The town was created on March 23, 1899, and supposedly named after Senator Albert W. Sanborn, a member of the Wisconsin State Senate, who held a large area of land in the vicinity.
Geography
Sanborn is located in northern Ashland County, along the shore of Lake Superior. It is bordered by the city of Ashland and the town of Gingles to the west, by the town of White River to the west and the south, and by the towns of Ashland and Morse to the south. To the east are the towns of Gurney and Saxon in Iron County. The town of La Pointe occupies the Apostle Islands in Lake Superior, to the north. The Bad River flows south to north through the town, entering Lake Superior northeast of the community of Odanah. U.S. Route 2 crosses the town, leading west to downtown Ashland and east to Ironwood, Michigan. According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of, of which is land and, or 2.40%, is water.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 1,272 people, 428 households, and 321 families residing in the town. The population density was 8.1 people per square mile. There were 531 housing units at an average density of 3.4 per square mile. The racial makeup of the town was 12.97% White, 84.51% Native American, 0.08% Asian, 0.16% from other races, and 2.28% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3.22% of the population. There were 428 households out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 32.5% were married couplesliving together, 30.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 24.8% were non-families. 21.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 6.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.97 and the average family size was 3.39. In the town, the population was spread out with 38.8% under the age of 18, 7.6% from 18 to 24, 28.0% from 25 to 44, 19.9% from 45 to 64, and 5.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 29 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.8 males. The median income for a household in the town was $26,711, and the median income for a family was $27,625. Males had a median income of $25,150 versus $20,272 for females. The per capita income for the town was $11,664. About 23.7% of families and 27.4% of the population were below the poverty line, including 40.8% of those under age 18 and 5.9% of those age 65 or over.
