Sparta, Wisconsin: The Bicycling Capital of America

K&M
Jul 2, 2020
6 min read

Population: 9,522

Coordinates: 43°56′35″N 90°48′42″W

Demographics: 92.2% White 1.5% African American 6.3% Other

Mayor

Sparta’s mayor is Kristen Gust, a 34 year old white Christian woman. She is the first woman to ever be Sparta’s mayor. Her birthday is on July seventh.

Kristen Gust

Real estate

A 114 acre farm complete with a dairy barn, 2 silos, various farm buildings, and a 6 bedroom house was sold last year for $415,000

Currently for sale is a 4,000 square foot 5-bedroom home on a 13,068 foot lot. The value is estimated at $239,500.

The estimated median house/condo value in 2017 was $121,838. The median gross rent in 2017 was $771.

Notable People

•Two governors of States other than Wisconsin- James Gillett and Mike O’Callaghan.

•Two NASCAR drivers- Larry Baumel and Tim Schendel.

•Deke Slayton, an astronaut.

•The person that thought of and made Mount Rushmore happen, Doane Robinson.

Deke Slayton

Schools

•Cataract elementary school in North Sparta has grades from Pre-k to 3rd and test score rating of 8/10, but no general rating. It has 77 students and 100% of them are white.

•Sparta Meadowview Middle school has 505 students and a rating of 3/10. It’s test scores fall far below the state average, and it’s 75% white students, 17% hispanic, 2% black, 1% asian, and 1% Native American.

•Lakeview Montessori School has 171 Students in Grades Pre-k to 6, and it’s rated 5/10. It’s 94% white students, 4% hispanic, and 1% Native American.

•Sparta Meadowview Intermediate school has grades 4-5 and a rating of 3/10. It’s demographics are roughly the same as Meadowview Middle School.

•Innovations STEM Academy is a middle school with 60 students and a rating of 8/10. It is 90% white, 5% hispanic, and 3% black.

•Sparta High Point School, grades 7-12, has a rating of 1/10. It’s 88% white, 4% asian, 4% Hispanic, 2% Native American, and 2% Black. It has 48 students.

•Maplewood Elementary School, Grades K-3, has a rating of 5/10. It’s 81% white, 9% Hispanic, 1% Native American, 4% Black, and 1% Pacific Islander. It has 194 students.

•Sparta Mennonite school goes from grades 2-11 and has 11 students.

•Sparta High School has grades 9-12, 784 students, and a rating of 4/10. It’s 83% white, 10% hispanic, 2% black, 1% Native American, 1% Asian, and 1% Pacific Islander.

•Southside Elementary School, with a rating of 6/10, has 250 students, and grades K-3. It’s 74% White, 21% hispanic, <1% black, <1% Native American, and 1% Pacific Islander.

The Sparta High School Mascot

Food

In Sparta there are most of the common fast food places, such as McDonalds, Burger King, and Taco Bell. There is also a special Mid-Western fast food chain called Culver’s. Besides the big chain restaurants there are a large handful of restaurants that have American food, Chinese Food, Italian Food, Thai Food, Mexican Food, and Japanese Food. Along with the restaurants, there are also bars that have a little bit of food too. Wisconsin is “America's Dairyland”- they make amazing cheeses and one of these is the Wisconsin classic, Cheese Curds. These are little balls of cheese and they are often fried. If you eat them uncooked, sometimes they squeak.

Fried Cheese Curds

Police

The Sparta Police department has 21 officers and responds to an average of 19,000 calls for service every year. There is one unit called bike patrol, who ride around on bikes and have their own distinctive uniform. Eleven years ago, the unit got 2 new bicycles. The police department also has a K9 unit with two dogs, Kaiser and Larz. There is a Chaplain Program for volunteers, so if Randy or Jef can be of help to you, give them a call. If you lost a Men’s red bike, a girls purple white and pink bike, or some construction grade power tools, you can pick them up at the Sparta PD.

Fire Department

The fire department has 55 members. There are three stations. There are 6 fire engines and 11 other types of vehicles including brush trucks, tankers, equipment vehicles, and one 100 foot platform truck. There is also a rescue squad. The fire department responds to an average of 125 calls per year.

Parks

There are 11 different parks in Sparta. There are also over 20 miles of trails along with athletic fields, play areas, and community gardens. There are many facilities at Sparta, including a community center, a golf course, a family aquatic center, a senior center, a fitness center, and more.

Geography

Sparta is located along the La Crosse River in Western Wisconsin. It has a total area of 6.6 square miles, .06 of which are water. There is a small lake in Sparta known as Perch lake. Sparta is near Angelo, WI (1.7 miles away), Rockland, WI (2.4 miles away), Burns, WI (2.8 miles away), Wells, WI (2.9 miles away), Bangor, WI (3.1 miles away), Adrian, WI (3.1 miles away), Melvina, WI (3.2 miles away), Cataract, WI (3.2 miles away). Sparta is part of Monroe County, Wisconsin.

