Welcome to Baraboo ...
The city of Baraboo is located in Sauk County<1> and is the County Seat for Sauk County.
While we don't have a date for the founding of Baraboo, you might consider that their post office opened in 1847.
When the people of Baraboo refer to themselves (known as a demonym), they frequently use Barabooian<2>
From the Census Estimates for 2019, Baraboo has a population of 12,146 people<3> (see below for details).
Baraboo is 880 feet [268 m] above sea level.<4>.
Time Zone: Baraboo lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time
The telephone area code for Baraboo: (608)
Websites for Baraboo ...
Official Website: www.cityofbaraboo.com/
Chamber of Commerce: www.baraboo.com/
Population Details ...
Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Baraboo had an population of 12,146 people. This is an increase of 0.81% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 13.4% since the 2000 Census).
At the time of the 2010 Census, Baraboo had a population of 12,048 people (or 19.44% of the total population of Sauk County). This makes Baraboo the county's most populous community.
The population of Baraboo represents 0.21% of the population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 72nd most populous community.
With a 2010 count of 12,048 people, the population of Baraboo increased 12.48% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 10,711 people).
More information can be found on the Census Page for Baraboo.
Communities near Baraboo ...
We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Baraboo.
- Portage
(14 miles [22.5 km] to the east)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Portage
- Portage is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 10,381 people
- Reedsburg
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the west) - Prairie du Sac village
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Prairie du Sac village
- Prairie du Sac village is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 4,426 people
- Sauk City
(13 miles [20.9 km] to the south) - Lodi
(15 miles [24.1 km] to the southeast)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lodi
- Lodi is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,109 people
- Wisconsin Dells
(10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Wisconsin Dells
- Wisconsin Dells is located in Columbia County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 3,061 people
- Lake Delton
(8 miles [12.9 km] to the north)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Delton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Delton
- Lake Delton is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 2,986 people
- Poynette
(17 miles [27.4 km] to the east) - Dane
(19 miles [30.6 km] to the southeast) - North Freedom
(6 miles [9.7 km] to the west)- Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for North Freedom have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
- Jump to our Gazetteer entry for North Freedom
- North Freedom is located in Sauk County
- Population from the 2020 Census: 690 people
To Help With Your Genealogy Research ...
We have a couple of sections for those tracing their genealogy.
We created a list of cemeteries that are in the area around Baraboo. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Baraboo.
Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Baraboo. Our list includes information such as whether the 1895 community had a post office or railroad service. See our List of 1890's Communities around Baraboo.
We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Baraboo. Our list includes 22 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Baraboo.
Adding Baraboo to Our Gazetteer ...
We originally found mention of Baraboo in both the FIPS-55 and the GNIS. For more information, see the FIPS and GNIS Codes sections on our Miscellaneous Page.
From our notes, the earliest published mention we've found for Baraboo was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>
From that list, the Baraboo post office opened in 1847.
We also found Baraboo in the book titled Table of U.S. Post Offices in the United States (Jan. 1851).
For more details, see References and Mentions for Baraboo.
Off-the-Road Links ...
The official website for Baraboo: www.cityofbaraboo.com/
The official website for Sauk County: www.co.sauk.wi.us/
The official website for State of Wisconsin: https://www.wisconsin.gov/
Footnotes ...
| <1> | If you're interested in how the shape of Wisconsin's counties, including Sauk, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries. |
| <2> | A demonym is the name for a resident of a community which is usually derived from (or is related to) the name of that community. In other words, it's how the residents of Baraboo refer to themselves. It's important to note that there aren't any rules for taking a city's name and turning it into a demonym. A demonym is informal and while the majority of Baraboo may use one name, keep in mind that others may use something different. |
| <3> | Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Baraboo. |
| <4> | The elevation is an estimate for the area around Baraboo - it will be higher in some places and lower in others. |
| <5> | The location has been supplied by the Geographic Names Information System - which is maintained by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). While these values should be definitive, we found that accuracy can vary and you should double-check the location if accuracy is required. |
| <6> | A copy of their list with background information can be found at: https://cblevins.github.io/us-post-offices/data-biography/ |