Hurley, Wisconsin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Hurley is a city in Iron County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,818 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Iron County^GR6.

Hurley is known for its ATV Hurley Rally and the Red Light Snowmobile Rally. Both attract thousands of visitors to the area each year. At the 2005 ATV rally, a new Guinness World Record was set for the Largest ATV Parade with a total of 687 participants[1]

The city of Hurley is the northern terminus of U.S. Route 51 at U.S. Highway 2.

1 Geography
2 History
3 Demographics
4 Little Known Facts About Hurley Wisconsin
5 Notable residents
6 Trivia
7 External links

[edit] Geography

Hurley is located at 46°27′1″N, 90°11′23″W (46.450361, -90.189802)^GR1.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 8.6 km² (3.3 mi²). 8.2 km² (3.2 mi²) of it is land and 0.4 km² (0.2 mi²) of it (4.83%) is water.

[edit] History

The town of Hurley, Wisconsin took its name from Mr. M. A. Hurley, a prominent attorney of Wausau who won a lawsuit for the Northern Chief Iron Company in 1884. The compensation for winning the suit was that he asked for no fee, but only requested that the town involved in the case is named after him. The full name "Glen Hurley" was used for one year, but in 1885, the first name was dropped and the community became known as Hurley.

[edit] Demographics

As of the census^GR2 of 2000, there were 1,818 people, 830 households, and 458 families residing in the city. The population density was 222.8/km² (577.3/mi²). There were 1,025 housing units at an average density of 125.6/km² (325.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 97.36% Caucasian, 0.06% African American, 1.38% Native American, 0.11% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, and 0.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.88% of the population.

There were 830 households out of which 20.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.7% were married couples living together, 9.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.8% were non-families. 39.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 20.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.06 and the average family size was 2.72.

In the city the population was spread out with 18.2% under the age of 18, 8.6% from 18 to 24, 27.0% from 25 to 44, 19.7% from 45 to 64, and 26.6% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $24,821, and the median income for a family was $33,000. Males had a median income of $27,717 versus $17,750 for females. The per capita income for the city was $14,554. About 11.0% of families and 14.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 18.6% of those under age 18 and 15.1% of those age 65 or over.

[edit] Little Known Facts About Hurley Wisconsin

The First Mayor of Hurley: Mr. Henry Meade was the first mayor of Hurley, Wisconsin.

The First Saloon: John Ankers, started Hurley’s first saloon. He was also Hurley’s first town clerk, the first Justice of the Peace, and the first chief of the fire-fighting organization. He was, therefore, a very active individual. After all those firsts, he retired and became the local agent for the Pabst Brewing Company.

Hurley's First Hotel: The first hotel was located at the corner of Second Avenue and Silver Street in a log building. Mr. James Guest was the first landlord. It was far from a pretentious affair but answered the purpose and furnished food and shelter for many a hardy pioneer and miner in its day.

The First Butcher Shop: The first meat market in Hurley was kept by Ilsey and Knox and was opened in 1885.

The Oldest bank: The Iron Exchange Bank of Hurley, was the oldest bank of the Gogebic Range. It was organized November 26, 1885. In 1925 it celebrated its 40th anniversary, and at that time, it had withstood all depressions. Dr. J.C. Renolds, the bank’s first president, and his brother, W. S. Renolds, the bank’s first cashier, were the prime movers in the organization of the institution. Associated with them in the organization were John E. Burton, Alvin E. Tyler, Edward Ryan, Nathaniel J. Moore, James A. Wood, and Shepherd Homans, all men prominent in the mining industry here in the early days.

Hurley's Fires: The Gogebic Range Directory of 1888 states: "During the past summer, Hurley was twice visited by terrible fires. The first occurred of June 28th and the second on July 9th. These destroyed almost the entire business portion of the city, and at first it was thought that they would prove a crushing blow to its prosperity, but later events have proven that they were blessings in disguise. The wonderful pluck and energy of its businessmen were fully demonstrated when they at once began the erection of fine brick buildings in the place of the wooden ones destroyed. The result has been that the burned portion has been rebuilt with brick and stone, making them nearly fireproof. And Silver Street is one that a much larger city could well be proud of.

The Burton House (HOTEL): The Burton Hotel was an immense four-story frame hostelry, which was a famous gathering place for thousands in the later part of the 19th century. John E. Burton, a mining speculator, who made millions of dollars through his wild ventures and later established offices in New York City and bought up other vast mining interests in Mexico and South America, put up the building in 1865. His original wealth, however, came from the iron range. The Burton Hotel contained 100 rooms, a ballroom, dining room, café, and clubrooms, all highly decorated and furnished with the best of the wood workers’ art of the time, and equipped with the best furniture. Th Burton Hotel cost $35,000, and the furniture cost Mr. Burton $10,000. Many noteworthy people stayed at the Burton House. Grover Cleveland registered at the Burton House Saturday, October 5, 1889. At this time he had already served one term as president of the United States. In 1889 when he was in Hurley, he was a New York Lawyer. He was elected to the presidency again in 1892.

[edit] Notable residents

Tony Ave, an ARCA driver
Domenic Gentile, served as head trainer for the Green Bay Packers from 1969 until 1992. [2]
Joseph Sullivan, the FBI's Major Case Inspector who lead the investigation of the murders of three civil rights workers in 1964. The movie Mississippi Burning is based on his investigation.

[edit] Trivia

A fictionalized version of Hurley was the subject of Edna Ferber's 1934 novel Come and Get It. Ferber did most of her research for the novel while staying at Hurley's Burton House hotel. [3]
Ralph Capone, the older brother of famed Chicago mobster Al Capone, died in Hurley in 1974. [4]