The Location of Sparta (in red) in

Monroe County (left) in Wisconsin (right)

Weather

Because Sparta is in the upper midwest of the United States, it has a temperate climate. January is Sparta’s coldest month, and it has an average high temperature of 26℉ and average low of 6℉. The hottest month, July, has an average high of 85℉ and an average low of 63℉.

Snow Covers a Building in Sparta

History

The Sauk and Fox Indians were among the first Native American inhabitants of the area. Eventually, the pressure of American settlement forced the Native Americans from Wisconsin. When settlers first arrived in the Sparta area, members of the Winnebago tribe had migrated to areas surrounding Sparta and were using some of the region for hunting and other purposes. Around 1850, the first permanent settlers made claim to Sparta. They were the Pettit family. They built a log cabin that they converted into a tavern to serve the traffic which was bound to grow. The settlement received its name from “Grandma” Pettit. The reason she named the settlement Sparta is unknown but is believed to be because she was a great reader and was well informed in history, she thought the pioneers who came to their new settlement were as brave and suffered as much as the ancient Spartans of Greece. As more settlers came to Sparta, most of them chose to be farmers. Between 1853 and 1855, a group of 250 or so settlers came to Sparta. Hotels, sawmills, hardware and furniture stores, as well as grocery stores, were all started by this group. Because of this, Sparta soon became the center of a large trade area. Prior to the Civil War, the village of Sparta had several comfortable hotels and taverns for the weary traveler getting off the stage or the railroad, a bank, many merchants, a local newspaper, door and blind factory, and a grist mill. Sparta continued to grow into the city it is today.

Historical Property in Sparta

Things to do

•The Deke Slayton Memorial Space and Bike Museum. This museum is a combo of Sparta culture- it celebrates both Deke Slayton, an astronaut who was from Sparta, and the Sparta tradition of bicycling. The museum’s core topic is the evolution of transportation, from bicycles to airplanes to space travel. It has four exhibits that give information on the Evolution of the bicycle, Aviation, Astronaut Deke Slayton, and moon rocks.

•The World’s Largest Bicyclist is located in Sparta. The 32-foot-tall sculpture is nicknamed “Ben Bikin’”. It pictures a man on top of a Victorian-era bicycle.

•Visit Sparta’s many parks and its water recreation facility.

•FAST(Fiberglass Animals, Shapes, and Trademarks) is a Sparta fiberglass company. A popular Sparta attraction is the FAST Fiberglass Mold Graveyard. It is an area that showcases all the old fiberglass molds.

•The Monroe County Local History Room and Museum showcases pioneer history, agriculture, military history, industry, and business in Monroe County. The museum also holds collections of quilts and other family heirlooms that people have donated.

FAST Fiberglass Mold Graveyard

Healthcare

The mission of the Monroe County Health Department is “To Protect, Promote and Improve the Health of County Residents.” It services the cities of Sparta and Tomah, as well as 8 Villages and 22 Townships. Their staff is made up of eleven women. The health department has been servicing Monroe County since 1921.

Common jobs

Sparta is home to many large Businesses including Century Foods International, Northern Engraving Corp., Spartek, Mathews Inc., F.A.S.T. Corp., Sparta Brush Company, McPherson Guitars, Multistack, Lake States Lumber, and Wesco Home Furnishings. Naturally, these are large employers of Sparta citizens. The median income for males is $31,250, while it’s $21,634 for females. 11.3% of the population is below the poverty line. The cost of living index in Sparta is 77.4, while the National average is 100.

Fun Facts

•Kathryn “Kay” Dorothy Frederick, one of the mothers of modern feminism, was born in Sparta in 1920.

•Mineral-rich waters were discovered in Sparta during the 1860s. Many Sparta residents claimed the water had cured them of illnesses such as chronic diarrhea and dyspepsia. People began handing out pamphlets about the medicinal properties of the water in 1869, and, in 1871, the Mineral Spring Water Cure and Hotel Association was created. Though the water having healing properties was probably a myth, the tourism boom that resulted helped the town grow into what it is today.

•Every year, the town celebrates an event called Butterfest. It was created in 1984 to fundraise.

Transportation

Some airports in the religion are the City of Sparta Civil Airport, La Crosse Regional Airport, and Fort McCoy Airport. Canadian Pacific Railway railroad tracks provide Sparta with freight services. Many major highways, including Interstate 90, Wisconsin State Highway 16, Wisconsin State Highway 21, Wisconsin State Highway 27, and Wisconsin State Highway 71 service Sparta. Sparta is the final destination of the 32 mile Elroy-Sparta Bike Trail.