Elkhorn, Wisconsin
city in and county seat of Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States
Elkhorn is a city in Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. It is located 40 miles (64 km) southwest of Milwaukee. As of the 2020 census, it was home to 10,247 people, up from 10,084 at the 2010 census.
History
In 1836, Colonel Samuel Phoenix spotted a rack of elk antlers in a tree and proclaimed the area as "Elk Horn."
The area's beauty and fertile soil led Daniel Bradley, his brother Milo, and LeGrand Rockwell to create a community in the area. Its growth to a population of 539 led to the first town meeting in 1846. Elkhorn was designated county seat that same year because of its location in Walworth County.
In 1851, Elkhorn became the location of the Walworth County Fair, which is now hosted annually at the Walworth County Fairgrounds which lasts for six days having Labor Day as the last. The Walworth County Fair is the largest county fair in Wisconsin.
In the 1870s, saline water from springs located in Elkhorn was believed to cure rheumatism.
Because the city places Christmas decorations around its center, Elkhorn has been called the "Christmas Card Town" since before World War II. This tradition is celebrated every year by an annual oil painting by local artist Jan Castle Reed.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Elkhorn, Wisconsin” as city in and county seat of Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the places & architecture register because the source frames it as city in and county seat of Walworth County, Wisconsin, United States. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q1013673. VIAF identifies the subject as 127904088. The Library of Congress control number is n85081522. Authority coordinates are 42.673, -88.540. 3 of 4 selected statements include explicit references; 1 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2020, 2010, 1836 and 1846.
A single description cannot reconcile every naming convention, rebuilding phase or administrative transfer associated with a place. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Elkhorn, Wisconsin”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Elkhorn, Wisconsin primary sources, Elkhorn, Wisconsin archive and Elkhorn research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Elkhorn, Wisconsin”?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
- What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Elkhorn, Wisconsin” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.