Mequon Demographics

There are 7,861 households out of which 38.0% have children under the age of 18 living with them, 74.8% are married couples living together, 4.8% have a female householder with no husband present, and 18.5% are non-families. 16.1% of all households are made up of individuals and 7.4% have someone living alone who is 65 years of age or older. The average household size is 2.75 and the average family size is 3.09.

In the city the population is spread out with 28.1% under the age of 18, 4.2% from 18 to 24, 22.9% from 25 to 44, 31.2% from 45 to 64, and 13.6% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 42 years. For every 100 females there are 97.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 93.8 males.

The median income for a household in the Mequon http://mequon.net/ is $90,733, and the median income for a family is $101,793. Males have a median income of $72,762 versus $40,280 for females. The per capita income for the city is $48,333. 1.7% of the population and 1.3% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 1.2% of those under the age of 18 and 2.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.

The first white settlers of Mequon were Isaac BIGELOW and Daniel STRICKLAND, who emigrated with their families from the British possessions and settled in the town of Mequon in 1836. The territory at that time was one dense wilderness, the only thoroughfare, if such they could be called, were the Indian trails, leading in different directions through the vast country which lies north and west of the village. The pioneers followed one of these trails north until they came to Mequonsippi or Pigeon Creek, where they proceeded to erect for themselves rude shanties out of such material as could be found until they could replace them with more substantial log structures. In 1837, James W. WOODWORTH and his brother Ephraim came and took up claims near by. In 1838, William WORTH, Taylor HAVERLIN, John WESTON, Peter TURCK, Reuben WELLS, Isham DAY, Joseph LOOMER and several Irish families made settlements in the town. During the month of August, 1839, William F. OPITZ, in company with his father, mother, sister and brother-in-law, Adolph ZIMMERMANN, came and settled in what is now known as Mequon proper, one-half mile south of where the village of Thienville is now situated. They were the first German settlers. A month later, they were followed by five German families, consisting of Andrew GEIDEL, Michael MUELLER, Andrew LANZENDORF, W. SCHUMANN and Gottfried BAER. During the same year, the BONNIWELLS, William, George, James, Charles, Henry and Alfred came from England and settled that portion of Mequon now known as the Bonniwell District. Next after the BONNIWELLS came the Friestadt Colony, numbering about sixty families. These people sheltered themselves at first in tents. Timothy WOODEN, the first settler in the town of Grafton, and a neighbor of his, helped the Germans to erect their log houses. A year later, the colonists erected a log meeting-house, the first structure of the kind built in old Washington County. In the month of May, 1840, Edward H. JANSSEN, Henry HEISEN and John THOMPSON located in Mequon, and at once set about clearing the lands and interesting themselves in the general welfare of the community. Edward H. JANSSEN was the first German school teacher in the town. He was a man of great enterprise, and soon became an active worker in the politics of the county. Besides holding important offices in the town, he was made a member of the Constitutional Convention, was elected for two terms to the office of Register of Deeds, and, in 1851, was elected to the important office of State Treasurer. In 1854, he in company with his brother and a man by the name of GAITSCH built the Hamilton Grist-Mill, a large stone structure located on Cedar Creek, a mile south of the village. He was afterward elected County Superintendent of Schools, which office he held at the time of his death, which occurred during the year 1877.