastern Wisconsin.  Green Bay, Wisconsin is northeast and Milwaukee, Wisconsin is southeast of the county.  The county center is 11.3 miles North of Appleton nearer Center Valley.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Shawano, Brown, Calumet, Winnebago, and Waupaca counties. 

The area of the county is 637.5 square miles.  It is 45 out of 72 in the state.  It ranks 6 out of 72 in population in the state.  It has a density of 299.2 persons per square mile making it 10 out of 72 in the state.  Outagamie County has 65.1% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 41 comes into the county from Brown County, east, and goes south into Winnebago County.  United States Highway 45 enters from Waupaca County, west, and exits to Winnebago County, south.  The county is a rectangle.  Appleton is located on the southern border of the county and extends into Calumet and Winnebago counties.  Appleton is the county seat and the largest city.  It is 39.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced OUT-A-GAE-MEE.  This county is in the Appleton Metropolitan Statistical Area.