| County: | Trempealeau County |
| State: | Wisconsin |
| Ex Image: | Arcadia Free Public Library NRHP 94000388 Trempeleau County, WI.jpg |
| Ex Image Size: | 220px |
| Ex Image Cap: | Carnegie library in Arcadia, Wisconsin. |
| Founded Year: | 1855 |
| Seat Wl: | Whitehall |
| Largest City Wl: | Arcadia |
| Area Total Sq Mi: | 742 |
| Area Land Sq Mi: | 733 |
| Area Water Sq Mi: | 9.0 |
| Area Percentage: | 1.2% |
| Population As Of: | 2020 |
| Population Total: | 30760 |
| Pop Est As Of: | 2023 |
| Population Est: | 30899 |
| Population Density Sq Mi: | auto |
| Time Zone: | Central |
| Web: | www.tremplocounty.com |
| District: | 3rd |
Trempealeau County [1] is a county in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. As of the 2020 census, the population was 30,760. Its county seat is Whitehall.[2]
Patches of woodland are all that remain of the brush and light forest that once covered the county. In ancient times, the woodlands contained a great deal of timber, but Native Americans burned them periodically to encourage the growth of berries. They did little cultivation and had been almost completely removed from the area by 1837.[3] The area was ceded by the Dakota in the 1837 Treaty of Washington (7 Stat. 538).
French fur traders were the first Europeans to enter this land, traveling by river across the county. At the mouth of the Trempealeau River at its confluence with the Mississippi River, they found a bluff surrounded by water and called it La Montagne qui trempe à l’eau ("mountain steeped in water"). It is now known as Trempealeau Mountain.[4] [5] The name was later shortened to Trempealeau.[6] Created in 1854 and organized in 1855,[7] the county is named after the river.[8]
During the 19th and 20th century large numbers of Norwegian immigrants settled in the area in pursuit of cheap land, a better life and more opportunities. Much of the population is still of Norwegian descent and celebrate their ancestry by making foods native to Norway and participating in Norwegian Constitution Day events.
In the late 1850s, Trempealeau became a destination for Polish Prussian settlers from Upper Silesia seeking to escape German persecution and poverty in their homeland. They built churches, schools, and communities to develop what became the nation's second-largest Polish settlement. Their settlements were especially focused around Independence, Arcadia, Whitehall, and Pine Creek. Trempealeau has a large population of Silesian Polish descent to this day.
The county again became an immigrant destination in the first decades of the 21st century, gaining a significant Hispanic and Latino population.[9]
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has an area of, of which is land and (1.2%) is water.[10] It is part of the Driftless Zone.
As of the census of 2020,[11] the population was 30,760. The population density was 42/mi2. There were 13,270 housing units at an average density of 18.1/mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 85.5% White, 1.2% Native American, 0.4% Asian, 0.3% Black or African American, 7.9% from other races, and 4.7% from two or more races. Ethnically, the population was 12.9% Hispanic or Latino of any race.
As of the census[12] of 2000, there were 27,010 people, 10,747 households, and 7,243 families residing in the county. The population density was 37/mi2. There were 11,482 housing units at an average density of 16/mi2. The racial makeup of the county was 98.81% White, 0.13% Black or African American, 0.17% Native American, 0.13% Asian, 0.01% Pacific Islander, 0.29% from other races, and 0.47% from two or more races. 0.89% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 43.5% were of Norwegian, 24.6% German and 17.0% Polish ancestry. 94.9% spoke English, 1.6% Norwegian and 1.6% Spanish as their first language.
There were 10,747 households, out of which 31.80% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.20% were married couples living together, 7.40% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.60% were non-families. 27.60% of all households were made up of individuals, and 13.50% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.45 and the average family size was 3.00.
In the county, the population was spread out, with 25.30% under the age of 18, 6.90% from 18 to 24, 28.20% from 25 to 44, 23.10% from 45 to 64, and 16.40% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females there were 100.30 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.80 males.
In 2017, there were 450 births, giving a general fertility rate of 93.1 births per 1000 women aged 15–44, the third highest rate out of all 72 Wisconsin counties.[13]
Between 1948 and 1984, Trempealeau County voted for the nationwide winner in every election with the exception of the very close 1960 election. Then, from 1988 to 2012, like most of the rural counties in southwestern Wisconsin, it backed the Democratic candidate in each election, and did so by more than a 10% margin each time. In 2016, once again like the rest of rural southwestern Wisconsin, Trempealeau County dramatically swung to the right, shifting from a 14% victory for Democrat Barack Obama in 2012 to a 13% victory for Republican Donald Trump in 2016. Trump further expanded his margin of victory to over 16% in 2020 and to over 21% in 2024, achieving the highest vote shares for a Republican in the county since Dwight D. Eisenhower in his 1952 landslide victory.