Waukesha, Wisconsin
Waukesha is a city in Waukesha County, Wisconsin with a population over 65,000. In 2006, cnnmoney.com ranked Waukesha as the 36th "best place to live in the United States." The median income for a household in the city is estimated at $50,084, and the median income for a family at $60,841.
Waukesha was known for its extremely clean and good-tasting spring water and was called a spa town. This earned the city the nicknames "Spring City" and "Saratoga of the West". However, a number of these springs have since gone dry. The name of the city refers to "fox" or "foxes," coming either from the Ojibwe word Waagoshag or the Potawatomi word Wauk-tsha.
During the Cold War, three Nike Missile batteries were located in the city of Waukesha and in nearby Muskego and Lannon. In the city of Waukesha, the US Army and later the Wisconsin National Guard operated the command and control center at what is now Hillcrest Park on Davidson Road. The missile pits existed near the corner of Cleveland Ave and Hwy 164; they first held Ajax missiles with conventional warheads and later nuclear equipped Hercules missiles. The Hercules warhead provided a similar nuclear capability as that of the atomic bomb dropped on Nagasaki in WWII. The Midwest Chapter of the Cold War Museum has promoted the preservation of the Hillcrest Park site as a local Cold War Museum, honoring Cold War Veterans and commemorating America's longest and costliest conflict.
Waukesha is home to Carroll College, a private 4-year Presbyterian institute and the oldest college in the state of Wisconsin, which was opened in 1846, 2 years before Wisconsin became a state. Waukesha is home to the state school University of Wisconsin-Waukesha. The city also started Wisconsin's first online high school, iQ Academies.
The following businesses have headquarters in Waukesha: GE Healthcare Technologies, Kalmbach Publishing (publisher of Model Railroader and Trains magazines), RedPrairie Corporation, Dresser Waukesha (a global leader in natural gas engines), Aries Industries, Generac Power Systems, and Waukesha Electric.
