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Wisconsin County
Calumet County, Wisconsin
Lake Winnebago and Fox Valley dairy country - from Lake Winnebago's western shore (Calumet County borders Wisconsin's largest inland lake, and the lake's recreational fishing - particularly the legendary Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing season, a uniquely Wisconsin tradition drawing thousands of participants each February - defines much of the county's winter recreational character) to Calumet County's productive dairy farming landscape (the county's fertile soils support the intensive dairy operations that have made the Fox Valley region one of Wisconsin's premier dairy production areas, contributing to the state's identity as America's Dairyland).
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Office: Calumet County Emergency Management – a division within the Department of Administration | Toll-Free: (833) 620-2730 | Physical Address: 241 East Chestnut, Chilton, WI 53014 | (920) 849-1434 | Fax: (920) 849-1405
Services: Operates per Wisconsin Chapter 323, working with the “Whole Community” to reduce vulnerability to hazards through preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation activities
Roads & Utilities
ROADS & TRANSPORTATION
Roads: US-151 serves Chilton; the county’s western border runs largely along Lake Winnebago
Transit: No dedicated fixed-route county transit identified; confirm current regional options directly with the county
Business & Permits
BUILDING & PERMITS
Office: Calumet County Planning, Zoning and Land Information Department – (920) 849-1493
Services: Administers zoning (including building permits), floodplain zoning, sanitation issues, road access matters, wetland regulation, mining reclamation, wind energy standards, and Fresnel-zone (communication path) building height limits; also maintains the county GIS, rural house numbering, parcel mapping, and E911 data
Notes: Confirm whether your property falls under county or a specific municipal jurisdiction (e.g., City of Chilton, Town of Chilton) – the Town of Chilton requires a building permit for any home project with $4,000+ in material cost; the City of Chilton requires new one-two-three family construction permits to go through the Wisconsin DSPS Online Building Permit System plus a local “New Home Packet.”
Veterans Services
VETERANS SERVICES
County VSO: Calumet County Veterans Service Office – Chilton, WI
Libraries
LIBRARIES
System: Chilton Public Library – 221 Park Street, Chilton, WI 53014 | (920) 849-4414 | Fax: (920) 849-2370 | Hours: Mon–Thu 10 AM–8 PM, Fri 10 AM–6 PM, Sat 10 AM–1 PM (closed Sun)
Services: Offers inter-library loan, homebound programs, children’s story time, summer reading program, computer stations, photocopying, and a “Library of Things”; hosts dedicated Sensory-Friendly Hours on Tuesdays; partners with New Holstein Public Library and Chilton Public Schools on countywide children’s programming each October
Related: New Holstein Public Library also serves county residents
Parks & Recreation
PARKS & RECREATION
Key Assets: Calumet County, created 1836 (organized 1850), takes its name from the French word “calumet” – the ceremonial pipes used by Native American nations in councils held on the east shore of Lake Winnebago; in the 1830s, the U.S. government relocated the Brothertown, Oneida, and Stockbridge-Munsee peoples (originally from New York and New England, who had already been displaced once before) to this area, and the community of Brothertown, still within the county today, preserves that history; the county’s southern portion forms part of “The Holyland,” a distinctive agricultural region shaped by deep German Roman Catholic chain migration beginning in the 1840s, studied as a notable American immigration case; the county contains the genuinely significant CALUMET COUNTY PARK GROUP, a National Register-listed archaeological site consisting of six ancient effigy mounds – shaped as panthers and other water spirits – situated atop the Niagara Escarpment overlooking Lake Winnebago, located within Calumet County Park near Stockbridge; Ledge View Nature Center (built 1981, 2 miles south of Chilton) offers guided tours of genuine natural solution caves along with trails, a nature tower, and exhibits on the area’s post-glacial geology (drumlins, the Niagara Escarpment); the 1913 Calumet County Courthouse (206 Court St, Chilton), a copper-domed Classical Revival building designed by architect Baldwin Mehner, is NRHP-listed and shares a near-identical design with the Taylor County Courthouse, designed by the same architect soon after
Notes: The Calumet County Park Group’s genuine, protected ancient effigy mounds, and the county’s real, well-documented Brothertown/Oneida/Stockbridge-Munsee Native American resettlement history, are both distinctive, verifiable local facts.
GIS & Maps
GIS & MAPS
GIS Portal: Calumet County GIS – accessible via co.calumet.wi.us
Parcel Search: Calumet County Land Information Program
Addressing/911: Coordinated through the Planning, Zoning and Land Information Department
Animal Services
ANIMAL SERVICES
Facility: Eastshore Humane Association (ESHA) – City of Chilton, WI (corner of M-B Lane and Park Street)
Services: A private, nonprofit 501(c)(3), no-kill shelter – genuinely the ONLY animal shelter serving all of Calumet County; formerly operated out of a two-room basement in a large-animal veterinary clinic for 15 years before a 2000 donor-advised grant from the Community Foundation for the Fox Valley Region enabled purchase of 5.2 acres, with construction of the current 4,500+ square foot shelter (funded partly by a bequest from Robert O. Hansen) completed March 2001; receives NO federal, state, or county funding, relying entirely on adoptions, fundraisers, contributions, grants, and bequests
Notes: Contact Calumet County directly for current refuse collection and recycling program details.
NOTES
Calumet County holds a genuinely significant layered history – from the ancient effigy mounds of the Calumet County Park Group overlooking Lake Winnebago, to the 1830s resettlement of the Brothertown, Oneida, and Stockbridge-Munsee peoples, to the German Catholic “Holyland” immigrant community in the county’s south. Eastshore Humane Association, the county’s sole animal shelter, has operated entirely without government funding since its founding. All contact information above was sourced from official county, city, and shelter pages as of this writing; phone numbers and hours should be reconfirmed directly with the relevant office before a visit.
