RoadsideThoughts
A Gazetteer for the United States and Canada
Home >> State of Wisconsin >> Jefferson County >> Fort AtkinsonIndex...










Learn About
The Commemorative
Quarter for
Wisconsin

The Commemorative Quarter for Wisconsin





Welcome to Fort Atkinson ...

The city of Fort Atkinson is located in Jefferson County<1>.

While we don't have a date for the founding of Fort Atkinson, you might consider that their post office opened  in 1839.

A typical abbreviation for Fort Atkinson: Ft. Atkinson

From the  Census Estimates for 2019, Fort Atkinson has a population of 12,434 people<2> (see below for details).

Fort Atkinson is 790 feet [241 m] above sea level.<3>.

Time Zone: Fort Atkinson lies in the Central Time Zone (CST/CDT) and observes daylight saving time

The ZIP code for Fort Atkinson: 53538<4>

Population Details ...

Taken from the 2019 Census Estimates, Fort Atkinson had an population of 12,434 people. This is an increase of 0.53% since the 2010 Census (or an increase of 7% since the 2000 Census).

At the time of the 2010 Census, Fort Atkinson had a population of 12,368 people (which is 14.77% of the total population of Jefferson County). This makes Fort Atkinson the county's 2nd most populous community.

The population of Fort Atkinson represents 0.22% of the total population of Wisconsin (which has 5,686,986 people), making it the state's 68th most populous community.

With a 2010 count of 12,368 people, the population of Fort Atkinson increased 6.43% from the 2000 Census (which had a count of 11,621 people).

More information can be found on the Census Page for Fort Atkinson.

Communities Also Named Fort Atkinson ...

Using our Gazetteer, we found that there are 3 communities that are also named Fort Atkinson - they are located in Iowa and Kansas (2).

For more information, see our Tidbits & Trivia Page for Fort Atkinson.

Communities near Fort Atkinson ...

We have created a list of 10 communities that are near Fort Atkinson.

  • Janesville
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the southwest)
  • Watertown
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the north)
  • Whitewater
    (8 miles [12.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Stoughton
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the west)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Stoughton have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Stoughton
    • Stoughton is located in Dane County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 13,218 people
  • Lake Mills
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)
    • Note: The GPS coordinates that we are using for Lake Mills have been provided by the GNIS.<5> The coordinates still need to be verified.
    • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Lake Mills
    • Lake Mills is located in Jefferson County
    • Population from the 2020 Census: 6,014 people
  • Milton
    (11 miles [17.7 km] to the southwest)
  • Edgerton
    (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southwest)
  • Summit
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northeast)
  • Waterloo
    (19 miles [30.6 km] to the northwest)
  • Johnson Creek
    (10 miles [16.1 km] to the north)

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 Fort Atkinson. Our list includes the location of those cemeteries and we provide an overhead view. See our Cemetery List for Fort Atkinson.

Using the information from an 1895 Atlas, we've created a list of communities that were in the area of Fort Atkinson. 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 Fort Atkinson.

We also have a detailed list of newspapers that have been published in the area around Fort Atkinson. Our list includes 17 papers. See our Newspapers Page for Fort Atkinson.

Adding Fort Atkinson to Our Gazetteer ...

We originally found mention of Fort Atkinson 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 Fort Atkinson was in the document titled List of Post Offices from Cameron Blevins and Richard Helbock.<6>

X2X - From that list, the Fort Atkinson post office opened in 1839.

We also found Fort Atkinson in the book titled U.S. Post Offices (Oct. 1846).

For more details, see References and Mentions for Fort Atkinson.

Unfortunately, we don't know of a website for Fort Atkinson. If you can help, please contact us through our Feedback Page.

The official website for Jefferson County: www.jeffersoncountywi.gov

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 Jefferson, have changed over time, we recommend the Atlas of Historical County Boundaries.
<2>Population counts have been provided by the U.S. Census Bureau. For more detail, please visit our Census Page for Fort Atkinson.
<3>The elevation is an estimate for the area around Fort Atkinson - it will be higher in some places and lower in others.
<4>ZIP Codes have been created by the United States Postal Service (USPS) as a way of grouping addresses to make delivery more efficient. The boundaries of the ZIP Code can be changed, re-assigned, eliminated or overlapped with other ZIP Codes. So keep in mind that any given ZIP Code is only 'loosely' associated with a city (such as Fort Atkinson). When looking for a ZIP Code, whether Fort Atkinson or elsewhere, it's always best to check the website of the United States Postal Service (USPS).
<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/




 

Copyright 2025
All Rights Reserved

Thank you for visiting our website.

In closing, please keep in mind that we can not guarantee the accuracy or timeliness of the information on this website, so use with care. We encourage you to double-check the information that is critical to you.

If you've found an error or have additional information that you would like to share, please don't hesitate to write: Click here to contact us.

This page was last modified/updated: 12 Aug 2025