Baldwin-Woodville Chamber of Commerce and Visitor Bureau

The Village of Baldwin is located in St. Croix County along the I-94 corridor 30 miles east of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area and 40 miles west of Eau Claire. The interstate's exit 19 leads to Baldwin's downtown district which is just one mile north on U.S. Highway 63.

Baldwin was incorporated in December, 1874. As of January, 2005, Baldwin has a population of 3.555. The village is governed by a President and six-member Village Board of Trustees.

One of the reasons Baldwin was given the title of the "Biggest Little Town in Wisconsin" is that the volume of mail that came through the village post office was very high when it was compared percentage-wise to the population. But some residents theorize that the label originated because, quite simply, the people here are friendly.

The Municipal Center, which houses the village's administrative offices, library, and senior center, is located at 400 Cedar Street. A municipal court, street maintenance, and sewer and water departments are operated by the village. A mandatory recycling program is monitored by the St. Croix County Planning Department.

Baldwin's police department is available 24 hour a day, consisting of six full-time officers. The ambulance service is also available 24 hours a day, staffed with up to 20 volunteer EMTs. A 911 emergency service is available.

The Baldwin Fire District was consolidated in January, 1994, to include 13 municipalities in the area, including villages of Baldwin, Hammond, Woodville and Wilson, and the townships of Baldwin, Springfield, Hammond, Emerald, Pleasant Valley, Rush River, Eau Galle, Erin Prairie and Cady. The move brought the ISO rating up to #4, and increased the efficiency of the operation by offering the services of total of 80 volunteer members and 13 trucks.

Baldwin's electricity is provided by Xcel Enery. Baldwin Telecom, Inc. facilitates phone service and cable T.V. hook-up. WE Energies provides natural gas. The St. Croix Electric Co-op provides and maintains rural electrical services.

The Baldwin Bulletin, locally published weekly newspaper, has been a family owned publication since 1892. It is available in area shops, as well as by subscription. Read the Baldwin Bulletin Blog here.

Local developers have recently opened up new subdivisions of multiple and single family dwellings, as well as custom and executive estates. Spec homes and land plots for building on are also available. Curb and gutter and all municipalities have been installed. The new developments are found to the north, east and southwest of the village.

Baldwin has an active development group to assist new and existing businesses. There are four financial institutions in the village. Professional services include several attorneys, accountants, veterinarians and health care professionals. The newly remodeled Baldwin Area Medical Center, offers a complete range of quality health services.

(Source: http://www.ci.baldwin.wi.us/)

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 2,667 people, 1,115 households, and 703 families residing in the village. The population density was 447.7/km sq (1,161.0/mi sq). There were 1,144 housing units at an average density of 192.0/km sq (498.0/mi sq). The racial makeup of the village was 98.43% White, 0.15% Black or Race (United States Census)African American, 0.19% Native American, 0.41% Asian, 0.07% from Race (United States Census)other races, and 0.75% from two or more races. 0.41% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 1,115 households out of which 31.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.4% were married couples living together, 7.4% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.9% were non-families. 30.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 15.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.33 and the average family size was 2.92.

In the village the population was spread out with 24.1% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 29.0% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 18.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 90.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.3 males.

The median income for a household in the village was $40,313, and the median income for a family was $51,250. Males had a median income of $37,216 versus $26,250 for females. The per capita income for the village was $20,748. About 3.0% of families and 5.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 5.6% of those age 65 or over.

(Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baldwin%2C_Wisconsin)

Brief History of Baldwin

Baldwin was a dream formulated in the mind of a Vermont man who literally made his dream come true. The Honorable Dana Reed Bailey, a young lawyer at heart, owned hundreds of acres of land in this area and realized that the railroad would be building somewhere right near his land. He suffered from poor health and wanted to go west to improve. He decided he would try to get the railroad through his land and build a large saw mill and flour mill. His father-in-law, Mr. Clapp, already owned part of a small saw mill operation just south of Baldwin about one mile. The mill was called Daniell's Mill by some and Clapp's Mill by others. Mr. Clapp turned his interest of the operation over to D. R. Bailey. Mr. Bailey came west to this very area and got to work making a town out of his farm. He also kept a large portion of his land and made the "Messenger" farm where he became famous for his great shorthorn purebreds.

When the train first came through on the bitter cold night of November 24, 1871, there was a group of people sitting around a fire near the depot waiting to go east on the train. That same train brought in the A. C. Ayerses who were one of the first families from Vermont to come make their home in this place. The depot was first called Clarkesville after the first railroad agent here but was later changed by the railroad authorities to Baldwin to honor their president of the West Wisconsin Railroad, Mr. D.A. Baldwin. You see, if it hadn't been for Mr. Baldwin, the train would not have come through for several years and if it hadn't been for the train coming through, Mr. Bailey would never have started our village!
Baldwin was called the "hub" of St. Croix. It grew like a wild fire spreads, rapidly. Within a year, there were many homes and an amazing number of businesses. It had three hotels in a short period of time and even they could not house all of the travelers. As soon as a house was built, there were ten families wanting to rent it. People then felt that Baldwin would grow into a large city! It was very exciting place to live in the 1870's and 80's. Today, it is a more relaxing place to live. The Windmill Park lends a beauty to all those who pass on Hwy. 63. Stop in a visit with our attendants who are at the Windmill from Memorial Day to Labor Day.