About Calumet County
Calumet County is the Fox Valley’s Lake Winnebago sturgeon spearing and dairy country county – the annual ice spearing season on Wisconsin’s largest inland lake and the county’s productive dairy farms define a community at the heart of Wisconsin’s Fox Valley dairy belt between Oshkosh and Green Bay.
Chilton (the county seat, population ~3,900) is Calumet County’s governmental hub, a small Fox Valley city providing county services to surrounding dairy communities between Fond du Lac and Appleton.
All Services
Browse every category and topic available for this county.
Calumet County Assessor at 206 Court Street, Chilton, WI 53014, phone 920-849-1454. WI assessed at fair market value.
Courts & Legal
Calumet County Circuit Court at 206 Court Street, Chilton, WI 53014, phone 920-849-1414, handles probate.
Marriage & Vital Records
Marriage licenses, divorce records, and birth & death certificates are handled by the following office(s):
COUNTY CLERK
206 Court St, Chilton, WI 53014
(920) 849-1441
Genealogy
County-level record sources
Calumet County Register in Probate, Chilton (probate/estate case files – see Probate section above). The Calumet County Courthouse (1913, Classical Revival, copper-domed) is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Local societies
No dedicated Calumet County genealogical society was confirmed in available directories.
Probate & Estate
Losing someone and having to deal with courts and paperwork at the same time is hard. This section won’t make that easier, but it should tell you what to expect, what it costs, and where to go – so at least you’re not walking in blind.
Where to go
Calumet County Register in Probate 206 Court Street, Chilton, WI 53014 (920) 849-1455
Calumet County is in Northeast Wisconsin, county seat Chilton. Wisconsin has NOT adopted the Uniform Probate Code and has NO separate probate court – probate is handled by the CIRCUIT COURT (Probate Division) for the county where the decedent lived, administered day-to-day by that county’s REGISTER IN PROBATE. Wisconsin runs two main tracks: FORMAL administration, supervised directly by a circuit court judge, and INFORMAL administration, supervised by the Register in Probate without continuous judicial oversight. Informal administration is the default path for most straightforward estates.
Step 1: figure out which path applies
Wisconsin Statutes Chapters 851 through 882 govern probate. Wisconsin is also a MARITAL PROPERTY state (similar to community property) – under the Wisconsin Marital Property Act, most assets acquired during marriage are co-owned by both spouses, so a surviving spouse may already own half of all marital property outright; only the decedent’s half passes through the estate.
Transfer by Affidavit (Wis. Stat. §867.03) – available when the decedent’s ENTIRE probate estate (personal property only; real estate is not covered by this shortcut) has a gross value of $50,000 or less. Available 30 days after death to an heir, a trustee of a revocable trust, a beneficiary named in the will, or a guardian of the decedent.
Summary Settlement (Wis. Stat. §867.01) – geared toward estates of $50,000 or less where there is a surviving spouse, domestic partner, or minor children, or where the estate would otherwise be absorbed by allowances and expenses.
Summary Assignment – another shortcut for estates too small to pay debts in full.
Formal or Informal Administration – required for larger or more complex estates. Begins with a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) filed with the county Register in Probate to admit the will (if any) and appoint a personal representative.
Step 2: filing for administration
File a Petition for Administration (Form PR-1801) with the Calumet County Register in Probate.
Mail notice of the hearing to all heirs, beneficiaries, and interested parties at least 20 days before the hearing; publish notice in a newspaper of general circulation in the county for three successive weeks.
Once appointed, the personal representative inventories assets, and the court (for formal administration) or Register in Probate (for informal) sets a creditor claims deadline – generally 3 to 4 months from the date of the court’s order, with first publication of that notice required within 15 days of the order.
The personal representative pays valid debts and expenses, then distributes remaining assets to heirs/beneficiaries.
File a final accounting with the Circuit Court (Probate) showing all assets received, debts paid, and distributions made; once approved, the estate is closed.
Wisconsin Circuit Courts require attorneys to e-file; pro se (self-represented) filers are encouraged to use the Wisconsin Circuit Court eFiling system as well.
What it costs
Personal representative compensation: presumptive statutory rate of 2% of inventory value (Wis. Stat. §857.05), though the will or the parties can agree to a different amount.
Filing fees, publication costs, and (for real estate transfers under the small-estate process) an Affidavit of Heirship and Affidavit of Service, notarized and filed with the court.
Typical timeline: simple estates 6-12 months; complex or contested estates 18 months or longer.
Wisconsin does NOT impose a state estate tax or inheritance tax. Only the federal estate tax may apply, with a $15,000,000 per-person exemption for 2026 – meaning the vast majority of Wisconsin estates owe nothing.
Probate filings, estate administration, and guardianship matters are handled by the following office(s):
Public Safety & Arrests
Arrest records, inmate search, and law enforcement services are handled by the following office(s):
SHERIFF
206 Court St, Chilton, WI 53014
(920) 849-1500
Elections & Voting
Voter registration, polling locations, and elections information are handled by the following office(s):
ELECTIONS
(920) 849-1441
Health & Human Services
Offices & Contacts
Health services, social services, and assistance programs are handled by the following office(s):
Health & Human Services
Calumet County Health and Human Services, 206 Court St, Chilton, WI 53014
(920) 849-1444
Economic Support Office
Calumet County Economic Support Office, 206 Court St, Chilton, WI 53014
(920) 849-1443
Public Health Information
PUBLIC HEALTH
Office: Calumet County Health Department
Services: Immunizations, WIC, environmental health, vital records
Notes: Confirm current hours directly.
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Last verified June 2026
County Facts
County Seat: Chilton
Population: 52,500
Established: 1836
Tier: 2
Public Records
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