Stoughton Wisconsin is the birth place of the coffee break, community television and the world famous Stoughton High School Norwegian Dancers.  Located on the scenic Yahara River, Stoughton is just minutes away from the state capitol of Madison Wisconsin. Visit Stoughton is the tourism brand of the City of Stoughton.

Stoughton is a beautiful community with its many historic neighborhoods, and its gorgeous historic downtown.  At the top of downtown stands the spectacular Stoughton Opera House - "Southern Wisconsin's Most Charming Theater" and the crown jewel of Stoughton.

The Stoughton Opera House is a booming tourist attraction bringing tens of thousands of people to Stoughton annually with an enormous repertoire of locally, regionally, nationally and internationally renowned performers.

Stoughton also boasts being the place that is chosen to be the world headquarters of many international businesses such as Nelson Global Products, Universal AET, and Cummins Filtration.  One of the largest employers in the city is Stoughton Trailers, an internationally known company for the fabrication of some of the best semi trailers on the market.  Besides Stoughton Trailers, there are other major manufacturing facilities in town, including Uniroyal, B & G Foods (Ortega and Cream of Wheat) and Emmi Roth specialty cheeses (coming late 2023).

In addition, Stoughton is home to a state-of-the-art hospital. Stoughton Health is a 35 bed critical access hospital serving the community since 1904 - employs over 300 people.

As well as these wonderful private businesses, Stoughton has a wide selection of services provided by the city.  These services include a 24/7 professional police department, 24/7 on-call Emergency Medical Services (EMS), 24/7 on-call Fire Department, a large senior center, one of the largest youth centers in the area, a wonderful recreation department, a grand opera house, an ever-busy streets department, friendly city hall staff and one of the best community television channels in the state (which as far as we can tell was the first community cable channel in the United States and possibly the world).

For more tourist information on Stoughton, go to Visit Stoughton to plan your next adventure

For more information on the services provided by the city, feel free to browse the department sections.

Stoughton Opera House

Stoughton is a great place to visit!  There is so much to do in Stoughton yet it holds the charm of a small historic town.  Every year our crown jewel, The Stoughton Opera House hosts over 70 performances of local, regional, national and international performers!  These performers grace the stage of the beautifully restored Victorian opera house to provide an intimate show, there is not a single bad seat in the place!  Also don't forget that the Stoughton Opera House hosts it's annual Catfish River Music Festival in the beginning of July at Rotary Park.  It is free to get into and should not be missed!

Stoughton Arts Council

The Stoughton Opera House is part of our great Arts Council. The goal of the Stoughton Arts Council is to raise awareness of what the arts community in Stoughton has to offer by raising awareness, appreciation, education of audiences and support of out local artists. Browse our website and you will find a surprising diversity of performances, artists, and galleries.  The Arts Council also helps promote Stoughton Arts and Entertainment District which encompasses most of downtown.

Stoughton Chamber of Commerce and Events

The Stoughton Chamber of Commerce hosts the flagship festivals in Stoughton.  

Stoughton's biggest festival is Syttende Mai.  Syttende Mai is the Norwegian Constitution Day and is celebrated in May with many events and two parades.  During Syttende Mai Weekend EVERYONE is Norwegian!

Did you know Stoughton is home to the Coffee Break?  Well it's true!  We have a celebration every August to enjoy the great coffee of the area and look at some great vintage cars, the Coffee Break Festival!

A great way to learn about what Stoughton has to offer is the Stoughton Community Expo. The Community Expo is typically in April at the Mandt Center just a few blocks from Downtown Stoughton.  The event features many area businesses and restaurants with samples!  It is a great way to learn about Stoughton Businesses (See the Chamber Calendar for event dates)

Additional shopping events occur throughout the year coordinated by the different volunteer groups in the area. Such as Victorian Holiday Weekend (first weekend of December), Destination Stoughton Weekends (last weekend of October and early February), Sidewalk Sales (last weekend of July) and more.

