Waupaca

Formed January 1, 1851 (36^th county)

Waupaca County (51,811), Waupaca (6,280), New London (7,363)                

The Modern tan brick and concrete courthouse was erected in 1989.  The courthouse is on Harding Street at Royallton Street Court.  Wisconsin State Highway 54 is Royallton Street.  Sauter Seaborne Architects provided the designs.  There was also an 1882 version of the courthouse.  Waupaca County was created on January 1, 1851 from parts of Brown and Winnebago counties as the 36^th county.  Mukwa was the first county seat until 1890 when Waupaca took the role.  The county and county seat are named for the Native American word meaning “pale water.” 

Waupaca County government consists of a sheriff and 27 Supervisors.  Three Circuit Court Judges and Two Municipal Court Judges serve Waupaca County.  The county is in the east central part of the state.  Green Bay, Wisconsin is east and Madison, Wisconsin is south of the county.  The county center is 12.3 miles Northeast of Waupaca nearer Ogdensburg.  The county is surrounded clockwise by Shawano, Outagamie, Winnebago, Waushara, Portage, and Marathon counties. 

The area of the county is 747.7 square miles.  It is 37 out of 72 in the state.  It ranks 29 out of 72 in population in the state.  It has a density of 69.3 persons per square mile making it 28 out of 72 in the state.  Waupaca County has 46.2% of its population in its incorporated areas.  United States Highway 10 comes into the county from Winnebago County, southeast, and goes to Portage County, west.  United States Highway 45 enters from the north, Shawano County, and exits to the east, Outagamie County.  The county is a rectangle with a handle added to the northeast corner.  The City of Waupaca is located in the southwest quarter of the county.  New London is on the eastern border of the county and extends into Outagamie County.  Waupaca is the county seat and New London is the largest city.  Waupaca is 12.1% of the county population while New London is 14.2% of the county population.  The county and county seat are pronounced WA-PAK-A.