Stoughton, Wisconsin, United States

🇺🇸 Stoughton is a city in Dane County, Wisconsin, United States. It straddles the Yahara River about 20 miles south-east of the state capital, Madison. Stoughton is part of the Madison Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Known for its Norwegian heritage, Stoughton hosts a city wide celebration of Syttende Mai, the Norwegian constitution day. Part of the city's celebration of its Norwegian heritage is the Stoughton Norwegian Dancers dance group, sponsored by Stoughton High School, as well as Norwegian flags and memorabilia displayed throughout the town.

History Stoughton was founded in 1847 by Luke Stoughton, an Englishman from Vermont. Many Norwegian immigrants settled in the town from 1865 through the early 1900s.

Stoughton claims to be the birthplace of the "coffee break", and hosts a small yearly parade to celebrate the distinction.

For much of its history, Stoughton has been Dane County's second-largest and economically important city, after Madison.

In 1919, the Stoughton Wagon Company began putting custom wagon bodies on Model T chassis; by 1929 Ford was by far the biggest seller of station wagons.

On August 18, 2005, an F3 tornado cut a 10-mile path across rural subdivisions and farms north of Stoughton, killing one person and damaging hundreds of homes.

Geography According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 5.09 square miles (13.18 km²), of which, 4.92 square miles (12.74 km²) is land and 0.17 square miles (0.44 km²) is water.

Economy The corporate headquarters and semi-trailer manufacturing facility for Stoughton Trailers are located in Stoughton, where the company has been locally owned and operated for more than 50 years. The 680,000 sq. ft. Stoughton plant houses everything from fabrication of subassemblies to final assembly of all Stoughton dry vans. Stoughton Trailers is one of the largest truck trailer manufacturing companies in North America, and is the only American company still manufacturing 53-foot-long "intermodal" freight containers used to ship goods internationally.

Another large employer in the city is Uniroyal Engineered Products, makers of Naugahyde. Stoughton and its environs are also home to printers, and manufacturers of foodstuffs, chemicals, and sundry other products. North American Fur Auctions' US offices are based in Stoughton.

Stoughton Utilities, a municipally-owned utility, provides electrical, water and sewer service to the city.

Transportation Stoughton is served by Interstate 39 (I-39) and I-90, which run concurrently and have two exits five miles (8.0 km) north (Exit 147) and west (Exit 156) of the city. US Highway 51 comes from Madison and goes along the west side of town, then turns east through downtown towards the Interstates. US Highway 14 has an exit for Stoughton at Wisconsin Highway 138 6 miles west of the city in the village of Oregon. WIS-138 heads west at US-14 from Oregon into Stoughton, then goes south towards the unincorporated Cooksville.

A small general aviation airport is located two miles (3.2 km) east of the city. Commercial air service is provided by Dane County Regional Airport.

Media The weekly Stoughton Courier-Hub newspaper, founded in 1969, is published on Thursdays. WSTO TV is a public, educational, and government access (PEG) cable TV channel operated by The City of Stoughton's Media Services Department.

The 495-seat Stoughton Opera House features about 30 traveling musical, comedy and other acts each year.

Events The coffee break is said to have originated in Stoughton, when immigrant men became employed en masse at T. G. Mandt's wagon factory, leaving their wives to fill the shortages at the tobacco warehouses. They agreed to work under the condition that they were allowed to go home every morning and afternoon to tend to chores and, of course, drink coffee. The city of Stoughton celebrates the coffee break every summer with the Stoughton Coffee Break Festival.

The first weekend in December marks Stoughton's Victorian Holiday Weekend, celebrating the city's Victorian homes and commercial buildings. Events include a Victorian Holiday Ball with period dances, a production of the Nutcracker Ballet or A Christmas Carol (alternates each year), carriage rides, a silent decorated fire truck parade, a children's parade.

The weekend closest to May 17, Norwegian Constitution Day, marks Stoughton's Syttende Mai festival. The celebration includes parades, an art fair, Norwegian dance performances, races, and other events. The Stoughton Chamber of Commerce has planned the festival every year since 1967.