Stoughton Junior Fair

The Stoughton Junior Fair is the week of Fourth of July and hosts carnival rides, a food court, typical fair events, animal presentations and of course fireworks!  The Stoughton Junior Fair is in Mandt Park just blocks from Downtown Stoughton and has plenty of parking on nearby streets!

Livsreise - Norwegian Heritage Center

Livsreise translates to “Life’s Journey.” It is a generational journey, encompassing not only the physical journey Norwegian emigrants traveled, but also the continued journey as generations embrace their Norwegian Heritage here in Stoughton, Wisconsin and across the nation. Livsreise is a beautiful new addition to Downtown Stoughton.  Admission is Free!

Stoughton History

Stoughton is a town with such a strong history.  We have a historic downtown and dozens of houses on our own local landmarks registry as well as the State and National Register of Historic Places.  The Stoughton Landmarks Commission has a lot of great information on self-guided walking tours of our historic districts!

Stoughton also has the Stoughton Historical Society.  The Stoughton Historical Society owns the local history museum as well as displays at the Stoughton Chamber of Commerce in the old Train Depot and the Luke Stoughton Pioneer Home.  This is a great way to see what Stoughton was like back in the beginning!

City Ordinances

The City of Stoughton has many ordinances that you should make sure to know to avoid getting any tickets while in town.

City Information

Stoughton is a city located on State Highway 51 just 15 miles South of Madison WI.
Country: United States
State: Wisconsin
County: Dane
Total Area: 6.35 sq miles
Land Area: 6.02 sq miles
Water Area: 0.33 sq Miles
Population: 13,324
Demographics: As of the census of 2020 there were 13,173 people, 5,262 households, and 3,296 families residing in the city. The racial makeup of the city was 96.6% White, 0.9% African American, 0.1% Native American, 0.0% Asian, and 1.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino people of any race were 1.9% of the population.

The age and gender makeup of the city was 6.8% under the age of 5, 26.5% under 18, 17.5% over the age of 65 and 52.0% female. Of the total population, 601 were veterans.

Government: The City of Stoughton was incorporated as a city in the State of Wisconsin. Stoughton is set-up as a Mayor-Council form of government where the mayor is the chief executive officer of the City and the Council serves as the legislative branch. The role of the mayor is outlined by Section 2 of the Stoughton Municipal Code.

Mayor: (Executive Branch) The current mayor of the City of Stoughton is Tim Swadley. The mayor is elected at large every four years to serve a term of four years. The mayor presides over all city council meetings; however, if he is absent, the president of the City Council shall step in and take his place. The mayor oversees all of the members of the Leadership Team as they perform their duties in their departments.

Council: (Legislative Branch) The Stoughton City Council is comprised of twelve (12) members from four (4) districts in the city with 3 alders from each district. The Council meets on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month in the City Council Chambers on the second floor of the Public Safety Building at 321 S. Fourth St. Stoughton, WI. The meetings are held at 7:00pm and are open to the public in their entirety, unless the motion to go into closed session is made and voted on for all business that can be in closed session according to the State of Wisconsin's open meetings law. Usually closed sessions would happen towards the end of the council meeting and the section of the law that is being referenced would be read prior to a vote to go into closed session.

Court: (Judicial Branch) The City of Stoughton and the surrounding townships share a multi-jurisdictional judge that presides over the Stoughton Municipal Court. The current judge is Matthew T. Rothe and was elected to serve as judge at large by the citizens of Stoughton and the townships for which he presides over to serve a term of two years.

Media: The official newspaper of the City of Stoughton is the Stoughton Courier-Hub which is published every Thursday. In addition to the newspaper, Stoughton has its own Community Media Center operated by our Information Technology and Media Services Department.  They operate two broadcast channels WSTO TV (TDS 981(HD) & Spectrum 981) and the Stoughton Information Network (TDS 980(HD) & Spectrum 980).  WSTO has is available 24/7 online and has video-on-demand at www.wsto.tv as well as Android and iOS apps, Roku, Apple TV and Fire TV apps and a YouTube Channel.