Village of Tigerton, Shawano County, Wisconsin: Place Profile

The municipality is the Village of Tigerton, an incorporated village in Shawano County, Wisconsin (Census place GEOID 5579825; county subdivision GEOID 5511579825; WI DOA code 59186).

Tigerton is governed by a village board: a village president and six trustees.

The village covers 1.824 square miles of land and 0.025 square miles of water.

The Census internal point for Tigerton is near 44.741631 N, 89.045934 W.

Tigerton's GNIS / ANSI feature code is 01584279.

The village sits on the banks of the South Branch of the Embarrass River.

GNIS records two named reservoirs nearest the village: Lower Tigerton Pond (44.7416428, -89.0587207) and Upper Tigerton Pond (44.7343824, -89.0705742), both in Shawano County.

GNIS records Tigerton Dells, a named rapids, at 44.7377544, -89.0284421 in Shawano County, east of the village centroid.

The village office uses Tigerton, WI 54486 (221 Birch St., PO Box 147).

The 2020 Census counted 708 residents in Tigerton.

The Wisconsin DOA estimates 700 residents as of January 1, 2025.

The Census Bureau's July 1, 2024 estimate for Tigerton is 705, from a 2020 estimates base of 708.

The ACS 2019-2023 5-year estimate of total population is 698, plus or minus 152.

The ACS 2019-2023 median age is 49.3 years, plus or minus 10.

The ACS 2019-2023 median household income is $57,139, plus or minus $1,976.

The ACS 2019-2023 median value of owner-occupied homes is $122,600, plus or minus $28,812.

The 2010 Census counted 741 residents in 332 households; the 2000 Census counted 764.

Steve Reinert is Village President.

The village lists six trustees: David "Herb" Dent, Jessica Olson-Hammons, Jeff Koepke, Shawn Much, Angelia Willman, and Patrick Bailey.

Six standing committees report to the board: Finance & Personnel; Street & Sidewalk, Cemetery & Library; Water/Sewer, Solid Waste, License & Permits; Police, Fire, Health & Safety; Community Development & Public Property; and Parks & Recreation.

Helen Selle is Village Clerk/Treasurer, reachable at 715-535-2262 or [email address]

Regular Village Board meetings are the first Monday of each month at 5:30 p.m. in the Tigerton Community Center Meeting Room, 221 Birch St.

Agendas are linked from the village website, and full and special board minutes are posted there in draft form within a week of each meeting.

The village office is in the Community Center at 221 Birch St. (phone 715-535-2262, fax 715-535-2666). The site lists clerk hours as Monday to Friday 8:00 to 4:00 on one page and 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. on its Contact page.

The village links its municipal code on eCode360 (code TI3103).

On September 15, 2026, the Village Board set a data center moratorium of one year or until the village adopts zoning policies for data centers, after a public hearing that drew more than 70 residents. The village has its own zoning, so the county's June moratorium did not cover it.

The Tigerton School District (NCES 5514880) runs 2 schools, PK through 12, from 213 Spaulding St., and enrolled 251 students in 2024-25.

The two public schools are Tigerton Elementary (500 Elm St.) and Tigerton High (213 Spaulding St.).

The district keeps the Tigerton School Forest and Environmental Center about a mile east of the village, with an indoor classroom and trails. The middle/high school building also houses the Tiger's Den daycare and a fitness center.

The school district reports a staff count of 51.90 FTE, a leading institutional employer in the village. No ranked list of private employers was found from a primary source.

In 1994-95 the village bought and annexed a large parcel east of town along the Embarrass River and developed it into the Embarrass River Campground and ATV Park, the Liberty Estates neighborhood, and the Tigerton Industrial Park.

Tigerton was named a Wisconsin Main Street Community in 1993. The village history says it was then the smallest Main Street community in the state, and still the smallest at its 20th anniversary in 2013.

NEW Media Inc. covers Tigerton from 1464 E. Green Bay St., Shawano (715-526-2121).

WPAK-FM (106.9 MHz) is licensed to Tigerton; the licensee is Multi-Cultural Diversity Radio, Inc.

The Tigerton Branch of the Shawano County Library is at 221 Birch St. (715-535-2194), open Tuesday 10 a.m. to 7 p.m., Wednesday to Friday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturday 9 a.m. to noon.

IMLS lists a Tigerton Branch public library outlet in Tigerton, Shawano County.

Tigerton has a police department led by Chief Mike Weatherwax; non-emergency calls route through the Shawano County Sheriff's Department at 715-526-3111.

The Tigerton Volunteer Fire Department serves the village; non-emergency calls also route through the Shawano County Sheriff.

The 1921 Swanke residence on the river became the Tigerton Hospital in 1950, served until 1975, and was converted to the Tigerton Clinic in 1977.

The village operates Tigerton Union Cemetery.

American Legion Schlender-Polley Post 239 was first chartered in July 1922. A Veterans Memorial was built in 2000 on Tiger Creek in Legion Park, and a new Legion Hall followed in 2011.

The village-run Tigerton OHV Park & Campground covers more than 500 acres with more than 28 miles of trail for ATVs, side-by-sides, dirt bikes, and road-legal 4x4s, plus camping (over half the sites along the Embarrass River), disc golf, and a challenge track. It is half a mile east of the village off County Road M at 1100 Quad Park Ln., and a trail connects it into the village.

Tigerton Lumberjack Days, run by Tigerton Advancement, is held the last weekend in August.

The 60th annual Tigerton Lumberjack Days ran August 28-30, 2026, at Tigerton Community Park.

Tigerton Main Street runs a Taste of Tigerton Soup Contest (January), Rummage O Rama (first weekend in June), a 4th of July Block Party, Taste of Tigerton Applefest (fourth Saturday in September), and Festival of Trees (all of December).

A canning factory opened in 1926. Schroeder Oil & Excavating, founded from a 1947 village gas station, grew to more than 20 convenience stores and bulk plants run from a Tigerton headquarters, opened the Embarrass River Travel Center at US 45 and County M in 1998, and was sold in 2001.

Water works were installed in 1936-37 over bedrock, and sewer followed in 1959-60. Central Wisconsin Electric Cooperative has supplied the village's electricity since buying the Tigerton Electric Company in 1970.

US Highway 45 and County Road M meet on the village's east side, where the travel center and Zion Lutheran Church stand; the OHV park is reached from County Road M.

Tigerton Advancement also runs a Senior Christmas Crusade each December.

Tigerton was incorporated as a village in 1896.

The Lake Shore Railroad reached Tigerton in 1879-80 and stopped serving it in 1981. The first post office opened in 1880 with the railroad.

Herman Swanke Sr. and three partners built the mill that became Tigerton Lumber Company, starting in 1885.

The Tigerton Village Hall was built in 1905, bought in disrepair by Tigerton Main Street, Inc. in 2003, and restored in 2006-07. It now houses the Main Street office.

The Tigerton Village Hall and Engine House was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 5, 2008.

The village takes its name from Tiger Creek.