Kewaunee County is a county in Wisconsin, United States, on the western shore of Lake Michigan northeast of Green Bay. It had a population of 20,563 at the 2020 census and covers 343 square miles (890 km2) of land, centred near 44°35′N 87°26′W.
Kewaunee is the county seat, and its postal code is 54216. The county has 2 cities, 2 villages, 10 towns and more than two dozen unincorporated communities. It sits in the Central time zone (UTC-6, UTC-5 during daylight saving) and carries FIPS code 55061.
Towns & Villages in Kewaunee County
Kewaunee County groups its population into two incorporated cities, two incorporated villages, and a long list of unincorporated crossroads and hamlets scattered across its ten organized towns. Many of the smaller names date to the county’s 19th-century Belgian, Bohemian (Czech) and German settlement waves — Walhain, Slovan, Pilsen and Tonet are all named for towns their first settlers left behind in Europe. “CDP” below marks a Census Bureau-recognised place with no municipal government; “Unincorp.” marks an informal community name with none.
| Place | Type | Pop. | ZIP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kewaunee | City · seat | 2,837 | 54216 |
| Algoma | City | 3,243 | 54201 |
| Casco | Village | — | 54205 |
| Luxemburg | Village | — | 54217 |
| Alaska | Unincorp. | — | 54201 |
| Bay View | Unincorp. | — | 54201 |
| Birchwood | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bolt | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Bruemmerville | Unincorp. | — | 54216 |
| Casco Junction | Unincorp. | — | 54205 |
| Cherneyville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Clyde | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Curran | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Duvall | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Dyckesville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| East Krok | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ellisville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Euren | Unincorp. | — | 54201 |
| Frog Station | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Gregorville | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Kodan | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Krok | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Lincoln | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Neuern | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Norman | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Pilsen | Unincorp. | — | 54205 |
| Rankin | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rio Creek | Unincorp. | — | 54216 |
| Rosiere (partial) | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Rostok | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Ryans Corner | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Slovan | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Stangelville | Unincorp. | — | 54216 |
| Thiry Daems | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Tisch Mills (partial) | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Tonet | Unincorp. | — | — |
| Walhain | Unincorp. | — | — |
Two of the unincorporated places straddle a county line: Rosiere sits mostly in Door County to the north, and Tisch Mills sits mostly in Manitowoc County to the south, with only their edges reaching into Kewaunee County.
Townships
Wisconsin calls its civil townships “towns,” and Kewaunee County has ten of them, governing the rural land around the incorporated cities and villages. 2020 town-level population figures were not separately verified for this profile.
| Township | Pop. (2020) | Main settlements |
|---|---|---|
| Ahnapee | — | — |
| Carlton | — | — |
| Casco | — | Village of Casco (separately incorporated) |
| Franklin | — | — |
| Lincoln | — | — |
| Luxemburg | — | Village of Luxemburg (separately incorporated) |
| Montpelier | — | — |
| Pierce | — | — |
| Red River | — | — |
| West Kewaunee | — | — |
ZIP Codes
- 54216 — Kewaunee (also serves Bruemmerville, Rio Creek and Stangelville)
- 54201 — Algoma (also serves Alaska, Bay View and Euren)
- 54217 — Luxemburg
- 54205 — Casco (also serves Casco Junction and Pilsen)
The remaining unincorporated crossroads share ZIP coverage with one of these four post office towns; their exact carrier route was not independently verified for this profile.
Geography
Kewaunee County lies on a limestone plateau between the Niagara Escarpment and Lake Michigan, whose shoreline forms the county’s entire eastern edge. The land is gently rolling farm country drained by the Kewaunee River, the Ahnapee River and Silver Creek, all of which empty into the lake. Much of the county’s water acreage in federal statistics comes from the offshore stretch of Lake Michigan counted within the county boundary rather than inland lakes.
Kewaunee County borders Door County to the north, Manitowoc County to the south, and Brown County to the west; none of the three has a live profile on this site yet to link to.
Demographics
The county’s population was 20,563 at the 2020 census, up slightly from the prior decade. Algoma (3,243) and Kewaunee (2,837) are the two largest communities and together hold more than a quarter of the county’s residents; most of the rest live on farms and in the unincorporated hamlets across the ten towns. At 343 square miles of land, the county’s population density works out to roughly 60 people per square mile. Household income in Kewaunee County runs close to the Wisconsin median of $74,631, reflecting a mix of dairy farming, food processing and Green Bay-commuter households.
Economy & Local Life
Dairy and cash-grain farming anchor the county’s rural economy, supplemented by food processing tied to the Green Bay metro area just west of the county line. Algoma’s harbor on Lake Michigan supports commercial and sport fishing and a small seasonal tourism trade built around the lakeshore. The now-decommissioned Kewaunee Power Station, a nuclear plant on the lakeshore in the Town of Carlton, was a major regional employer and taxpayer for four decades before it closed in 2013. The county’s Belgian-American heritage, shared with neighboring Door and Brown counties, still shows in local church architecture, roadside chapels and family names around Walhain, Rosiere and Thiry Daems.
History
Kewaunee County was created by the Wisconsin territorial legislature in 1852 and organized as a functioning county government in 1859. Its name comes from the Menominee word “Kewāneh,” recorded as an old term for a species of duck. Settlement in the mid-1800s drew heavily on Belgian, Bohemian (Czech) and German immigrants, whose place names — Slovan, Pilsen, Tonet, Rostok and Walhain among them — still mark the rural townships today. The county forms part of the Wisconsin side of the Belgian-American settlement region that also spans Door and Brown counties, one of the largest rural Walloon-speaking immigrant communities in United States history.
Getting There
Wisconsin Highway 42 runs the length of the county along the Lake Michigan shore linking Algoma and Kewaunee, while State Highways 29 and 54 connect inland towns west toward Green Bay.
- Green Bay — 25 miles west
- Sturgeon Bay — 20 miles north
- Manitowoc — 25 miles south
- Appleton — 55 miles southwest
The nearest commercial airport is Austin Straubel International Airport in Green Bay.
Frequently Asked Questions
Where is Kewaunee County, Wisconsin?
It is on the western shore of Lake Michigan in northeastern Wisconsin, between Green Bay and Manitowoc.
What is the population of Kewaunee County?
20,563 residents at the 2020 census.
How big is Kewaunee County?
343 square miles of land (890 km2), plus a large area of Lake Michigan counted within its boundary.
What is the county seat of Kewaunee County?
Kewaunee is the county seat.
How many towns and villages are in Kewaunee County?
Two cities (Algoma and Kewaunee), two villages (Casco and Luxemburg), and more than thirty smaller unincorporated communities across ten towns.
What ZIP codes are in Kewaunee County?
54201 (Algoma), 54205 (Casco), 54216 (Kewaunee) and 54217 (Luxemburg).
Why do so many Kewaunee County places have European names?
Belgian, Bohemian and German immigrants settled the county heavily in the mid-1800s and named their new communities — Walhain, Slovan, Pilsen, Rostok — after towns they had left in Europe.
More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Wisconsin.